Ashfords quit court battle with AAMI

A JAN JUC family that’s spent six years battling AAMI to make good on remediation works that rendered their family home unliveable have been forced to pull out of court action against the insurer due to financial duress.

The Ashfords left their Jan Juc home in 2016 after discovering mould, setting them on a long journey that would leave them homeless, financially gutted and extremely sick.

AAMI initially accepted a series of the family’s insurance claims to clean up their property, however the Ashfords argue the work was never properly completed, the house remains unliveable due to ongoing mould and is also riddled with a chemical treatment that Leza Ashford had warned her insurer posed a serious risk to her health.

Internal documents reveal AAMI initially apologised for the way it had treated the family, that included ending payments for their emergency accommodation that were later re-instated, but it then decided to finalise the claims despite evidence that works were incomplete and the home was left contaminated by its contractors.

“All parties were fully briefed on my allergies to salicylates,” Ms Ashford said of the chemical contaminants that were used to remediate mould in their family home.

Despite this, when Ms Ashford returned home she suffered severe allergic reactions that led to her being hospitalised with anaphylaxis.

“My hearing loss came from that, balance issues, more sensitive to fumes, an infection in my brain that still causes pain,” she explained of symptoms she still suffers.

Armed with expert health reports stating their home was unliveable, internal documents from the insurer admitting it was briefed about Ms Ashford’s condition and the public support of prominent politicians like Senator Sarah Henderson, the family took their insurer to the County Court earlier this year.

The family enlisted a no win no fee lawyer that specialised in insurance cases, but as barrister and other court-related expenses started to mount a final blow forced them to pull out.

“We were also told that in the likely event we won our case, AAMI/Suncorp would immediately lodge an appeal, tying us up in the legal system for even more years to come,” the Ashfords said.

Should they lose the case, the Ashfords were warned they risked losing everything.

“AAMI/Suncorp emailed a letter to our lawyer late on a Saturday afternoon the week before Easter … the letter with this threat to sue us also included a threat advising they would make us sell our home if we were unable to pay them the costs they were seeking.

“We know for a fact they do this, and have done it to many other families … we could not risk this, when our lives have been put on hold for nearly six years already.”

Senator Henderson, herself a fierce critic of the insurer for its conduct towards Wye River bushfire victims in 2016, previously said it was unacceptable the Ashfords had “been forced to go to court to seek justice”.

Learning of the family’s recent decision to cease legal action, the Senator said she was extremely disappointed the family had discontinued “their fight for justice against AAMI due to the unaffordable costs of a court battle”.

Cutting their losses again, the Ashfords are now turning their attention to pushing for change so that others may not have to experience what they have.

“There is outright bullying, lying and manipulation used as a tactic to pressure valid claimants to walk away from the losses the insurance company is actually liable for,” the Ashfords said.

“We will concentrate our efforts on ensuring a government inquiry or Royal Commission takes place to look into the insurance industry in general, and how they handle the claims process, in particular major loss claims, as there is currently no oversight in this area.”

AAMI did not respond to questions about whether it intended to complete remediation works at the Ashford’s home or threats to sue.