Orange City Council joined the class action following what it claimed was a loss of “several hundred thousand dollars” due to alleged excessive premiums charged for insurance policies.

The class action was filed against multinational insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson, who was acting on behalf of many of the state’s 128 local councils through Statewide Mutual.

Orange City spokesman Alan Reeder said council had joined the class action on a no-win-no-fee basis, and there would be no direct cost to ratepayers.

Meanwhile, Cabonne Council spokesperson Dale Jones said it had a “long-standing relationship with Statewide Mutual” which it said was an insurance group that was “specifically tailored for local government and underwritten by Jardine Lloyd Thompson”.

“Council has enjoyed a good relationship with Statewide and is happy with the cover we currently have,” he said.

“Cabonne is aware of the class action, but does not have any plans to join that class action at this stage.”

However Mr Jones said that while the council was happy with its current arrangement, it was still possible that it might undertake “market testing when the current premiums are to be renewed”.

Law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan lodged the class action on behalf of all local councils, and managing partner Michael Mills said many of them were still with Statewide Mutual.

“They’ve been overpaying for many years,” he said of the mutual’s member councils.

Mr Mills said it was not uncommon for large corporations and businesses to seek out a broker to secure competitively-priced insurance policies due to the complex nature of the premiums needed.

He alleged that JLT did not “shop around” for better priced insurance policies for councils.