The Manulife class action which was brought by 8,000 Barbadians has ended in disappointment. A ruling in the Canadian Court before  Justice Newbould dismissed the matter on 1 August 2012. Thanks to islandgal246 for apprising the BU family – see statement below.

1. This class action is on behalf of all persons resident in Ontario, Barbados and elsewhere who owned a participating policy of life insurance issued by or assumed by The Manufacturer’s Life Insurance Company, Barbados branch:

(a) that was issued to a policy holder in Barbados;
(b) that was in force, terminated but capable of reinstatement, or had an outstanding claim, all as of December 31, 1994; and
(c) that was transferred by Manulife to Life of Barbados (now known as Sagicor) pursuant to a written agreement of purchase and sale dated May 30, 1996 and completed on December 31, 1996.

2. If you are the holder of a participating policy of life insurance issued or assumed by Manulife that was in force on December 31, 1996 and have not registered, please do so now.  If you have already registered and have friends, relatives, or know of other eligible persons who have not registered who are also owners of the same type of Manulife participating policies of life insurance, please encourage them to register on this site. Failure to register may result in a delay in receipt of any compensation to which a person may be entitled in the class action. We need to be able to find you and all other class members.

3.The amended further fresh statement of claim asserts a claim for damages for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty and seeks an order that Manulife pay to the members of the class the same compensation that it paid to each of its eligible policyholders under its plan of demutualization.

4. The trial commenced on March 5, 2012, adjourned on March 21, 2012, resumed on April 10, 2012 and was completed on May 18, 2012.  Justice Newbould reserved his decision.

5. On August 1, 2012, the Class Action was dismissed.  The reasons are attached.