Three insurance providers have been fined $13.5 million after a court found they wrongfully sold coverage to customers including Indigenous people in remote communities.

English wasn’t the first language of some customers who didn’t fully understand products being sold to them – or that they’d even been sold insurance in the first place.

Select AFSL, BlueInc Services and Insurance Marketing Services were fined the combined penalty after being found to have engaged in unconscionable conduct among other financial service law contraventions.

The insurance included life, funeral and accidental injury coverage.

Select and BlueInc’s former sole director Russell Howden copped a $100,000 personal fine and was also disqualified from managing corporations for five years for breaches of directors’ duties.

The fines were handed down in the Federal Court on Tuesday after a case pursued by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

Justice Wendy Abraham found high pressure tactics were applied and misrepresentations were made to consumers.

“Sales tactics were used to overbear the free will of consumers,” she said.

“Having made the sales, retention agents ignored the express wishes of the consumers to cancel policies and acted so as to wear them down.”

ASIC deputy chairwoman Sarah Court said it was a clear case of consumers not having the opportunity to understand and consider features of insurance they had been offered, which led to poor consumer outcomes.

Select and BlueInc were also penalised for offering unlawful sales incentives, including a Gold Coast cruise, a Vespa scooter and trips to Las Vegas and Hawaii.

They were a key driver to sell the products, Ms Court said.

– AAP