RBC Insurance Class Action (JUNE 2026 Update)

The certification hearing for Geiss Holdings Ltd. v. RBC Life Insurance Company and Royal Bank of Canada (BCSC Vancouver Registry No. VLC-S-S-243397) is scheduled for July 13, 2026, before Justice Ramsay at the Vancouver courthouse. The hearing is set for five days.

Background

This action was brought under British Columbia’s Class Proceedings Act on behalf of policyholders of the RBC Life Security Fund policy (SFCE 4.1 112001) who enrolled in the Smoothed Return Investment Account (SRIA) endorsement. The plaintiff, Geiss Holdings Ltd., alleges that RBC Life failed to credit policyholders’ SRIA accounts in the manner the contract required. The policy and endorsement stated that investment returns would reflect the performance of RBC Life’s general fund portfolio. The plaintiff alleges that instead, RBC Life credited returns from a single affiliated mutual fund, the RBC Select Conservative Portfolio Series A (managed by RBC Global Asset Management, an entity affiliated with RBC Life), net of that fund’s management expense ratio. This effectively added an undisclosed layer of fees on top of the agreed management fee of 1.65%, which the contract permitted at no more than 2.25%.

According to the claim, this arrangement was not disclosed to policyholders until mid-2023, after insurance advisors began questioning the returns being reported. As of early 2023, the total value of SRIA accounts across all affected policyholders was approximately $1.6 billion, and more than 350 policyholders make up the proposed class.

What Was Filed

Both sides filed their certification materials in mid-June 2026. The plaintiff’s legal counsel, Rosenberg Law and Kornfeld LLP, filed a formal Notice of Application for certification, asking the court to certify the action as a class proceeding on behalf of all qualifying policyholders, to certify 48 common legal and factual issues covering contract breach, fiduciary duty, misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy, and fraudulent concealment, and to appoint Geiss Holdings Ltd. as representative plaintiff.

On June 16, RBC filed its formal opposition to certification. RBC disputes the scope of the class definition and argues the 48 proposed common issues are excessive. It also filed an expert report from an actuary at Eckler Ltd. (Toronto) who takes the position that any damages calculation would need to be done on an individual, policy-by-policy basis rather than at the class level. These are the competing positions that will be argued before Justice Ramsay in July.

The recently filed court documents are available to view on our dedicated page.

What This Means for You

The certification stage is not a ruling on the merits of the case. The court is determining whether the claims are suitable to proceed as a class action: specifically, whether the policyholders share enough common facts and legal issues to make a class proceeding the right vehicle. No finding of liability has been made at this stage.

The plaintiff’s legal team has indicated they remain confident the certification criteria are met and are well prepared for the July hearing.

If you hold the RBC Life Security Fund policy with the SRIA endorsement, you may be a proposed class member. We will continue to keep you informed as the case progresses and will send an update after the July hearing. If you have questions about how this litigation may relate to your specific policy, please feel free to reach out.

To follow further developments relating to this action visit our dedicated webpage here.