According to a writ filed in the WA District Court by Maurice Blackburn lawyers on behalf of Mrs Augustine, the 60-year-old made a claim for insurance benefits through her insurance provider, OnePath Life. The writ alleges OnePath Life promised to pay a monthly benefit of more than $2000, so long as Mrs Augstine was "totally disabled due to illness". After receiving her application in 2015 for that benefit, OnePath Life declined the claim. A review was carried out into the original decision, but the rejection still stands. In an interview with WAtoday , Mrs Augustine explained how her bones had been left extremely brittle in the wake of her cancer treatment.

Last year she broke her tibia and needed surgery after her leg came into contact with a kerb. Earlier this year she also required surgery on her shoulder for a ripped tendon. She described the past several years as extremely stressful. "We try to be as positive as we can," she said. "I'm disappointed and hurt, we placed our trust in these people.

"I have my good days and my bad days but the whole process has been extremely stressful." Mrs Augustine said she tried to go back to work, but found it very hard. "I did go back last year but it was just too much, eventually I just could not do it," she said. Mrs Augustine's husband Gerald said the entire process had been financially worrying and consuming. "We did not know where to turn," he said.

"But we hope others can learn from our situation. One of the reasons why we are speaking out is to warn others, to make people aware." Central to the entire case, Maurice Blackburn lawyers say, is a meeting Mrs Augustine and her husband had with a financial adviser, years before her cancer diagnosis. An application for insurance through OnePath Life was made by the adviser electronically during one of the meetings. The adviser asked questions as he completed the form, which Mrs Augustine answered. She later signed all the necessary forms to process the application. But the electronic application was riddled with mistakes, Maurice Blackburn allege.

For example, the application stated Mrs Augustine had never been pregnant, when in fact she has four children. OnePath Life claim Mrs Augstine did not fully disclose her medical history, and would have reached and exceeded the maximum number of exclusions under the policy. The exclusions OnePath Life claim should have been put in place relate to knee, back, shoulder, and other health issues. But Maurice Blackburn lawyers point out none of those exclusions related to the reasons why Mrs Augstine stopped working. "Marjory met with an insurance adviser and gave honest and open answers to all questions put to her," Maurice Blackburn principal Phil Gleeson said.

"The rejection of Marjory's insurance claim is a terrible blow for someone battling cancer. "It is made more hurtful when the rejection is for non-disclosure and yet it is glaringly obvious to anyone reading a form where a mother of four children denies ever being pregnant that her actual answers clearly have not made their way into her application form.” OnePath Life is owned by the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ). An ANZ spokesman told WAtoday on Tuesday it was "aware of the matter and was looking into it". "We are continuing to engage in good faith with the customer’s solicitors about some of the complex details involved in this matter," the spokesman said.