Former IAG Chairman Nicholas Whitlam has won damages from the insurance group after the NSW Supreme Court found it had acted unconscionably in delaying a $520,000 retirement payout promised to him when he agreed to resign.

Mr Whitlam resigned from the chairmanship and board of IAG, then known as NRMA Insurance Group, in April 2001. He said he was assured by other board members he would receive the full retirement benefit calculated under a new policy.

But the board didn’t pay Mr Whitlam until September 2003 due to a pending court case against him, and a shareholder requisition seeking to block the payment.

The court rejected Mr Whitlam’s claim for a total package worth about $950,000, plus extra compensation for stress and anxiety due to the delay of this payment. The claim also included a $16,000 holiday to Italy.

The court decided Mr Whitlam would receive interest on the late payment in addition to a superannuation figure of $207,000.