Josephine Grace was living in emergency housing when she got a knock at the door.

"We were wondering who they were, and they reckoned they were from the Aboriginal funeral planning mob," she said.

"We sat down and talked with them and they said they help Aboriginal people when you pass away for funeral costs, because it's expensive."

Josephine and her family — her partner and their three children — were signed up to the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund (ACBF), an insurance provider that said it provided funeral plans for those practising Sorry Business.

It wasn't until last year, almost two decades after she was door-knocked while living in Broome, that she attempted to make a claim.

Her partner passed away, and having initially signed up for the $6,000 policy, Josephine said she was told only $4,000 would be made available not to her — but directly to the funeral director.

She alleged representatives from ACBF — now known as Youpla — told her she would need to invest more money into the fund before they could pay her out the full amount.

Confused by her experience, Josephine reached out to Broome Circle, a not-for-profit organisation that helps people in financial crisis.

Veronica Johnson, a financial counsellor with Broome Circle, has been trying to uncover the extent of ACBF's work before it was pulled up by the regulator in 2005.

Investigations take financial counsellors out bush

Until recently, it was believed ACBF mainly operated in the eastern states, with customers from Queensland coming forward with their stories.

However, financial counsellors have uncovered a number of clients based in Western Australia's Kimberley region — home to one of the country's highest concentrations of remote Aboriginal communities.

Ms Johnson and Financial Rights Australia began investigating the company's activities after it was grilled by the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, where it was accused of exploiting the cultural significance of funerals to Aboriginal communities.

Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission submitted that ACBF may have misled consumers into believing it was an Aboriginal-owned company, did not pay out in the event of a suicide and was designed in such a way that policyholders might pay more in premiums than they were ever entitled to receive.

The company had been investigated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) three times before, with the regulator most recently taking action in the Federal Court for allegedly breaching the ASIC Act.

Ms Johnson and her team from Broome Circle have travelled up and down WA's Dampier Peninsula and found just over a dozen of ACBF's former clients who said they had had varying issues with the insurer.

But due to the Kimberley's remoteness, it has been a difficult task letting people know of ASIC's most recent investigation into the insurer.

Uncovering clients in remote communities

Michelle Cox lives in Djarindjin, a remote community about two hours out of Broome.

She said she only found out something was wrong when her policy was suddenly cut off while she was in the middle of dealing with significant financial stress.

With all four of her children signed up to the plan — including her youngest, who was signed up when she was a baby — she was nervous when the insurer knocked back her request to renegotiate her payments.

After paying more than $10,000 in premiums, she was suddenly cut loose.

This was despite ACBF's policy permitting a client to miss up to four premium instalment payments with a further 31-day period before a policy is cancelled due to non-payment.

Ms Cox said others on the peninsula could be in a similar position to her.

"They [the company] have been up and down these communities over the years, signing up people," she said.

Tracking down the financial footprint

Ms Johnson said the most concerning thing about working on the investigation was not knowing how widespread ACBF's activities were in the Kimberley.

Ms Johnson has been aided on the way by former ACBF employee Natalie Hunter, who worked in the Kimberley region signing people up before she learned of the Royal Commission's investigations.

An Aboriginal woman herself, Ms Hunter said she thought she was helping people with a tailored product from an Indigenous-owned company.

She even signed up her family to the fund, and was heartened when she received $15,000 after the death of a family member.

Ms Hunter said while she had suspicions during her time working at the company, she was surprised to find out they were not an Aboriginal-owned organisation.

Through her investigations and conversations with Ms Hunter, Ms Johnson said she heard stories of up to 50 people queueing to sign up outside the Beagle Bay General Store.

Financial counsellors allege the insurer deliberately targeted remote communities where there was poor financial literacy.

Ms Johnson said all the clients she had uncovered in the Kimberley were of the same ilk.

As investigations into clients in Western Australia continue, Ms Johnson said she and Broome Circle would keep travelling the Kimberley to meet people and hear their stories.

"We'll be happy to assist … in whatever way we can to actually investigate the situation and do the best we can to get a refund," she said.

'We take complaints very seriously': Youpla

In response to the allegations, a statement from Youpla's board of directors said they were unable to discuss the matter as it was before the court.

"We take complaints very seriously," it said.

"We encourage all members who are unsatisfied with the product or service of Youpla to contact us."

The company said it was focused on the continued improvement of its products, and its main focus was now on meeting the needs of its customers.

Youpla said that since late 2018, it had been 50 per cent Aboriginal-owned.

It said in the same year, it changed ACBF's practice of refunding contributions when a member died as the result of suicide to allow next of kin to make a claim for the full benefit amount.