We help people claim total and permanent disability (TPD claims), income protection, death and other insurance benefits all over Australia. We do this work in Adelaide and all-over South Australia (SA). We come to you which means, no matter where you are in SA, we can arrange for our expert superannuation lawyer, Tom Cobban to come and visit you at your home or somewhere nearby.
Because we are superannuation and insurance experts, we know all about the different types of super TPD benefits offered under each of the different funds.
In South Australia a lot of our clients have superannuation death and disability claims with superannuation funds that are unique to SA; for example, Statewide Super.
Before making a disability or death benefit claim from these funds you should remember that:
The meaning of Total and Permanent Disability varies from insurance policy to insurance policy. Under the SA based Statewide Superannuation scheme; for example, Total and Permanent Disability has two different meanings; one of the definitions is a work based (definition A) and the other is not (definition B).
The work-based definition* requires that, solely due to illness or injury, a person is (in summary):
Importantly, if a person makes any change to their employment before they stop working or stops working and then attempts (and fails) to return to work, this can impact on the date from which the claim is assessed. This is important because it can change the amount that a person is entitled to and their eligibility to claim.
Therefore, we recommend that all people who are considering ceasing work or changing their work habits due to injury or illness get in touch prior to doing so. Similarly, anyone looking to claim on their superannuation TPD or private insurance policies should seek advice first.
We have had a lot of success claiming and winning superannuation insurance benefits for many people.
One such big win with a Statewide Super claim involved a man who lived in south-eastern South Australia.
We visited him in his home and during this meeting, we worked out that he had an entitlement to claim a TPD insurance benefit. We helped him lodge the claim, which was complicated by the fact that he hadn’t worked for about 5 years.
Further, he had moved from Adelaide to country SA, had consulted a number of different doctors in Salisbury, Mt Gambier and Millicent and had had some trouble engaging with his doctors due to the cost and the nature of his mental health issues and due to homelessness.
However, with a bit of elbow grease, some perseverance and a lot of know-how, we were able to get this man a benefit of around $65,000.
This is not bad when you consider that before this man’s financial counsellor referred him to us, he had no idea that he had any insurance cover in his superannuation account and had already accessed his superannuation account balance and closed his account.
We have significant experience across the many funds available and we’ve run and won super and insurance claims for our clients, all across Australia.
If you’re unsure if you have any insurance entitlements for injury and illness or you’ve had a TPD, income protection or any other insurance claim rejected, don’t give up. Do not just let it be.
* This definition is current and accurate at the time of publishing but may change from time to time.
By 1 December 2019, super funds have to notify members with small accounts that their death and disability insurance cover will be cut off on 1 April 2020, unless they tell the fund they want it to continue.
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As a result of a spike in TPD claims from around 2011 to 2013, many insurers in recent years have changed and tightened their definitions of TPD to make claims harder to win. One very notable change is the introduction of re-training clauses.
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In the last 5 years, there is a worrying trend creeping into Total and Permanent Disability insurance benefits of imposing a much harsher ‘Activities of Daily Living’ (ADL) test.
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Usually your super, which includes your account balance and any superannuation death benefits will be paid to your dependents when you die. But not always!
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