Losing vision, partially or completely, can be life-changing, personally, financially, and professionally. If blindness prevents you from continuing your usual occupation, you may be entitled to claim Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) or income protection benefits through your superannuation or personal insurance.
Understanding TPD and income protection cover
Most superannuation funds include default insurance that covers you if you:
- become totally and permanently disabled (TPD); or
- are temporarily unable to work due to illness or injury (income protection or salary continuance insurance).
For those with blindness (partial or complete), the key question is usually whether your condition prevents you from ever returning to work in your usual or any occupation (depending on your policy wording). Notably, we do sometimes see insurance policies that will pay out a lump sum TPD benefit where you are not required to have stopped working due to the permanent loss of vision. Again, this is dependent on the wording of your policy.
What is a TPD claim?
A TPD claim allows you to access a lump-sum insurance payment if you become permanently unable to work (in your own occupation or any other occupation for which you are suited by education, training or experience) due to illness or injury. Most superannuation funds automatically include some level of TPD cover, though the definitions and criteria vary between insurers and policies.
Outside of considerations around work capacity, you may also be able to claim a TPD due to being blind, without ceasing work. If you’re unsure about the wording of your policy or whether you are able to claim TPD for blindness, while not stopping work, you should seek advice from a TPD lawyer.
You can learn more about TPD claims in our earlier blog, “Your guide to making a successful TPD claim”.
What is an income protection claim?
If you have income protection (also known as salary continuance insurance), you may be entitled to monthly payments while you are temporarily unable to work because of your vision loss.
Key features of income protection insurance include:
- payments are usually 75–85% of your pre-disability income, capped at a maximum amount;
- there’s a waiting period (often 30–90 days) before payments start;
- benefits continue until you recover, reach the end of your benefit period, or your condition becomes permanent, in which case you may then be eligible for a TPD lump sum.
You can learn more about income protection in our earlier blog, “What is income protection and how do income protection claims work?”
How do disability insurance policies define blindness?
While every policy differs slightly, any TPD policy includes a specific clause or example covering “loss of sight”. This may mean:
- total and permanent loss of sight in both eyes; or
- total and permanent loss of sight in one eye, combined with loss of use of one limb; or
- partial but functionally disabling vision loss where the person is unable to perform the key duties of their occupation.
Some policies automatically pay the full TPD benefit if a medical specialist certifies complete and permanent blindness in both eyes, even without assessing work capacity. Others require that your blindness prevents you from working in any occupation suited to your education, training or experience (as per the usual TPD definition).
What medical evidence is usually required to win a TPD claim for blindness?
Your TPD claim for blindness must be supported by detailed medical evidence. Typically, this includes:
- reports or certifications from your treating doctors confirming diagnosis, cause, and permanence of vision loss;
- reports or certifications from your treating general practitioners or specialists about prognosis, functional limitations, and work capacity.
Where blindness results from progressive diseases (like macular degeneration, glaucoma, or diabetic retinopathy), insurers will look closely at the degree of permanence and remaining vision and assess against their policy terms.
Some common causes of blindness leading to TPD or income protection claims
- Diabetic retinopathy;
- Glaucoma;
- Macular degeneration;
- Optic neuropathy;
- Retinitis pigmentosa;
- Traumatic or chemical injury to the eyes;
- Stroke-related visual field loss.
Each of these conditions can support a valid TPD claim if the vision loss is permanent and prevents you from working in your usual or any suitable occupation. Some policies also cover permanent loss of vision, even if you’re still able to work.
Blindness is one of the few conditions that can qualify you for a TPD payout automatically, depending on your policy wording. But every insurer assesses claims differently, and missing documentation and/or a lack of detailed medical evidence can cause long delays or rejection of your claim.
Get help from a disability insurance lawyer
With the right medical evidence and legal support, you can access the financial security you’re entitled to through your super fund’s TPD and income protection insurance, and if you have multiple funds/policies, you may be able to make multiple claims.
Berrill & Watson has helped many Australians successfully claim TPD and income protection benefits after losing their vision. We provide free initial advice, so it costs you nothing to find out where you stand, and we only charge you if we win.
Contacting Berrill & Watson
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📞 Anywhere else in Australia: 03 9448 8048
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