Total & Permanent Disability/ Total Incapacity
It is a lump-sum payment that is paid to you if you are unable to:
Due to sickness or injury, you are unable/unlikely to work in a job you are suited to by training, education or experience.
You do not have to be in a vegetable state. Do not fall for the insurance marketing wording of “Total & Permanent”- this is designed to keep you away from claiming.
It is usually found in your superannuation account.
If you have more than one policy, usually you can claim them all. Our guidance will help you not get locked out of one if you claimed the other.
It could be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Can you imagine how your life would change
Our top 5 Tips!
Before quitting your job or stopping work, it is important to confirm with your insurer, as some policies will cease the insurance cover once you quit your job, and some require that you are on sick leave. You can use our parent company HFI Medical Retirement Assistance for support.
If your policy was active on the day you became disabled, you probably can claim regardless whether the policy is still in place.
When beginning the claim process, it is important to get the right medical evidence. Getting your medical history from your GP would be key to getting the correct dates as to when your symptoms started, when you were diagnosed and ongoing care.
It is also important to ask the insurer or superannuation for the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and Insurance Policy document. Key dates would be when you stopped working or your last day of gainful employment due to your medical condition.
After you have lodged the claim, one should keep in mind, the medical reports to be completed have detailed information for the doctor to complete, therefore, it would be key to book a head of time, a longer appointment with your doctor to complete the forms.
John’s Story
John is a 46-year-old male, who worked in the hospitality industry as a casual employee. He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2015 and had to stop working in 2016. When he came to us last year he was at risk of homelessness, scared, anxious and confused. He was overwhelmed with both the symptoms of the MS he was experiencing and the worry of taking care of his family.
We offered a free investigation process to find any entitlements he is eligible for. It did not take long before we found an old insurance policy of $215,000 in his superannuation that covered him for MS and he could still claim it. Like many others, he was surprised and did not know about it.
Our priority was to first lessen his financial burden and support him. We proceeded to assist him apply for early release of his superannuation savings under disability release of superannuation benefits. This provided him with much needed financial relief and lessened his worry while the claim took place.
We then proceeded to claim on the TPD insurance. We ensured we requested the correct evidence from both John, his doctors and previous employer. We reviewed all the evidence and provided relevant information to the superannuation company. Every week or when we made progress, John received a message telling him where things are at. He also logged to our user friendly portal checking the progress himself.
We followed up with the insurer and superannuation and the TPD claim was approved in 2 months! John was beyond words on receiving the wonderful news.
He has since purchased an appropriate wheelchair, medical mattress and aircon which he very much needed, as the symptoms of the MS continue to exacerbate. He is now in the process of purchasing a house and always grateful of the advocacy we provided him.
It does not stop there! We continued to assist him with our advocacy services, by helping him successfully apply for the Disability Support Pension with Centrelink (he had been rejected multiple times before we got involved)
Key Points:
We are there to fight hard for you to lessen your worries!
Getting relevant information and evidence is important for the superannuation and insurance companies.
It is key to liaise with your doctors for a swift provision of medical evidence. It is also much cheaper to obtain them yourself.
Be heard! Our exclusive system, HearMe to identify how your health condition or disability has impacted your life. We will use it to generate a letter to your doctor communicating the daily challenges to support you get the right evidence, quickly to unlock all benefits.