Typically, most people are not aware that they may be eligible for a total and permanent disability (TPD) payout. While most Australians have TPD cover in their superannuation funds, many are completely unaware of it. This client of ours was one of many, surprised to learn that he was entitled to make a TPD claim.
Being already on workers compensation, our client didn’t know that he could make a separate TPD claim. Our client was employed as a Glass and Aluminium Installer for approximately 8 years. He was injured due to the natures and conditions of work which included repetitive heavy lifting of glass and aluminium. He sustained injuries to his neck, lower back and right knee. In February 2020 our client stopped working as his injuries prevented him from being able to return to work.
When our client told us that he had been off work for some time, we informed him that he may be eligible for making a TPD claim. Our client was quite surprised and extremely hopeful. Once we obtained his superannuation statements and investigated their policies, we found that our client had approximately $128,000.00 of TPD insurance sitting in his superfund.
A TPD benefit is payable to individuals who become totally and permanently disabled and can no longer work to earn an income. To find out if you have cover, Alliance Compensation and Litigation Lawyers can do a quick check on your behalf. The information is usually provided to us within 3-5 days. To obtain information on your behalf we require three things: your signed authority, your member number and the date you stopped work, also known as the date of disablement.
If you have multiple superannuation funds, you may be able to make multiple claims for TPD. Your member statements will provide us with what insurance is covered in each fund. To make a TPD claim against a policy we need to make sure that the policy was valid when you became ill or injured. We also need to read the TPD policy to understand their approval criteria.
In terms of our client, once we contacted the superfund to let them know that we wanted to lodge a TPD claim, we were sent various forms that required completion. We were able to assist our client to complete the forms and to obtain the necessary information requested by the superfund which included medical statements from our client’s treating doctors.
Once we submitted the completed forms to the superfund it took approximately 6 months for the superfund to assess our client’s claim. On 26 June 2022 we received notification that our client’s claim TPD had been approved. Our client was ecstatic to hear the news and just six weeks later, on 5 August 2022 the funds had been deposited.
If like our client, you can no longer work due to an illness, or an injury please contact the team at Alliance Compensation and Litigation Lawyers so that we can see if you’re eligible for a TPD payout.
