TPD & Income Protection Claims | Hall Payne Lawyers

If you or a family member can’t work due to illness or injury, you may be eligible for a total and permanent disability (“TPD”) lump sum payment through your superannuation fund insurance cover or a private disability insurance policy. This is called a TPD claim.

Most superannuation funds provide insurance benefits to their members.

Many Australians are not aware that they have TPD insurance as part of the benefits of their membership of a super fund. They may also have death benefits and in many cases income protection insurance (also known as salary continuance cover).

We offer these services on a “no win, no-fee” basis

Hall Payne has the expert legal knowledge and experience needed to understand the complex definitions within your individual insurance policies and provide you with specific advice; whether it be through your superannuation fund policy or a stand-alone policy of disability insurance.

For decades our lawyers have helped with:

preparing and lodging TPD claims;
appealing rejected TPD claims;
death benefit claims; and
income protection claims.

We can help you lodge your initial claim and also dispute decisions to decline a claim. We can also assist to speed up a claim process (through formal complaint processes) if your superannuation fund or their insurer are not taking reasonable steps to actively assess and decide your claim.

We offer these services on a “no win, no-fee” basis.

For help with your TPD or income protection claim, call 1800 659 114

What is TPD?

TPD stands for Total and Permanent Disablement/Disability.

This term will be specifically defined in the policy of insurance you hold. Whilst most definitions are similar, they do vary.

They generally cover a situation where a person suffers an injury or illness (and sometimes both) which prevents them from being able to return to work. In some cases, policy definitions can be restricted to only consider the persons “own occupation” but usually will relate to their capacity to return to any form of employment that fits within their education, training and experience.

TPD claims are available for physical injuries, illnesses like cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinsons etc. You can also claim TPD benefits for mental illness.

Who can claim?

Anyone who has cover and cannot return to work due to an injury and/or illness can make a claim.

Types of injury/illnesses that can be claimed

There are usually no limitations as to what can be considered by an insurer. Medical evidence/support for the ongoing incapacity for work as a direct result of your injury or illness is essential.

Lodging claims

A lot of work is required to prepare the necessary forms and collate the supporting evidence to ensure that a claim has the best prospects of being accepted.

Hall Payne Lawyers will assist by doing the work for you and preparing detailed submissions to convince the insurer that you meet the relevant policy definition. We will be your representative throughout the claim process and deal with any queries and requests for additional information or documentation on your behalf.

Multiple claims (multiple policies)

We can do a search for any super funds you have and determine what policies you may have TPD insurance for.

We will review all your policies and determine the prospects for each claim to be accepted. Many individuals hold insurance under more than one superannuation fund or stand-alone policy. In some cases, multiple claims can be submitted and paid out for the same injury or illness.

What is income protection?

As the name suggests, this type of insurance covers an individual when they are without any income (or in some cases have had their income level reduced) due to suffering from injury or illness which prevents them from working for a period of time.

Who has income protection?

As with TPD insurance, many superannuation fund members are provided with this type of insurance cover when they joined their fund. Cover for income protection is not as common as cover for TPD. We can check your policies to see if you have this cover. Some people also hold ‘stand-alone’ (outside their superannuation fund).

How TPD/income protection claims differ from other types of injury claims

TPD and income protection claims are separate to a worker’s compensation claim, motor accident compensation claim and/or other injury claims, like public liability.

It may be the case that you also have a claim under one of these claim types. It is important that you obtain expert legal advice about the circumstances of your injury/illness to ensure that you are aware of your legal rights.

At Hall Payne, we will maximise the amount of benefits that you can recover.