If you’re a working Australian, it’s more than likely that you’re making contributions to your superannuation fund, known more commonly as super. This fund offers the greatest peace of mind that you’ll be able to retire comfortably and with financial stability. It also may give you access to total and permanent disability insurance, or TPD, should you ever need to permanently take leave from work.
Unfortunately, it can sometimes be much harder than it should be to access the help you need should illness or tragedy strike. Even when you have everything an insurer needs to process the claims, they can use a whole host of tactics against you to make it very difficult to gain access to the benefits you’re entitled to.
Delay tactics to look out for
Some of the common ways in which an insurer may try to delay your access to your TPD benefits include:
Poor communication
The first and most basic tactic that an insurer can use to slow the claims process down is simply poor communication. You might come across an insurer who doesn’t keep you well-informed about the process, who fails to call you or email you, or leaves you on hold on the phone for over an hour (if you can actually get to them on the phone at all).
Wanting the world
In the claims industry, you might be unfortunate to have to deal with an insurer who “wants the world”. Just when you think you’ve sent over an endless batch of documents, report after report, and all the financial information they could ever need, your insurer asks for something else. You will eventually feel that you have nothing left to provide, yet your insurer will still expect more.
Transferring your claim between staff
Another simple way for insurers to prologue your claim is to pass it back and forth between staff members, including “new” staff members, who will need to discuss your claim in detail with you before getting started where the previous insurer left off. You might find that you’re repeating yourself to a number of different people without seeing much if any, progress.
Lengthy internal process delays
When you’re waiting to hear back about your claim, it’s more than likely that the behind the scenes internal processes will take longer than usual. It’s common for admin tasks to take longer than required, which results in increased periods of no communication between you and the insurer. You may check up on the progress of your insurer only to hear that there has been a hold-up that is preventing your claim from being handled more proactively.
If you’re struggling to gain access to total and permanent disability benefits, you may need to seek help from someone who can fight your corner. At Life Matters Claims, we can stand for you when you feel pressured into defeat. We’ll put your claim first, taking the stress away from handling it yourself, and giving you the time you need to relax and recuperate.