While people who have sustained a disability or debilitating illness are increasingly aware that they may have a claim on the insurance policy locked away in their Super fund, most remain unaware that the benefits of more than one Super fund can be accessed.

Given that many workers have accumulated several funds over the course of their working lives, it is timely to remind anyone who is no longer able to work as a result of a disability, that it is likely there are several insurance policies against which they may be able to lodge a claim.

One reason why claims against multiple funds are often overlooked is that, once someone is either injured or ill and no longer able work, they roll all their various super funds into one single fund. Which makes sense. Except that, they then believe that only the one remaining consolidated fund may be claimed against, whereas the fact is that ALL and ANY policies previously owned at the time of injury will most likely contain insurance policies that remain active.

In fact, I recently had a client who was a casual worker and had five superannuation funds and for whom we lodged five TPD (Total Permanent Disability) applications. Four of these claims were accepted in the first instance and the 5th was accepted once we disputed the fund’s decision.

This made a very positive financial impact for the unwell claimant. If you have more than one superannuation fund, you may be able to bring claims with all of your superannuation funds, if you had cover at the relevant time.

Can casual workers claim from multiple super funds?

If you work casually, you should also have a super fund or maybe several super funds.

First, it is important that you check the level of insurance cover in your fund’s TPD policy. You should be satisfied with the level of cover. If not, it is easy to increase it. Remember: super fund TPD insurance policies vary enormously in terms of their benefits.

For example: one fund may insure you for as little as $10,000 for a permanent or total permanent disability; others well over $120,000. So, it pays to check.

If you are unsure if you are eligible to make a TPD claim, you may value our help.

This is a free and non-obligatory service.