Total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance covers you for a permanent injury or illness. TPD insurance policies vary from insurer to insurer and depend on your occupation, lifestyle and personal details such as your age, gender and health. TPD is often, but not always, included in superannuation packages and may also be taken out in conjunction with a life insurance policy.
What TPD Insurance Could Cover
If you are permanently injured either because of a workplace accident, a car accident or an accident that has happened because of your lifestyle, TPD insurance will provide a lump sum payment which can help to pay for things like:
- general day to day living expenses;
- loans and mortgage repayments;
- savings that you may want to use for your retirement;
- medical expenses related to your disability.
Types of TPD Insurance
Insurers have different definitions of what is classified as a “permanent disability.” It may be classified as being unable to do the job you were doing before becoming disabled or being unable to do any job that could be done with the level of training, qualifications and experience you have acquired. Generally, policies that pay out TPD for disabilities that affect your ability to do the same sort of job have more expensive premiums than those that payout for an inability to do any type of relevant job.
TPD insurance policies may also vary because of differences in:
- the cooling-off period;
- exclusions;
- clauses excluding pre-existing medical conditions.
Calculating How Much TPD Cover You Might Want
Before you start comparing different TPD insurance packages, you should work out how much cover you might want to purchase. If you have more assets that could be used to help pay for all the expenses you are likely to incur after a permanent injury or illness, then you can reduce your TPD cover and keep your insurance premium costs down.
You may already have another insurance policy such as income protection insurance that can help fill the gap. Your savings and other liquid assets, as well as anything which you could sell to release cash should all be taken into account. You will need to check out if there is TPD cover already included in your super fund, as this may be cheaper than some of the TPD packages offered by insurance brokers or insurance companies.
What an Insurer Will want to Know About You
As with any insurance policy, TPD insurance premiums are adjusted according to the level of assumed risk. Insurers will usually request information about you which they will use to determine the premium, such as:
- your age,
- your gender;
- medical history;
- family medical history, i.e. if there has been a history of an early onset illness;
- occupation;
- risky hobbies or sports that you commonly undertake;
- other lifestyle habits that could influence your health such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, etc.
It is always preferable to be as honest as possible when providing these details as any discrepancy discovered after a claim can ruin your chances of obtaining an insurance payment.
Most TPD insurance contained within your supernational fund is provided without needing to provide or prove any of the above. This is considered Default Cover and automatically provided to you once you join a superannuation fund. The benefit amount is also the default amount and can be increased usually by providing and providing the above points.
A Lawyer Can Help You with Your TPD insurance Claim
Insurers are often slow or reluctant to pay out large sums of money even when the claim is valid. A qualified TPD claims lawyer can help you with a TPD insurance claim if you are finding the insurer is proving to be difficult to negotiate with or has denied your claim for what seems to be an unjustified reason.
It can also be a very confusing process with many forms and documents that you have to provide to support any claim. This can be very stressful and overwhelming, particularly when you are dealing with an injury or illness. Many people contact an insurance lawyer gold coast, such as those at Main Lawyers, to manage this process for them so they can concentrate on managing their injury or illness.
