Frequently Asked Questions.

Here are some of the events you can choose to be covered for under your TAL insurance policy.

• If you die or are diagnosed with a terminal illness: your family receives a lump-sum payment. This is called Life Insurance.
• If you’re diagnosed with a serious critical illness such as a malignant cancer or you suffer a severe heart attack: you receive a lump-sum payment. This is called Recovery Insurance.
• If you’re permanently disabled and unable to work: you receive a lump-sum payment. This is called Total Permanent Disability (TPD).
• If you’re temporarily unable to work due to illness or injury: you receive a monthly benefit of up to $10,000, up to 75% of your salary. This is called Income Protection.

This is a general guide only to the different types of life insurance and the circumstances in which a claim may be payable. You can find out exactly what you’re eligible for by reading the terms and conditions of your insurance policy, which are detailed in your policy document.

What are Illness, Accident, Adventure Sports Cover?

You can tailor your insurance to suit your individual needs, for example with Life Insurance you can choose to get:

• Accident cover – Your loved ones receive a lump-sum payment to protect their future, if you die as the result of an accident. For example, a car accident.
• Illness cover – Your loved ones receive a lump-sum payment so they can keep living their lives to the fullest, if you pass away because of an illness such as cancer or heart disease.
• Adventure Sports cover – If you take up Accident Cover, you can extend it with Adventure Sports Cover. This means that your loved ones receive a lump-sum payment if you die from activities such as hang-gliding or scuba diving.

Find out more about more about the specific cover types you can get for Life Insurance , Total Permanent Disability Insurance , Recovery Insurance  and Income Protection .

You will need to speak to one of our professional Life Insurance Specialists on 131 TAL about including any of the following:

• Bundling – Bundled policies are when the lump sum covers (Life, TPD or Recovery Insurance) are linked together. A claim payment under one of the Bundled covers will reduce the total benefits available under the Bundled covers by the claim amount paid. Find out more
• Cover Pause - In case of financial hardship, you can pause your cover for up to three months. You won’t pay premiums but you also won’t be covered during that time. It’s easy to switch on your cover again. Find out more
• Premium Relief (For Life Insurance, TPD, Recovery Insurance) – If you add this option, you won’t need to pay your Lifetime Protection premiums if you are unable to work for at least three consecutive months due to illness or accident. Find out more
• Increasing Claims Option (For Income Protection only) – If you are receiving benefit payments, we will increase the payment in line with inflation, while you are receiving them. Find out more
• Day One Accident (For Income Protection only) – Instead of having to wait out your chosen waiting period, your payments will start accruing from the first day you’re off work due to a total disability from an injury. Find out more

Most Australians have some form of life insurance through their super. The default level of cover is not based on your unique current and future financial obligations, so you may want to check to see if it’s enough. It may not be possible to take up some types of cover through your super fund. You may also want to consider whether you’re able to take your insurance with you if you leave your employer.

You may be able to increase your insurance cover. You can contact us  to discuss your options with our Life Insurance Specialists. Or, depending on how you bought your cover, you can contact your financial adviser, super fund or employer to find out if you can increase your cover, and the steps to take.

We need to send you important information from time to time so it’s important we have your up-to-date contact details. Please contact us to let us know about any change to your address, telephone number or email.

Generally Life, TPD and Recovery payments will not be taxed.  Income Protection payments will usually be tax assessable. You should contact your tax adviser or the Australian Tax Office. (External link) for more information and advice on your particular situation.

Indexation is a way to help future-proof your insurance payment against the effect of inflation. Every year, as the cost of goods and services increases, your amount of cover will increase by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), capped at 3% for Income Protection and 5% for all others. This will help to ensure that your insurance cover has not been eroded by the effects of inflation. Your premiums will also rise in accordance with any increase in cover.

Bundled policies are when the lump sum covers (Life, TPD or Recovery Insurance) are linked together. A payment under one of the cover will reduce the benefit of the linked covers by the amount paid.

A standalone policy is not linked to any other covers. Payment of a benefit under a standalone policy will not reduce the benefit of the other covers.

The Life Buy Back Option allows you to buy back the Life Insurance benefit that was reduced when a benefit is paid from a bundled TPD or Recovery Insurance. The buyback can only occur 12 months after the claim is submitted or paid.

TAL is Australia’s life insurance specialist and for almost 150 years we’ve been protecting people, not things. Today, we insure more than 3 million Australians. And in 2015, we reached a new milestone paying over $1 billion in claims. Find out more about who we are and our life story.

Dai-ichi Life is the third largest life insurer in Japan and the owner of TAL.

Workers’ Compensation will only cover you if your injury happens in the workplace or your sickness can be directly linked to your employment.

If you’re receiving Income Protection payments, the amount you receive may be reduced if you’re also receiving Workers’ Compensation payments.

Yes, you can cancel your policy. To cancel your policy, you can speak to your financial adviser or contact us. We understand your circumstances may change, and we welcome a conversation about your needs.

My TAL  is an online portal, which allows you to manage your cover anywhere, any time. Through My TAL, you can do the following:

• Pay your premiums
• Request a certificate of currency
• Request a statement
• Update your contact details, and
• View all of your policy details.

All customers with a TAL Accelerated Protection are eligible to register for an account.

If you have any of the following policy types, you cannot register for a My TAL account. These will be included in future releases of the portal.

• SMSF Owned
• TAL Superannuation Owned
• Platform Owned
• Joint Owned
• Company Owned
• Investment Policies

To register for My TAL:

1. Go to our registration page and enter your email address
2. Click on ‘send confirmation email’
3. Go to your email and click on the link within the confirmation email
4. Complete the registration details

 

To login to My TAL if you’ve already registered:

1. Click on the ‘login’ tab
2. Enter your email address and select to receive a one-time password via SMS or email
• If you selected email, you will soon receive an email containing a link which will give you access
• If you selected SMS, your mobile phone will soon receive a six-digit code which will give you access

 

If you’re having any trouble with My TAL, just call us on 1300 209 088 (Mon-Fri, 8am-7pm AEST) and we’ll help you over the phone.

Once we’ve received your claim forms, a Claims Manager will contact you to discuss your claim and answer any questions you have. We feel it’s important that you always speak to the same person, so we assign you a dedicated Claims Manager to help you throughout the process.

If you have provided your Australian bank account details to us, we'll make the payment into this account. Otherwise we will send you a cheque.

In some instances, for example where your cover is purchased through you super fund, we may make the payment to the fund.

We can start assessing your TPD claim after you have been out of work for three months in a row. In some cases you may qualify immediately, such as due to blindness or loss of limb.

The Waiting Period is the period of time that you must be Totally Disabled. The Total Disability Benefit and Partial Disability Benefit are not payable during the Waiting Period. You can choose a waiting period of 2, 4, 13 or 104 weeks. Generally, the longer the Waiting Period, the cheaper the premiums.

We make your first payment one month after the waiting period ends. For example, let’s say you chose a 4 week waiting period. If you were injured and stopped work on 1st April, your waiting period would start on 1st April and end 28 days later on 28th April.

You would then qualify for your payments from the 29th April. And your first payment would be paid one month later, on the 28th May.

This can depend on when you lodge your claim. Once your claim has been approved, we aim to make your payment as soon as possible. If you remain off work because of illness or injury, and you’ve provided us with the claim requirements, you’ll start to receive payments one month after the waiting period  ends.

If you qualify to receive Total Disability payments and you return to work on a partial basis earning less than you were before your claim, you may be eligible for a Partial Disability Benefit. This allows you to receive some Income Protection payments on top of the partial income you’re able to earn.

We use a formula which is set out in your policy to calculate your Partial Disability Benefit. Your Claims Manager will use your payslip (or other proof of income) to understand what your regular income is. They will also show you how your benefits reduce as you receive income from sources such as Workers’ Compensation, Centrelink, other insurance policies and, in some cases, sick leave.

You must let your Claims Manager know if you return to work, or are receiving income from other sources, so we can make sure you receive the correct payments.

We have processes in place to ensure that all our claims decisions are fair and consistent.

If you don’t agree with our decision, you can write to our Complaints Resolution Department and ask that your case be independently reviewed under our internal dispute resolution process. The contact details are:

Complaints Department
TAL Life Limited
GPO Box 5380
Sydney NSW 2001

If you’re still dissatisfied with the outcome of this process, you can then choose to escalate your complaint to the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT) (External link) or Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) . (External link) These services are available to you free of charge, but you must first give us an opportunity to resolve your disagreement through our internal dispute resolution process.

Yes, we can assess your application again at a later date.

If you’ve made a claim, you can generally access all the information we hold about you. There are some limited exceptions under privacy legislation. For example in some circumstances we need to provide the information to your doctor instead of providing it directly to you. We will let you know if this is the case.

We take the protection of your personal and sensitive information very seriously. So, we ask that you make your request in writing to help us to identify you. All requests for information from your claim file should be addressed to:
The Privacy Officer
TAL Life Limited
GPO Box 5380
Sydney NSW 2001

Let us know which information you’re looking for, the name of the person it should be sent to, as well as their full contact details. It’s also useful if you can provide your policy number(s) with your request. We will aim to provide the information that you have requested within 30 days.

Yes, we appreciate any feedback about the way we do things. If you’ve had a positive experience with our claims team or have some ideas on how we can improve our claims processes or service, you can email us or send your suggestions to:

TAL Claims
TAL Life Limited
GPO Box 5380
Sydney NSW 2001

If you have no living beneficiary attached to your policy, your life insurance payment will be paid to your estate.

You do not need to update the insurer of any changes to your health or occupation once you have been accepted for the insurance. We will assess your situation at the point of application and your insurance will be based on your circumstances at that time. Your insurance cannot be cancelled by the insurer if your situation changes.

However, if you change your occupation, you could be entitled to a lower premium. In this case, you can request an alteration of policy based on the change in circumstances.

For example: John was a carpenter when he first took out insurance, however after a number of years he has transitioned to an office-based role within the construction industry. 

John is now eligible to alter his policy, which could decrease his premium as he has moved from a manual role to an office-based role.

If you’ve made a claim, your premiums will not increase outside of the normal age, general rate rises and increases due to indexation. 

However, based on your claim and what insurance you have, you may not be able to claim for that specific illness or injury again.

If you’re receiving payments for Income Protection, you will no longer pay these premiums. However, if you have other insurance policies (Life, Total Permanent Disability, Recovery Insurance), you will still pay these premiums.

If you do not make a binding beneficiary nomination , the super trustee will decide who gets your benefits when you die. Usually benefits are paid to dependents, after taking your wishes into consideration.

See 'What is the difference between a non-binding and a binding nomination?'

If you’re holding your insurance within your super, you’ll be asked to nominate a beneficiary – the details of the person (or people) who will receive the life insurance money if you pass away. You have the choice to make a binding or a non-binding nomination.

Binding nomination – This is a legally binding statement which the trustee will use to know who your money should go to if you pass away.

Non-binding nomination – This is not legally binding. The trustee will take your non-binding into consideration when making the life insurance payment on your behalf, in addition to other aspects of the law.

It is not possible to hold Recovery Insurance through your super. This is something which the government has enforced, so it applies to all insurance providers.

If the condition you claim for is excluded from the policy, then we will not be able to fulfil your claim. This is why it helps to completely understand what conditions you’re claimed for under your policy when you’re setting it up.

TAL provides you with worldwide cover. If you’re travelling abroad, or you move abroad, you will continue to be covered by the terms you set up when you bought the policy.

It is worth noting that if you move to a dangerous country, you won’t be covered.

One of our Customer Care Specialists will aim to resolve your issue with you when you call. If you’re not happy with the response or require further information, you can request to speak to a manager.

We’ll try and get back to you within 48 hours to acknowledge your complaint. But if your matter is urgent please let us know.

We may need to look into your complaint further. In this case, we aim to get back to you within five business days with a resolution, or our plan to fix the problem. You’ll receive the contact details of our Customer Care Specialist who is taking care of your complaint, in case you have any questions.

We understand that occasionally we may not be able to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction.

If you’re not happy with how we’re dealing with your complaint after 45 days (90 days if your complaint is related to super), you may wish to ask a Government department to look into it. The department to contact depends on whether you have a complaint related to insurance products or service , privacy  or super funds.

For complaints about sales, service or about Life Insurance products, you can contact The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). They provide an independent dispute resolution service.

Financial Ombudsman Service 
GPO Box 3
Melbourne
VIC 3001

Phone: 1300 78 08 08
Fax: 03 9613 6399
E-mail: info@fos.org.au

You can contact:

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

GPO Box 5218

Sydney NSW 2001

Phone: 1300 363 992

You can contact:

The Superannuation Complaints Tribunal

Locked Bag 3060, GPO

Melbourne VIC 3001

Phone: 1300 78 08 08

Fax: 03 8635 5588

E-mail: info@sct.gov.au

If you have trouble with hearing or speech, you may like to use the National Relay Service .

The Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) provides interpreting services to people who don’t speak English and to agencies and businesses that need to communicate with their non-English speaking clients. TIS National can be contacted on 131 450. There is no fee for this service.

Yes. However, you will need to tell us, either by calling or writing to us, that you have authorised another person to complain on your behalf.

If you’re concerned about TAL marketing, then contact us on 1300 209 088 or via our online form.

We offer a range of services to make it as easy as possible for all our customers to engage with us. These include support for customers from non-English speaking backgrounds, those with speech or hearing impediments, travel assistance for customers in rural or regional areas, and help meeting timelines for your appointments or paperwork.

Please contact our Customer Service team on 1300 209 088 or your Case Manager if you have any other questions about accessing additional support services.

Yes. The Australian Government’s Translation and Interpretive (TIS) service means you can speak to us through a translator. Call TIS on 13 14 50 to connect with a translator in your preferred language, who’ll then call through to us. TAL will cover any costs associated with the service.

You can also pre-book an interpreter for any appointments you have with us through your Customer Service Representative or Case Manager.

Yes. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, you can contact us through the NRS. Have the TAL phone number you want to connect to on hand when you call.

• For TTY (Text Telephone) users: call 133 677
• For Speak and Listen (speech-to-speech relay) users: call 1300 555 727
• For internet relay users: visit the National Relay Service website

When we’re assessing an application or claim, we sometimes need our customers to have an independent medical exam or attend an appointment for a specialised service.

Whenever possible, we’ll arrange these close to your home, but if you live in a rural or regional community and a suitable provider isn’t in the local area, we’ll pay reasonable transport costs so you can attend the appointment. 

We’ll organise flights and accommodation if they’re required and, if you can’t travel alone for a medical reason, we may cover travel costs for your companion.

We must provide prior approval for any transport expenditure, so please speak with your Customer Service Representative or Case Manager to determine what we’ll reimburse.

If you require wheelchair access at your appointment, let your Customer Service Representative or Case Manager know so they can ensure there’s suitable access.

It’s important that you let us know if you’re having difficulty meeting your obligations to provide us with the documents we have requested or attending the medical appointments in the time frames we set. Your TAL representative will contact you regularly if we've asked for additional information. Make sure to keep them updated on your efforts as we may close an application or claim if there is no action on it.

If the application or claim time frames present specific challenges, your Case Manager will work with you to agree a reasonable timeline and help you gather the information required. 

 

Consolidating your super with us is easy. Simply return a completed Transfer Authority Form to us and we’ll contact your other funds to arrange the transfer. We do recommend that you speak with a financial adviser first, as they can explain the differences in fees and benefits between your funds, before you complete the transfer.

Depending on the product you have with us, you can make extra super contributions by cheque, direct debit and BPAY® (Registered to BPAY Pty Ltd ABN 69 079 137 518).

You can simply phone us on 1300 209 088 to confirm if your policy accepts extra contributions and the payment options available.

Please contact us on 1300 209 088 or email us at customerservice@tal.com.au and we can send you a Benefit Claim Form.

The following are some useful links:

• Find My Super
• Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
• The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Ltd (ASFA)
• Centrelink – Department of Human Services
• Financial Services Council (FSC)

These links have been made available for your convenience only, and do not constitute a recommendation or endorsement by TAL about any products, services or information accessible through the links. Use of links is at your own risk.