TPD Lawyers

If you are unable to work due to illness or injury, you may be entitled to claim a TPD lump sum through your superannuation fund. This lump sum is separate from your actual superannuation account balance – it is payable under an insurance policy attached to your superannuation account. Most Australians have some form of TPD cover attached to their superannuation policies. The amount payable and the criteria for payment can differ from policy to policy, but the most common definition will allow you to qualify if you are unable to return to any work or employment for which you are reasonably qualified having regard to your age, education and relevant work experience.

Yes, you can still claim as long as the work you are doing is substantially different as a result of the injury or illness. For example, a carpenter with a back injury who can still work as a carpark attendant may qualify. Even someone who has continued in the same employment but has been reduced to part time hours may qualify for the lump sum.

We will do this for you at no obligation. Once we have found out what cover you have with each super fund (if any) we will then advise you how difficult or easy it will be for you to meet the TPD definition under each policy. At that time we will also advise you of your prospects of success and we will give you a fixed fee proposal if we believe you have strong claim. If you do not have any TPD cover, we will not charge you anything for undertaking the investigations on your behalf.

There are several important reasons to involve vbr lawyers in your application from the start:

• We will undertake an obligation free assessment of your prospects in recovering the lump sum;
• We will ensure the application documents are carefully prepared to ensure that the criteria are properly addressed and all necessary disclosures are made;
• We have inside knowledge of the best medical experts who can provide reports to build the strongest possible case on your behalf;
• Usually the certification of a current or former employer is required. We can relieve you of the time and stress involved in obtaining this;
• In the course of the claim the TPD insurer makes many, often repetitive, requests for information that are burdensome, onerous, and time consuming. We will handle all of this for you;
• We will be in a position to make any legal submissions on the acceptance of the claim as required;
• We will be acting at all times on a no win no fee basis, so if the application is rejected for any reason, you will owe nothing to us;
• Upon success of your application you have the peace of mind of our pre-agreed fixed fee which will ensure that the overwhelming majority of any lump sum is paid to you, not us.

It is not uncommon for persons to lodge these applications themselves and then find that the process becomes too difficult and delayed. We have assisted many clients in this situation. We will undertake an obligation free review of the matter and if we can assist, we will make a proposal to act for you by way of a no win no fee, fixed fee client agreement.

Generally, the answer to this is that there are no time limits. We have often brought successful TPD applications where the relevant injury or illness arose some years ago. There can however be some exceptions to this. The best approach is to simply call vbr Lawyers for an obligation-free discussion however long ago the disability arose. There is no obligation or cost to you in doing so.

Yes. We can certainly assist with securing income protection for you. We find that this is extremely helpful to our clients who are awaiting the finalisation of a personal injury or TPD claim.

For straightforward claims, the process can be as short as three months. More complex or difficult matters can take up to 12 months to complete. In relation to costs, once we have investigated your potential claim and if we consider your claim has reasonable prospects of success, we will provide you with proper written advice and a fixed fee proposal to give you comfort and peace of mind regarding legal fees. The fixed fee amount will never change. In the unlikely event that your TPD claim is rejected, we will not charge you anything.

If the insurer/trustee rejects your TPD super claim, you can lodge an appeal with the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT), or commence court proceedings. We will consider and advise you about which option is best suited to your claim, and we will make a further no win no fee proposal to handle the relevant process. We have had many successes in reversing TPD rejection decisions both in the SCT and the courts.