Frequently asked questions

When you have an advocate on your side, you gain the professional expertise to help you reach a successful outcome. It’s that simple.

At a difficult time in your life it’s even more important to feel a sense of support – to be part of a wider team that can act on your behalf to progress your claim as quickly as possible.

Some clients contact us because the emotional impact of their circumstances makes dealing directly with their insurance company too taxing. Other clients simply want to make sure they’re able to reach the best financial outcome for their family.

No matter what your motivation is, you can rely on professionalism, dedication and care when we handle your claim.

Unless your claim has particularly unique circumstances, chances are you do not need legal representation. If you have a legitimate personal insurance claim, then it’s your insurer’s obligation to pay you under the Life Insurance Code of Conduct.

If you hire a lawyer, your insurer will refer your claim to their legal team too. This is likely to significantly drag out your claim and add unnecessary costs.

With ICAA, you get the advanced technical knowledge of an Insurance professional, without the associated delays, costs and general distress of litigation.

An insurance claim is a formal request to an insurance company for coverage or compensation for a loss or event that’s covered under your policy. The insurance company assesses the claim and once it’s been approved, you (or the nominated beneficiary) receive payment.

There are some variables that will affect the timeline of how long your claim takes. In our experience, typical Life and Trauma claims are completed within 2-4 weeks. The Life Insurance Code of Practice is a useful resource regarding the timelines of a claim. It sets out the insurer’s obligations on when they must deliver key milestones and final outcomes.

Income Protection claims can take longer due to the detailed documentation required. Our goal is always to settle the claim before the waiting period ends.

Plan for an extra 2 to 4 weeks following the waiting period on your policy for the claims payment to be processed and transferred to your bank account. Most insurers will pay your monthly benefit in arrears, by month.

As always, a fast and effective claims process relies on our clients supplying the necessary supporting documents at the start of our engagement.

In our initial free consultation, we can discuss the likely timeline of your claim so that you know when to expect an outcome.

This is an important point to consider in any insurance matter. Generally, Life and Trauma insurance payments are received tax-free. However, taxation is a specialised area and we strongly recommend you seek advice from your financial planner or a qualified tax professional. They’ll look at your circumstances and provide advice on how to best manage the financial outcome of your claim.

No, we take care of the communication from start to finish to minimise the stress and streamline the process. We will of course keep you informed and be available to speak to you at any time. You’re in good hands.

Increasingly insurers are conducting an interview with the claimant to cut out parts of the claims pack that aren’t relevant. ICAA will manage the contact and outcomes in any case, keeping you informed at each step.

Life Insurance is also known as life cover, term life insurance or death cover. It pays a set amount of money when the insured person dies. The money is paid to the people nominated as beneficiaries on the deceased person’s policy. If there is no binding nomination of a beneficiary, then a Trustee or the estate will determine where the money goes.

To get started, you’ll likely need to gather the following:

• The insured person’s full name and date of birth
• The state of residence
• The policy number
• The death certificate
• The name of the person reporting the claim & relationship to the deceased
• Your contact information

Please don’t worry if you’re having trouble locating policy numbers and insurance details. We’re here to help you find the relevant information and will contact the insurer on your behalf.

For combined Life and Trauma policies, if you’ve made a Trauma claim and received a pay out, the sum insured for your total (Life Insurance) policy will be reduced by the Trauma pay out that was received. We can talk you through this in more detail and look at the terms of your particular policy.

Income protection insurance, also known as salary continuance, can help you manage expenses like your mortgage payments, bills and regular expenses, if you are unable to work for a certain amount of time as a result of being sick or injured.

Each income protection policy has its own definition of disability and varying benefits. Income protection usually offers cover for up to 75% of your gross wages for a maximum time period (e.g. 2 years or to age 60).

Even though it’s fairly common, Income Protection is an area of insurance that can be complex and difficult to navigate. If you’ve lost your ability to make an income because of an insured event, there are many factors to consider.

One factor is that you need to be under continuous medical care. Some policies allow a certain amount of work activity during the waiting period, but it would depend on your policy.

By working with ICAA and providing us with the required details, we can help you understand the terms of your policy and help you get your successful claim payment.

An Income Protection benefit paid to you is usually taxed. We recommend speaking with your accountant or financial planner for advice on your particular tax implications from making a claim.

Waiting periods can vary from 14 days up to 2 years. ICAA can help you find out the waiting period in your policy if you don’t have the policy documents to refer to.

In Australia, Total and Permanent Disability cover (TPD) is almost always purchased alongside Life Insurance and can provide a financial safety net if you get a serious injury or illness that stops you from working.

TPD insurance provides cover if you are totally and permanently disabled. This is defined as being when:

• You can’t ever work again in any occupation, or
• You can’t ever work again in your usual occupation

TPD definitions vary amongst personal and superannuation covers. ICAA will identify the definition that your cover is provided under and find the terms available for you to claim.

TPD insurance helps cover the costs of rehabilitation, debt repayments and the future cost of living.

Your insurer will have its own definitions of what is and isn’t considered to fall under TPD cover. We can help you by reviewing the terms of your policy and discussing the details with you.

Firstly, we’re sorry you’re going through this tough time. ICAA is experienced in dealing with TPD claims and we’re committed to helping you through it by facilitating a smooth insurance claim process.

Your insurer will have specific criteria you’ll need to satisfy to quality for a claim payment. This can include things like your employment history and ‘level of disability’.

There are certain steps you’ll need to go through to satisfy these criteria. As always, ICAA will answer the questions you may have and help you navigate the paperwork and requirements so that you can make a strong claim.

Of all personal insurance claim types, TPD often takes the longest. The main reason for this is that the claimant needs to prove that they will never work in their usual job or any occupation ever again. It can be a lengthy process to validate through third party medical professionals, etc.

ICAA is experienced in helping to streamline the process and can help make it less daunting.

Trauma insurance provides cover if you are diagnosed with a specified illness or injury. These policies include the major illnesses or injuries that will make a significant impact on a person’s life, such as cancer or a stroke.

Trauma insurance pays a set amount. This can be used for things like:

• Private medical costs not covered by your health insurance
• An income stream if you stop working
• The ongoing cost of necessary therapy and special transport costs
• Adjustments to housing and lifestyle changes
• Debt repayments

First of all, we are truly sorry that you’re dealing with these difficult circumstances.

We understand how interpreting the details of a Trauma policy on your own can be particularly taxing at this time and recommend you seek out the help you need to get through.

ICAA can take the guesswork out of the Trauma claim and, provided the claim complies with the terms of the cover, make sure you get the payment as soon as possible, making an incredibly difficult time a bit easier.

A trauma event is typically a serious illness or episode such as a heart attack or stroke that disrupts your life and impacts on your lifestyle. Cardiovascular disease is a particularly common type of serious illness in Australia, affecting 1 in 5 adults.

These diseases can strike at any time, often without much warning, which is why Trauma insurance is a particularly relevant and a growing area of personal insurance.

Trauma and Life Insurance are related but serve different purposes. They may be combined within a policy, or set up as “stand-alone” policies.

In short, your Life Insurance policy payment is available to your beneficiaries (family) if you pass away, whereas your Trauma policy is designed to cover your immediate costs when you are seriously ill due to a trauma event.