The Life Insurance industry has come under increasingly heavy scrutiny in recent years, with incidents of claims mishandling and consumer confusion. This has even led to a Royal Commission into the industry.
With all the noise, you’d be forgiven for feeling discouraged about your life insurance claim. Radio and TV ads from law firms hoping to represent you only add to the confusion. In our experience a well managed claims process, with good communication along the way leads to the right outcome for all parties.
Here’s what we know: no matter who you’re insured with and what your unique circumstances are, if you have a legitimate claim, then you have every chance of getting a successful payment.
Want more information related to the claims process and related regulations? We recommend taking a look at these key resources regarding your rights and obligations as a claimant:
The Life Insurance Code of Practice
The Life Insurance Code of Practice (the Code) requires life insurers, friendly societies that offer life insurance products and other industry participants, who have adopted the Code to provide services to their customer of a high standard and in a timely, honest, fair and transparent way.
A snapshot of the recent ASIC review into Life Insurance claims
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.
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.
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.
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.
In our initial free consultation, we can discuss the likely timeline of your claim so that you know when to expect an outcome.
When you have an advocate on your side, you gain the professional expertise to help your 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 legal professional, without the associated delays, costs and general distress of litigation.
After my first contact with my financial advisor, the prompt response I received and the guidance I got ensured that my claim was expedited quickly and concisely. I would be delighted to recommend ICAA to anybody looking for advice and guidance in the insurance field.
Due to a mental illness, I needed to take a period of time off work. The support my employer and I received from Frank to work through the complexity of Income Protection Insurance was amazing. Not only did Frank help me receive a better outcome with the insurance than I expected, but he also helped in my recovery by his sincere and caring approach. Great work Frank.
I never realised the amount of work in making a claim, ICAA can navigate the claims process for you so I recommend ICAA to anyone who needs help with their personal insurance claim. You’ll get a team of advocates on your side and know that they’re invested in your success.
AMP Claims has enjoyed a long standing working relationship with ICAA. At all times ICAA has our mutual customers' best interests at heart and given their knowledge and experience with life and disability insurance, they understand what insurers require and why. This essentially leads to a fast, efficient and transparent assessment and ultimately a great customer experience.
Senior Claims Manager, AMP
We’ve seen customers completely at a loss with how to handle what’s involved in making their claim – understandably so. However, the ICAA team are incredibly patient and compassionate when working with a claimant and this helps all parties involved.
Business Development Manager, Suncorp Group
When it comes to personal insurance claims the thing that stands out the most about ICAA is the how far they are willing to go for their clients in managing the whole claim from start to finish with the upmost empathy and commitment to make the process stress-less one for their clients. I have known ICAA for the best of 20 plus years and in my dealings with them they always aspire to deliver the very best outcomes for their clients that has surpassed their clients’ expectations. The depth of knowledge and experience when they deal not only with ClearView but all insurers is demonstrated via the respect they enjoy as industry leaders in their field. It’s a real pleasure to deal with ICAA as their level of professionalism and attention to every detail is second to none. Keep up the outstanding work!
State Manager – Vic / Tas, ClearView
The information on this website, including references, where indicated, are taken from sources believed to be accurate and correct.The business owners and employees accept no liability for any person that relies upon the information contained herein. This website does not present itself as an adviser of personal insurance products or services. Persons wishing to purchase financial products should consult directly with an accredited adviser. No representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of any estimates, opinions, conclusions or other information contained on this website. Information is intended to be of a general nature only and any advice has been prepared without taking into account any person's particular objectives, financial situation or needs. You should make your own enquiries, consider whether advice is appropriate for you and read the relevant documents and policies related to your insurance.
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