Berrill & Watson

A guide to superannuation fund and general insurer complaints The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is the financial services ombudsman where you can lodge a complaint about the conduct of a financial services provider. AFCA has the ability to hear complaints about: • superannuation funds; • insurers that provide insurance benefits held in super, like TPD and Income Protection; and • insurers that provide general insurance, for example, home and contents insurance. In our latest blog, we explore how the AFCA complaints process works (specifically for complaints against super funds and general insurers) and some important things you should consider before you make a complaint to AFCA. https://bit.ly/3NEXTjg #tpdclaims #incomeprotectionclaims #generalinsurance #superfundcomplaints #insurercomplaints #afcacomplaints #afca

INJURY/ILLNESS INSURANCE OPTIONS DUE TO LONG COVID So many Australians have now contracted COVID at least once and for some, on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, some people experience more than simply mild symptoms which abate in 1 to 2 weeks. For some, a diagnosis of COVID-19 can lead to a longer illness which is called long Covid. In this article, we explore the options for TPD or income protection payments for those who suffer long Covid to such a degree that they are unable to return to work. https://bit.ly/3oCxvu6 #supertpdclaims #tpdlawyers #incomeprotectionlawyers #longcovid

❤️ We love it when I clients share lovely feedback about their experience … ❤️ “𝑩𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍 & 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑳𝒂𝒘𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑳𝒂𝒘 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎, 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑻𝒐𝒎 (𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒂𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆) 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆. 𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔. 𝑨 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝑻𝒐𝒎, 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒂𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒔𝒐𝒏. - 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝑫” See more about what our clients have to say about working with us: http://bit.ly/2Mwxy9R #supertpdclaims #incomeprotectionclaims #nowinnofee #superannuationlawyers #whatourclientssay

If you suffer from a chronic illness and want to travel overseas, there are some financial issues that can sometimes come up. To be clear, when we say chronic illness, we include: 🡆 MS; 🡆 Parkinson’s Disease; 🡆 Cancer (including blood cancer); 🡆 Alzheimer’s Disease; 🡆 Epilepsy; or 🡆 another long-term physical injury or disability or illness. In this blog, we explore: ✔️ getting and claiming on travel insurance for medical and other claims; ✔️ COVID-19 and travel insurance; and ✔️ access to Centrelink when overseas. https://bit.ly/3DoAhea #insurancelawyers #travelinsurance #chronicillness #travelwithchronicillness

As more people use digital services, scams are becoming a bigger threat. With Australians using online platforms for banking and socialising, it’s important to have strong protections. The Australian Federal Government’s proposed Scams Prevention Framework aims to reduce scams and protect consumers. Right now, scam victims often have minimal or no avenues to pursue scammers or the banks and telecom companies that let the scams happen. In our latest blog, we review the proposed legislation and what it is aiming to tackle and provide our own perspective on some concerns and challenges. https://bit.ly/4dNLtAv

SuperSA insurance benefits (income protection, TPD and death benefits) operate differently to many other super funds. Some claimants may get caught out when making claims. We explore how income protection benefits work for SuperSA members. This content will help you familiarise yourself with precisely how SuperSA’s IP insurance works. https://bit.ly/3g81IwL #incomeprotectionclaims #supersa #supersainsurancebenefits #nowinnofee

In this short video, we cover the topic of legal capacity and explain what our approach to determining legal capacity is and let you know what we do to make sure our clients understand the work we are doing - even when capacity is not an issue. https://bit.ly/407dCgA #supertpdclaims #tpdclaims #incomeprotectionclaims #legalcapacity

We welcome the Federal Government’s recently proposed Scam Prevention Framework draft legislation and have taken up the opportunity to provide some feedback on the changes (see our submission in the link below). It’s a really positive step which will give consumers much needed rights in the aftermath of a scam. We are disappointed that the Government chose not to follow the UK approach of a “no fault” system for compensation, and we also would have preferred that a consumer’s entitlement to compensation be against a bank alone to simplify the complaints process for consumers (with a bank having subrogation rights against other regulated sectors). However, we are still pleased to see this important step being taken in its proposed form, and our submissions were accordingly aimed at the framework as drafted. Importantly, our submissions advocate for increased funding to the community sector in recognition of the fact that this sector will be vital in supporting consumers when working with the Scam Prevention Framework in many cases. Read our submission to the Scams Taskforce here: https://bit.ly/3NdWrnR #financialscams #scampreventionframework #scamdraftlegislation #scamprotection

If you’re diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, it’s possible that, at some point, you will be forced to cease working due to the impact of your illness on your work capacity. This could be either temporarily or permanently. If you do stop work, you may be entitled to TPD benefits or income protection benefits you hold in an insurance policy; for example, in your superannuation fund. https://bit.ly/2FVHVBI #tpdlawyer #tpdclaim #parkinsonsdisease

👏 $700,000 secured after TPD claim initially rejected 👏 Jessica came to us in early 2022. She’d ceased work due to a shoulder injury in 2014. After ceasing work, Jessica suffered a hip injury which required surgery in 2018. She also suffered from another, unrelated skin condition which happened in around 2020. Jessica lodged a TPD claim for her original shoulder injury which was rejected. After many years and further injuries and illness, she finally sought legal advice and assistance from us. With a new approach to the claim’s process, we were able to secure a successful TPD result for her. Don’t delay getting advice on TPD or other disability insurance claims – having the legal expertise, technical know-how and years of experience can make all the difference. https://bit.ly/3N5B6gi #tpdlawyers #bigwin #freelegaladvice #delayedclaims