Financial Hardship

In life, unplanned events can happen that leave you in a financial position that you didn’t expect. These events may include:

• injury or illness,
• unexpected changes in income or expenditure,
• a relationship breakdown or death in the family,
• a natural disaster such as floods, fires, etc.

• situations of domestic and family violence.

This may result in a short term or long term issue for you. If you require support or assistance during this time, please don't hesitate to contact us.

If you're affected by family and domestic violence, we're here to support you. Learn more about our commitments to the safety of our customers.

What can you do if you're experiencing financial hardship?

If the unexpected happens get in touch with our Customer Service team on 1300 209 088 and they can talk you through the options that may be available to help you through a difficult time. Or, you may wish to speak with your financial adviser. You may also need to provide supporting documentation to assist with your application.

If you have TAL insurance, we may be able to help with:

• accessing features of your cover that may assist with affordability,
• assisting you to make changes to your policy and/or change to a different type of policy,
• discussing your payment options to reduce your premium.

Assistance when making a claim

We understand making a claim can be stressful. Our claims managers are here to support and work with you to find a solution in:

• understanding what is required of you, 
• completing claim forms,
• providing requested claim information.

This may include offering to collect the information on your behalf, with your permission.

If you hold a Life Insurance policy and urgently need the benefits due to a condition that your policy covers, we will assess your request for urgent access to your benefits. We may ask you for evidence of this urgent need.

What happens next?

We will aim to prioritise your claim for an illness or injury your policy covers. We will let you know what help we can offer you as soon as possible or within 5 business days of receiving all the evidence we need. 

If we accept your request, we will confirm any help we offer in writing which might include:

• prioritising your claim assessment and our decision, and/or
• advancing part of your claim payment.

If you disagree with the outcome or are dissatisfied with how your claim was assessed, you can lodge a complaint. 

If you have cover under a group policy as part of your superannuation, we will let you know who you can contact about any urgent need for benefits. Please note that there are restrictions on the benefits you may be able to access under your group policy. We encourage you to contact us as soon as possible to assist you with any concerns you may have regarding making a claim.

Support for existing customers

All TAL policies come with a grace period or period of extended cover when customers miss a premium payment. Generally, your insurance cover continues for at least 30 days if you miss a premium payment. So don’t worry if you have missed a premium payment recently, you are still covered for at least 30 days depending on your individual policy.

If you are an existing customer and having difficulty in making premium payments, please contact TAL Customer Service on 1300 209 088, or contact your financial adviser to discuss your individual situation.

Please note that in some circumstances, some of these options may not be available to all customers, particularly if your individual insurance policy is funded through your superannuation fund.

Support for small business and SMEs

A strong and resilient small business is sector is critical for the Australian community and economy.  As a principle, TAL will actively seek out opportunities to work with and engage small and medium sized (SME) enterprises. In addition, TAL will reduce our payment times for SME suppliers and businesses from 30 days to 14 days to support their cashflow requirements.

We recognise that each customer has their own individual circumstances and we encourage you to call TAL Customer Service on 1300 209 088, or contact your financial adviser to discuss your individual situation.

Other ways to get help

If you're dealing with financial hardship it’s important that you get the help and support you need. In addition to speaking with us, these organisations may be able to provide you with further assistance. 

Life Insurance Code of Practice

We have signed up to the Life Insurance Code of Practice. This Code sets out our obligations to you, covering the standards we must meet, rules around disclosure and how we should act when it comes to assisting with financial hardship. You can read the Code of Practice or find out more about it on the FSC website.

This standard does not apply to policies owned by a superannuation fund trustee as access to superannuation benefits is limited by law. However, you should contact the trustee directly as they may have other means of assisting you with financial hardship.