The leading and most respected newspaper in Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald published this article on 23 December 2013 which specifically relates to the State Government utilising the private insurance market to provide death and disability insurance cover for offices of the NSW Police Force.
In addition, the article clearly states that the yearly premium paid by the State Government last financial year to TAL, the insurer to provide cover is just shy of $100 million dollars however the total amount of benefits paid to members of this scheme during the 2012/2013 financial year is less than $135,000.
TAL Group Chief Executive is noted to have stated that the policy was “properly structured” and that The NSW Auditor-General’s latest report did not “reflect the full picture” because it did not take into consideration future liabilities and other adjustments.
Insurance is provided to cover for life’s unexpected events for insured members of a policy be it a single life policy or group insurance that is provided through your superannuation fund. Consideration of payment of a covered event, be it and injury or illness, should not be dependent upon whether or not the insurer has received a large number of claims which cut into their profits, but whether or not you fit within the policy definition for the covered event. It is this misguided and ill-placed philosophy by insurance companies and TAL that is resulting in then creating excessive delays in payment of claims correctly made under the policy.
Insurers cannot blame other factors. They are obliged to pay out on claims that are correctly made and act in good faith in accordance with the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act and Insurance Contracts Act.
It is for these reasons that police officers should contact our office if you would like to pursue a Police Officer TPD claim against your insurer, you have experienced difficulty with the assessment of your claim or your claim has been denied by your insurer.
