Total Permanent Disability

If your condition due to accident or illness meets the definition ofTotal Permanent Disability (TPD), you may be entitled to a lump sum of money. Many people are not aware that their superannuation fund may include an insurance policy they can claim on.Your disability does not have to be a direct result of something that happened at work. To receive a payout, your condition has to meet the definition of TPD as set out in the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). Definitions vary across the board, but the most common one is: “A member [of a Superannuation Fund] is taken to be suffering permanent incapacity if the member has been absent from his or her employment for six consecutive months and the Trustee is reasonably satisfied that the member’s ill-health (whether physical or mental) makes it unlikely that the member will ever engage in gainful employment for which the member is reasonably qualified by education, training or experience”. It is now quite common for that definition to also include an inability to perform at least two activities of daily living. Consider whether your injury or illness is likely to meet the definition of TPD and speak to us about it. And remember – “permanent” does not mean “forever”. The courts have defined that term to mean “for the foreseeable future”.