Free, and nothing changes on this page. Your estimate now, then a few short follow-ups over the next week, and that is all. Unsubscribe in one click.
Every figure is unlocked. A claim takes months, and the numbers move while it runs: a fund confirms a different sum insured, another account turns up, a date changes. Run it again as often as you like. Nothing is used up and nothing expires.
Can't work again? Your super may hold more than anyone has told you.
You cannot work, the bills keep coming, and the forms make no sense. Here is what nobody mentions: your super may well hold insurance you have never looked at, and so may old accounts from jobs you left years ago. The tax on the payout turns on two dates and two medical certificates, and nobody is required to ask you for any of them.
A law firm may run the claim for a share of it, and on a disputed claim that can be worth every cent. But nobody prices the payment itself: how many accounts hold cover, and what actually lands in your bank account after tax. This calculator does, in about three minutes.
A rough guide only. It assumes you stopped work at the age above, first paid into super at 20, and hold similar cover on each other account. The full calculator asks about all three.
Sound familiar?
Nobody teaches you this, and you need it at the worst possible time. The rules are split between your fund, the insurer and the tax office, and none of them joins the dots for you.
Most policies have a waiting period before a claim can even be assessed. Then the assessment takes months while medical evidence is gathered. Meanwhile no wage is coming in, and nobody can give you a date.
Your payment is split into two parts, and only one of them is taxed. A formula in the tax law decides the split, using two dates that are on no statement you own. The letter you get will not explain it.
About 4 million Australians hold more than one super account. Each one is a separate insurance policy, and claiming on one claims none of the others. Roll them together to tidy up, and the cover on the closed ones is gone.
A firm running a disputed claim earns its fee. What nobody tells you is what that percentage comes to in dollars, whether it comes off the whole payment or what is left after tax, and that complaining to your fund and to AFCA costs nothing.
Tell us your cover, how many accounts you hold, and two dates. We apply the published super and tax rules, work out every lawful way your claim can end, and put them in order by what reaches your bank account. No appointment, no medical questions, no sales call, and we never take a share of anything.
About three minutes. You will see what is claimable, how much comes out tax free, and how much depends on the way it is claimed. Free.
What is at stake
Both are 42. Both have three super accounts, with $260,000 of cover and $85,000 of balances between them. Both claims are accepted. The only differences: how many accounts were claimed on, and what paperwork reached the fund.
Both people are invented, and neither is a customer. Everything else is real: the accounts and cover are one worked example, and every figure comes from the same engine a paying customer's report runs on, using the published super and tax rules for 2026-27. Change one input and both numbers move. Ten more worked examples, all computed the same way.
Where the money leaks
Same worked example: a 42 year old with three super accounts and $345,000 of cover and balances. Do not add these up. Some can happen together, and the worst case, where they all do, is the $144,093 above. Your report names each one that applies to you, in dollars.
Each account's cover is a contract with that fund's insurer, so each one is claimed on its own form. The fund you claim with has no record of the others and no duty to ask. What stops it: every account in your name is listed (the ATO's record shows them all in one place), and each fund is asked in writing what cover was in force on the day you stopped being able to work. Claiming on more than one account.
On this example, the disability tax break (section 307-145) makes about half the payment tax free. But only once the fund holds certificates from two legally qualified medical practitioners. What stops it: the certificates are obtained in the words that section uses and given to every fund paying a benefit. Where a payment has already been made without them, the fund can recalculate. The future service uplift.
A rollover moves the money and closes the account, and the insurance on it ends at the same moment. The new fund does not replace it. What stops it: no account is closed or rolled over while a claim is possible. Where accounts have already been combined, the date of each rollover is obtained. What consolidating costs.
Where your job ended because of the disability, the claim has to reach the fund within 2 years of that day for AFCA to be able to review the answer. The clock starts the day work ended. What stops it: the real dates are confirmed with the fund and the employer rather than guessed, and the claim is lodged while the other accounts are still being checked, not after. The free complaint path.
Which of these is hitting your claim, and how hard? Find out on your own numbers.
Your options
| A TPD lawyer No win, no fee |
A financial adviser Written advice |
TPD Claim Value This calculator |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay | Often 10% to 30% of your payout ($30,000 to $90,000 on $300,000) |
$3,000 to $5,500 | $19, once |
| How long until you know | Months, often longer | Weeks, after meetings | Under 3 minutes |
| Prices each super account separately | Depends on the firm | If you ask | |
| Works out the tax on your payout | Usually not what they are hired for | ||
| Can fight a declined claim for you | |||
| Shows all the maths | Usually not | Usually not |
Deadlines
Each one decides something for you if nobody acts. None of them sends a reminder, and two can be running before you even know there is a claim to make.
A fund must cancel the insurance on an account with no money going in for that long, unless the member writes to keep it. The notice goes to the address the fund holds. On an account you forgot about, that is probably a house you moved out of. What happens when cover is cancelled.
Under it, the taxable part of a super lump sum is taxed at 22%. From it, the same money from the same fund is not taxed at all. It is a cliff, not a slope. Claiming after 60.
Where your job ended for good because of the disability, the claim has to reach the fund within 2 years of that day for the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) to hear a complaint about the answer. The clock starts the day work ended, not the day the fund said no. AFCA Rule B.4.1.1. The free complaint path. These figures are the - tax year's.
Free vs full report
The free estimate shows roughly where you stand. The full report gives you the exact numbers and puts every outcome in order, on your own figures. Every sum is shown, so you can check it, question it, or hand it to someone who can.
See a full sample report, free. It follows an invented person all the way through, the open half exactly as a customer sees it, and you can ask the assistant two questions about it.
How it works
If you can read a super statement, you can do this. Simple mode is seven short steps. Advanced lets you see and change every assumption.
The cover on your main account, roughly what is in it, how many other super accounts you hold, your age, and roughly when you first paid into super. We never ask for your tax file number, member number, fund's name, Medicare number or anything medical. Nothing here is private enough to worry about.
What is claimable across every account, how much comes out tax free on your own dates, and every lawful way your claim can end, each one named and explained. The money figures are shown as ranges, not exact.
$19 opens the full report: every outcome priced to the dollar and put in order, so the costly one stands out before anything is signed or rolled over. PDF included, ready to print or show your fund.
The Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Divisions 301 and 307, and section 307-145 in particular) and the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations. Named, so you can read them yourself.
Your tax free component is printed as the sum that produced it, not just the answer. Every figure in the report shows its working.
We are not licensed to tell you what to do. We take no share of any claim, and no fund, insurer or law firm pays us. We do the arithmetic, which is the part nobody else does.
If the calculator cannot properly model your situation, or something goes wrong, tell us within 14 days and we will refund you. No forms, no argument.
Included with the full report
Every report comes with an assistant that has read your report: your accounts, your dates, your figures. Ask it anything about it and it answers in plain English. Not a search box, not a help page. It knows your report because it has been given it.
An example of the kind of answer it gives, on the sample report's figures.
Price
One payment. No expiry, nothing to renew, and we never keep your card. It opens the whole report and lets you run the figures again as often as you like. That matters, because a claim takes months and the numbers move while it runs.
Prices in Australian dollars. Paid securely through PayPal: card or PayPal balance, no PayPal account needed. See a sample report before you decide.
TPD claim FAQ
If the benefit is paid out of super and you are 60 or over, you pay no tax on it at all. Under 60, the taxable part of the lump sum is taxed at 22%, which is 20% plus the 2% Medicare levy.
But the tax free part is not what an ordinary statement says it is. Section 307-145 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 recalculates it to cover the years you would have worked. On a claim at 40, that can move more than half the payment out of the taxable part.
It is a tax rule that makes more of your TPD payout tax free. The tax free amount becomes the payment multiplied by the days from the day you stopped being able to work until you turn 65, divided by that same number plus the days you have been in super up to the day you are paid.
The younger you are, the more of the payment comes out tax free. That is the opposite of how most tax concessions behave, and most of the reason this one goes unclaimed. It needs certificates from two doctors, and a fund that does not have them takes tax at the normal rate.
Yes. Cover is a contract with each fund's insurer and each one is claimed separately, so somebody with three super accounts may hold three separate amounts of default cover. Claiming on one does not claim the others, and no part of the process cross-checks.
The trap is that the forgotten accounts are usually the ones with no contributions going in, and cover is cancelled on an account with no contributions for 16 months unless the member elects in writing to keep it. What matters is whether the cover was in force on the date the disability arose.
TPD means total and permanent disability. It is insurance held inside your super account that pays a lump sum if illness or injury means you are unlikely to ever work again. The insurer pays your super fund, not you. The fund adds the money to your account and can then pay out the whole account, so your balance and the insurance are paid, and taxed, together.
Any occupation means you must be unlikely to ever work in any job you are reasonably suited to by education, training or experience. Own occupation only asks whether you can go back to your own job, so it is easier to meet. Any occupation is the standard inside super, and own occupation is rare for cover taken out after 1 July 2014. The definition decides whether you are paid, not how the payment is taxed.
There is no fixed time. Most policies have a qualifying period that has to pass before a claim can even be assessed, and the assessment then takes months more while medical reports are gathered. Each super account is a separate claim running on its own timetable. Waiting does not shrink the tax concession, because it is measured from the date you stopped being able to work.
Where employment permanently ended because of the disability, the claim has to reach the super fund within 2 years of that day for the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) to be able to hear a complaint about the answer. Lodged in time, the complaint itself then has 4 years from the decision to reach AFCA. Where employment did not end because of the injury or illness, the limit is six years from the decision. AFCA Rule B.4.1.1.
The clock runs from the day work permanently ended. Not from the day the fund said no, and not from the day somebody discovered there was a second account with cover on it. The insurer and the fund can still pay outside that window. What is at risk is the free, binding review if they do not.
You can ask for the written reasons and complain for free. Start by asking for the reasons and the documents the decision was based on. The fund's own complaints process is free and normally has to come first. After that, AFCA handles super complaints free of charge and its decisions bind the fund. A decline on one account decides nothing about your other accounts, which are separate claims.
No. TPD pays one lump sum when you are permanently unable to work. Income protection pays a monthly benefit while you are unable to work. Income protection is taxed as ordinary income in the year you get it, while a TPD benefit through super is taxed under the super rules, with the section 307-145 concession. Holding both is common, and one does not stop you claiming the other.
Ask each fund in writing what cover was in force on the date you stopped being able to work. The ATO's record shows every super account reported against your tax file number, even ones you have no paperwork for, but it does not show the insurance on any of them. Only the fund can tell you that. Avoid closing or rolling over an account while that question is still open.
Rolling an account over before you claim can cost you its cover. A rollover moves the money and closes the account, and the insurance policy attached to that account ends at the same moment. The cover does not move to the new fund and it is not replaced. So an account rolled over before a claim is made is an amount of cover that stops existing.
This calculator prices that as one of the outcomes, not a warning box, because a dollar figure is harder to ignore than a caution.
No. $19 once, and that is the whole of it. We are not paid by any fund, insurer, law firm or claims agent, we take no referral fee, and we have no interest in which way you decide anything.
A no-win-no-fee lawyer is paid out of the claim, often 10% to 30% of the payout once fees and costs are added. The report shows what any percentage you enter would cost you in dollars, before anything is signed.
Not necessarily. Where a fund has withheld at the ordinary rate because it was never given the two medical certificates, the position can be corrected, either by the fund recalculating once it has them or through the tax return for the year the payment was received.
The payment summary the fund issues shows the split it used, which is the quickest way to tell whether the disability treatment was applied at all. The report has a section on it.
No. This is an information service. It applies the published superannuation and tax rules to the figures you enter and shows what they produce, with every working visible. It ranks the ways of taking a benefit on one stated measure, what reaches your bank account, and does not recommend one.
It cannot tell you whether your claim will be accepted, and nothing on this site can. The amount actually paid is set by the insurer under the policy your fund holds, and the tax on it is worked out by the fund when it pays.
An account rolled over cannot be un-rolled. A fund that has already taken the tax has to be chased for it. A signed costs agreement takes its percentage of everything. Some of that can be fixed later, but all of it is far easier to get right the first time. Three minutes now could be the best three minutes of the whole claim.
No card. No sign up. Your answer on the next screen.
You do not have to decide anything today. Finding out what your claim is worth is free.
Most calculators show you the sum insured. This one shows what actually reaches your bank account: after the tax, across every super account you hold, and after any share of the claim somebody else takes.
Figures for the - tax year.
Your free TPD estimate
The gap between the most your claim can put in your bank account today and the least, on your own figures.
Your login and receipt go to this address. It can be different from your PayPal email.
And you can ask it questions. Your report comes with an assistant that has read it and explains any figure in plain English, if you want it. It is given the amounts on your report, never your name or your email, and the conversation stays in your browser.
Your figures, the tax free share worked out on your dates, and a link straight back to this page. Handy while your claim runs.
Your estimate now, then a few short follow-ups over the next week, and that is all. Unsubscribe in one click. We never sell your address.
Before the claim is paid
A disability benefit is paid once. What reaches your bank account depends on how many accounts are claimed, whether the fund has the medical certificates, and whether anyone takes a share. All of it is settled before the money moves. The full report prices every way your claim can end, on your own figures, so nothing is decided by accident.
Yes, it is included, and using it is entirely your choice. It sits behind one button on your report and does nothing until you press it. Nothing in the report is held back if you never open it.
When you do ask it something, what it receives is the figures on your report: amounts and categories. Not your name, not your email address, not your account, and never a Medicare number, tax file number or bank detail. We do not hold those in the first place. The name you can put on the report cover is optional and is not part of what it is given. The conversation stays in your browser tab and is gone when you close it, and we record that a question was asked without recording what it said.
Section 5 of the privacy policy sets out exactly what does and does not travel, including who processes it.
No. You pay once and the access is yours. There is no subscription and nothing renews. PayPal handles the payment, so we never even see your card number.
No to both. $19 once and that is the whole of it. We are not paid by any superannuation fund, insurer, law firm or claims agent, we take no referral fee, and we have no interest in which way you decide anything.
A no-win-no-fee lawyer is paid out of the claim, often 10% to 30% of the payout once fees and costs are added. The report shows what any percentage you enter would cost you in dollars, before anything is signed.
TPD Claim Value provides information, not financial product advice. We are not licensed to give personal financial advice, and we never tell you which option to pick. We apply the published rules to the figures you enter and show what they produce, with every step of the working visible. The amount you are actually paid is decided by the insurer under the policy your superannuation fund holds, and the tax withheld is worked out by the fund at the moment it pays, on the medical certificates and service dates it has on file. Both can be confirmed in writing, and both beat anything on this page.
Pay once and the full report opens on the figures you have already entered: every outcome priced, every account counted. Nothing renews, and we never keep your card.
Your login and receipt go to this address. It can be different from your PayPal email.
TPD payout examples
Ten invented people with real Australian jobs and ordinary Australian super accounts. Every figure is worked out as the page loads, by the same engine a paying customer's report runs on, using the published super and tax rules. Nothing is typed in, so a rule change moves it automatically. Some of them have money going missing. Some do not, and the page says so.
Cover is a contract between each fund and its insurer, so each account is claimed on its own form. The fund you claim with has no record of your others and no duty to ask about them, and nothing anywhere cross-checks. Plenty of people still hold more than one: about 4 million Australians, around one in five of everybody with super, at 30 June 2025.
Section 307-145 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 rewrites the tax free part of a disability payment to cover the years you would have worked. On a claim at 40 that can be more than half of it. It needs certificates from two legally qualified medical practitioners, and a fund that has not been given them withholds 22% on the whole taxable amount instead.
Under 60 the taxable part of a superannuation lump sum is taxed at 22%. From 60 the same money from the same fund is not taxed at all. It is a cliff, not a slope. Everybody's preservation age is now 60: the old sliding scale from 55 reached its last member on 30 June 2024.
Everything below is those facts in real dollars, for ten different people. Worked out on the current schedule.
Your figure turns on four things only you know: the cover on each account, how many accounts you have, the age you stopped being able to work, and the age you first paid into super. About three minutes, and it costs nothing.
Every lawful way Vince's claim can end, and what each one puts in his bank account. The policy, the cover and his condition are the same in every row. Only how and when the money is taken is different. Open Show Details on any row.
Taken today, the most and the least are $100,544 apart. That is the figure quoted throughout this report. Leaving the money in super until 60 adds up to $33,636 more, so the whole list, top to bottom, spans $134,180.
7 lawful ways his claim can end, compared on one thing only: what reaches his bank account.
If every account is claimed and the money stays in super until 60, $344,000 reaches him. That is $33,636 more than anything taken today. It is left out of the gap above on purpose, because it means waiting 20 years, and only Vince knows whether he can.
Each amount below is what that one mistake would cost Vince. Do not add them up, because some overlap. The outcome that leaves him the least is $100,544 below the most he could get today (section 02).
If his job ended because of the disability, the claim has to reach the fund within 2 years of that day. Otherwise the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) may not be able to review the answer. Once the fund decides, he has 4 years to complain to AFCA. (AFCA Rule B.4.1.1.)
Vince stopped work this year, which leaves about 2 years. Ages are rough, so check the real dates.
Why it happens. Each super account has its own insurance, and each one needs its own claim. The fund you claim with has no record of your other accounts and no duty to ask about them.
What prevents it. Every super account in your name is found (the Australian Taxation Office's online record lists them all), and each fund is asked in writing what cover it held on the day you stopped being able to work.
Why it happens. Rolling one account into another moves the money and closes the old account. Its insurance ends the same day. $62,000 of cover disappears, and the new fund does not replace it.
What prevents it. No account is closed or rolled over while a claim is possible. If accounts were already combined, the rollover dates are checked, because cover that existed on the day the disability started may still be claimable from the old fund.
Why it happens. The disability tax break (section 307-145 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) makes 55.6% of this payment tax free. But the fund can only apply it once it has certificates from two doctors. Without them it takes tax off the whole taxable amount, and the payment letter looks normal.
What prevents it. The certificates are obtained in the wording the law uses and sent to every fund that pays a benefit. If a payment has already been made without them, the fund can recalculate, or the tax is corrected in the tax return for that year.
Why it happens. From 60, a super lump sum is not taxed at all. Taken today, at 40, the taxable part is taxed at 22%.
What prevents it. The claim is still lodged now. Only the withdrawal waits. Whether any of the money is needed before 60 is worked out first, because anything taken out before then is taxed at the normal rate.
Every amount above is measured from the same starting point: every account claimed, with the disability tax break applied, taken today. That is an outcome he can actually reach, so each amount is real money.
What prevents each loss is the usual process, not instructions. This is general information, not financial or legal advice, and it cannot tell anybody whether a claim will be accepted.
Ranked by what reaches his bank account, and nothing else. The outcomes that keep money in super until 60 come first because no tax is paid on them. Among the outcomes taken today, the gap is $100,544. This is a ranking, not a recommendation.
| # | How the claim ends | Claimed | Tax free part | Tax and any share | Reaches him | Less than the top |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Every account is claimed and the money stays in super until 60 | $344,000 | $132,308 | $0 | $344,000 | - |
| 2 | Half is taken now and the rest is left in super until 60 | $344,000 | $161,709 | $16,818 | $327,182 | −$16,818 |
| 3 | Every account is claimed, with the disability tax break applied | $344,000 | $191,111 | $33,636 | $310,364 | −$33,636 |
| 4 | Every account is claimed, and the fund takes tax at the normal rate | $344,000 | $0 | $75,680 | $268,320 | −$75,680 |
| 5 | The other accounts are rolled into one before the claim is made | $282,000 | $156,667 | $27,573 | $254,427 | −$89,573 |
| 6 | Only the main account is claimed, with the disability tax break applied | $269,000 | $149,444 | $26,302 | $242,698 | −$101,302 |
| 7 | Only the main account is claimed, and the fund takes tax at the normal rate | $269,000 | $0 | $59,180 | $209,820 | −$134,180 |
Why the tax free part is smaller in the first two rows. His time in super counts up to the day he is paid. Money paid at 60 has 20 more years of service behind it, so a smaller share is tax free. It makes no difference to the tax, because from 60 none of it is taxed.
The longer the bar, the more reaches his bank account. No bar is marked as the one to choose, because this report ranks but does not recommend.
$344,000 is claimed. If every account is claimed and the fund applies the disability tax break, $310,364 reaches his bank account today. The rest is tax.
The disability tax break (section 307-145 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) makes part of a disability payment tax free, to make up for the working years he has lost. The sum is: the payment, times his years from stopping work to 65, divided by his years in super up to the payment plus those years to 65.
$344,000 × 25 years to 65 ÷ (20 years in super + 25 years to 65) = $191,111 tax free, which is 55.6% of the payment
| The split | With the 2 certificates | Without them |
|---|---|---|
| Tax free component | $191,111 | $0 |
| Taxable component | $152,889 | $344,000 |
| Tax taken off at 40 | $33,636 | $75,680 |
| Reaches him | $310,364 | $268,320 |
It is not automatic. The fund needs certificates from two doctors (legally qualified medical practitioners). Each must say that, because of his ill health, he is unlikely ever to work again in a job suited to his education, training or experience. Without both, the fund cannot apply the tax break and takes tax at the normal rate.
His time in super counts up to the day he is paid. So the longer the payment takes, the smaller the tax free share. His years to 65 are counted from the day he stopped work.
Worked in years, not days. The law counts days. The result is almost the same, but a fund's figure may differ by a fraction of a percent.
$75,000 of this claim is in 2 other accounts. A claim on his main account does not reach them. Each account has its own insurance and its own claim form.
| Account | Insured cover | Balance | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| The account he is claiming | $195,000 | $74,000 | $269,000 |
| His other 2 accounts | $62,000 | $13,000 | $75,000 |
Rolling an account over ends its insurance. The balance moves, but the insurance does not, and the new fund does not replace it. If Vince combined his accounts before claiming, $62,000 of cover would disappear that day.
Cover can stop without you noticing. A fund must cancel the insurance on an account that has had no money paid in for 16 months, unless you asked in writing to keep it. There is no automatic cover on an account that has never reached $6,000, or for anyone under 25. What matters is whether the cover was in place on the day the disability started, not today.
These sections and their charts are in every full report. Everything above is real arithmetic on an invented person. Run yours free, then unlock the full report to see it all on your own figures: your accounts, your dates, your tax free amount to the dollar.
And you can ask it questions. Every report comes with an assistant that has read your report and explains any figure in plain English. Using it is up to you. It does nothing until you press the button, and it is given the amounts on your report, never your name, email or account.
That is somebody else's answer. Yours takes about three minutes and costs nothing.
The link may have been used already. If you still get emails, contact us and we will stop them.
TPD guides
Written for somebody who cannot work again and has never seen any of this vocabulary before. Plain English, the 2026-27 tax rules, the section numbers named so you can go and read them yourself, and every sum written out rather than asserted.
Reading helps. Knowing what your own claim is worth helps more.
Making your claim
A decline is a decision, not a verdict. Every superannuation fund has an internal complaints process, it is free, and a complaint about a declined claim normally has to go through it first. After that the Australian Financial Complaints Authority handles superannuation complaints at no cost to the complainant, and its determinations bind the fund. The document everything turns on is the written reasons, which the fund has to give you.
A decision letter often says very little. What the process runs on afterwards is the detail behind it: which definition was applied, what medical material was relied on, what the insurer concluded about capacity for other work, and what evidence was obtained but not mentioned.
Superannuation trustees are subject to obligations about giving reasons for decisions on complaints, and members can generally request the material that a decision was based on. The request worth making, in writing, is:
Two things follow from having those. It becomes possible to tell whether the decision was made on a correct reading of the policy, and it becomes possible to tell what evidence is missing rather than guessing at it.
Most declines on this kind of claim are not accusations of dishonesty. They are conclusions about capacity, and they cluster in a few places.
The evidence answered the wrong question. An any occupation test asks whether the person could do any work they are reasonably qualified for by education, training or experience. A treating specialist's report often addresses the injury and the person's original job, and stops there. It can be entirely accurate and still not answer what the policy asks.
The alternative work identified is theoretical. Vocational assessments can produce job titles that exist in a database rather than roles this person could realistically obtain and hold, with their condition, their medication, their age and their history.
The wrong definition was applied. Funds apply different definitions to different members in the same product, depending on occupation category and when cover started, and the version that matters is the one in force on the relevant date.
The date used was wrong. The date somebody stopped being capable of working, the date they last worked, and the date they lodged are three different dates, and which one the assessment used affects both eligibility and whether cover was in force.
Only part of the picture was assessed. Pain, fatigue, medication side effects and mental health consequences often go to a claim's substance and are frequently under-documented compared with the physical injury.
Every fund must have one and it costs nothing. It is a formal process rather than a phone call, and a complaint should say what decision is being complained about, why it is wrong, and what is being asked for.
The fund has a set period to respond and must give reasons in writing. Where a complaint is about an insurer's decision, the trustee is required to deal with it rather than simply passing the insurer's answer back - the trustee's own duties to the member apply to how it handles the insurance claim.
New evidence can go in at this stage, and often should. A complaint that only asserts the decision was unfair gives the fund nothing to change its mind on; one that supplies a report answering the actual definition gives it something specific to reconsider.
If the internal process does not resolve it, AFCA is next. It handles complaints about superannuation trustees and their insurers, it costs the complainant nothing, and its determinations bind the fund.
AFCA is not a court. It is intended to be accessible to people acting for themselves, and complainants can and do use it without representation.
The time limits matter more here than almost anywhere else, and they are not what people expect. Under AFCA Rule B.4.1.1, for a superannuation disability complaint:
| Situation | What has to happen, and by when |
|---|---|
| Employment permanently ended because of the disability | The claim must have been made to the trustee within 2 years of permanently ceasing employment, and the complaint must reach AFCA within 4 years of the decision |
| Employment did not end because of the injury or illness | The complaint must reach AFCA within 6 years of the decision |
Read the first row again, because it catches people. The 2 year clock runs from the day employment permanently ended - not from the day the fund said no, and not from the day somebody discovered there was a second account with cover on it. A claim lodged outside it may leave AFCA unable to hear a complaint about the answer.
The insurer and the fund can still pay outside that window; what is at risk is the free, binding review if they do not. AFCA has a general discretion to accept a complaint outside its limits and has exercised it, but that is a discretion rather than a right. The limits are on AFCA's own site and AFCA will confirm them for a specific matter.
AFCA's contact details are on the support page of this site along with the other free services.
This is worth its own heading because it is so easily assumed the other way round. Each super account is a separate policy with a separate insurer, assessed against its own definition on its own evidence. One insurer declining does not bind another, and one accepting does not oblige another.
Different accounts genuinely can produce different outcomes on the same facts - different definitions, different occupation categories, different qualifying periods, different insurers. A claim declined on the main account is a reason to look harder at the others rather than a reason to stop.
Building evidence about capacity for other work is skilled work: knowing which specialists to instruct, what questions to put to them so the report answers the policy rather than the injury, when a functional capacity assessment helps and when it does not, and how to meet a vocational report on its own ground.
Most firms doing this work act on a share of the claim rather than a fee up front. That is a real service and it is often the difference between a claim being paid and not. What is worth doing before signing is putting the percentage into dollars and reading what it applies to.
A claim that is eventually accepted after a dispute is taxed exactly like one accepted first time, and the disability tax treatment under section 307-145 needs the same two medical certificates either way.
A dispute produces a great deal of medical evidence, and it is easy to assume the fund therefore has what the tax rule needs. It may not: the certificates have to say a specific thing in specific terms, and material produced to answer a policy definition does not always say it. That is a question worth asking the fund when the claim is finally paid rather than after.
Every account, the tax on the payment, and what a share of the claim costs - all of it before anything is decided.
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About us
You cannot work again, and a form has arrived from a superannuation fund you have not thought about in years. Somewhere between the insurer's decision and your bank account, three separate rulebooks decide what is left: how many of your super accounts still hold cover, whether the fund has been given two specific pieces of paper, and whether you are over or under 60. Nobody in the process is required to explain any of it, and the letter you get will not.
None of it is secret. The tax is in Division 301 and Division 307 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, and section 307-145 in particular, the one that recalculates the tax free part of a disability payment. When cover exists at all is in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act and its regulations, and in the two reforms that switched a lot of it off: Protecting Your Super and Putting Members' Interests First. All of it is published. Almost none of it is written for the person it applies to, it sits across half a dozen documents that never mention each other, and the thresholds move every 1 July on a cycle nobody outside the industry follows.
TPD Claim Value does one thing: it applies those published rules to your figures and shows you, in full, what they produce. Every lawful way the claim can end, priced and ranked on one measure (what reaches your bank account), with every sum written out so you can check it, question it, or hand it to somebody who can. We are not paid by any fund, insurer, law firm or claims agent, we take no referral fee, and we take no share of anything you are paid.
We do not tell you what to do. We are not licensed to, and frankly the arithmetic is the part people are missing, not the opinion. And we cannot tell you whether your claim will be accepted. Nothing on this site can. If a claim has been declined, the free paths and the paid ones are both set out there.
Short version: we hold as little as we can, we never ask for the identifiers that matter most, and the calculation runs on your own device. The long version is below, because you are entitled to it.
This policy explains how XTO Pty. Ltd. (we, us, our) collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information, and how you can access, correct or complain about it. We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
It applies to calculatedchoices.com.au and to every email we send you. It does not apply to any third party site we link to.
We do not ask for, and you should never send us, your Medicare number, tax file number, tax file number, super member number, Medicare number or medical records, bank account details or card number. The calculator does not need them. If you send one to us anyway we will delete it rather than store it.
We do not collect sensitive information as defined in the Privacy Act - health information, racial or ethnic origin, political or religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or criminal record. Where the calculator asks about care needs it asks about funding categories, never about a medical condition.
Information you give us
Information collected automatically
In your browser, on your device. The figures you type into the calculator are processed locally to produce your result. They are transmitted to us only if you choose to save a scenario to your account. If you never save one, we never receive them.
Two exceptions, and both are things you have to choose to do:
A paid report comes with an optional assistant you can ask questions about your own figures. It is the one part of this site that sends anything to a third party, so it is set out here in full.
It is entirely your choice, and it does nothing until you use it. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you open the assistant and ask a question. If you never open it, this section does not apply to you at all, and the rest of the report works exactly the same.
What is sent when you do ask
What is not sent
What travels is a set of amounts and categories. On its own it does not identify anybody, and we do not send anything alongside it that would.
Who processes it
The request is answered by Google's Gemini API, which processes it outside Australia - see sections 10 and 11. We do not train any model on your figures and we have no arrangement permitting anyone to do so; what Google does with data sent to its API is governed by its own terms, which we do not control.
How long it is kept
Because the assistant is optional, you can have the entire paid report without any of the above ever happening. Nothing in the report is withheld from somebody who never opens it.
We use the following, and nothing else:
You can clear or block these through your browser at any time. Clearing them will sign you out and reset your preferences; the site will otherwise work normally.
We use Google Analytics and Google Ads to measure how people find and use the site and whether our advertising is worth running. Where these are enabled, Google receives your IP address, device and browser information, the pages you viewed, and - when you complete a purchase - the order reference and the amount paid. Google may set its own cookies and may combine this with data it holds from other sources. Google's handling of that data is governed by its own privacy policy, not ours.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not disclose it to data brokers, advertising networks other than as described above, super funds, insurers, law firms or claims agents, or anyone who might try to sell you something.
You can opt out of Google Analytics using Google's browser add-on, and you can adjust personalised advertising in your Google account settings.
Payments are processed by PayPal. Your card or account details are entered on PayPal's systems and are never transmitted to, seen by, or stored on our servers. We receive only the transaction reference, the amount, the status and the email address associated with the payment.
Some of these providers store or process data outside Australia, principally in the United States (Google, PayPal) and, depending on our email provider, in other countries. By using the site you acknowledge that we take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients handle your information consistently with the APPs, but that we cannot control and are not accountable for how an overseas recipient handles it once disclosed, and that you may not be able to seek redress in that jurisdiction.
The site runs entirely over HTTPS. Passwords are stored as salted PBKDF2 hashes, not as text anyone here can read. Access to the database is restricted to those who need it. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted over the internet, but we take reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.
If you give us your email address for a free estimate we may follow up about the full report. Every commercial email we send identifies us and carries a functional unsubscribe link, as required by the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). We action unsubscribes immediately. You will still receive transactional email - receipts, access details and password resets - because those are not marketing.
Write to support@calculatedchoices.com.au. We will:
We will respond within 30 days and will not charge you for making a request. We may need to verify your identity first.
If you think we have breached the APPs, write to support@calculatedchoices.com.au with "Privacy complaint" in the subject line. We will acknowledge within 5 business days and respond substantively within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: oaic.gov.au, 1300 363 992, or GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001.
The site is intended for people who cannot work again and are claiming disability cover held inside superannuation. It is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.
We may update this policy. The effective date at the top changes when we do. Where a change is material we will tell you by email or by notice on the site before it takes effect. Continuing to use the site after that means you accept the updated policy.
Privacy Officer
XTO Pty. Ltd. (ACN [ACN NOT SET])
Level 1, 457 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010
support@calculatedchoices.com.au
Plain English, because the whole point is that you understand it. Section 6 is the one that matters most - please read it before you rely on anything here.
By using calculatedchoices.com.au (the site) or buying a pass you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the site. In these terms we, us and our mean XTO Pty. Ltd.; you means the person using the site or, where you use it on behalf of another person or an entity, both you and that person or entity.
You must be at least 18 and legally able to enter a contract. The site is intended for use in Australia and applies Australian law and the published superannuation and income tax rules that apply to disability benefits only. If you use it from outside Australia you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for local compliance.
TPD Claim Value is an information and calculation service. It applies the published superannuation and income tax rules that apply to disability benefits to figures you supply and reports what those rules produce, showing its workings and naming the fee schedule used.
It is not financial product advice, personal advice, legal advice, tax advice, accounting advice or financial product advice or legal advice about an insurance claim, and it is not a recommendation to acquire, dispose of or deal in any financial product.
You should obtain independent, licensed advice before acting. Any decision you make is yours.
We take considerable care to keep the rates current and the formulas right, and every report prints the schedule it was built on. Even so:
Always confirm before you act.
You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for evaluating the output, for verifying it against official sources, for obtaining independent professional advice, and for every decision you make or do not make. We are not your adviser and no fiduciary or advisory relationship arises from your use of the site.
You are responsible for keeping your password confidential and for everything done under your account. Tell us immediately at support@calculatedchoices.com.au if you suspect unauthorised use. We may suspend or close an account we reasonably believe is being used in breach of these terms.
A report you export as a PDF or otherwise save remains yours to keep and to show to family, an adviser or a superannuation fund. That licence is personal and non‑commercial. It does not permit republication, resale, or use as part of a product or service you provide to others.
Our promise: if the calculator cannot properly model your circumstances, or something has gone wrong, write to us within 14 days of purchase and we will refund the pass. No form and no argument. We would rather refund you than have you rely on a number that does not fit.
This is a voluntary commercial guarantee offered in addition to, and it does not limit, your rights under the Australian Consumer Law. Refunds are made to the original payment method within five business days of us accepting the request.
You must not:
All content, code, calculation methodology, report design, text and branding on the site is owned by us or licensed to us and is protected by copyright and other laws. Legislated rates and government data are not owned by anyone; our expression, arrangement and implementation of them is. Nothing in these terms transfers ownership to you.
We aim to keep the site available but do not guarantee it will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error free. We may modify, suspend or discontinue any part of it, and may perform maintenance, at any time. If we permanently discontinue the service while your pass is running, we will refund the unused portion.
The site relies on third party services including PayPal, Google and our hosting and email providers, and links to third party sites and government resources. We are not responsible for those services or sites, their availability, their content or their terms.
Our goods and services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. For major failures with the service, you are entitled to cancel your service contract with us and to a refund for the unused portion, or to compensation for its reduced value. You are also entitled to be compensated for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. If the failure does not amount to a major failure, you are entitled to have problems with the service rectified in a reasonable time and, if this is not done, to cancel your contract and obtain a refund for the unused portion of the contract.
Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy conferred by the Australian Consumer Law or any other law which cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified. If any part of these terms would do so, that part does not apply.
Subject always to section 15, and to the maximum extent permitted by law:
You agree that this allocation of risk is reasonable given the price of the service and that the service is information rather than advice.
Our liability is reduced to the extent your loss is caused or contributed to by you, including by entering incorrect figures, by failing to verify output against official sources, or by failing to obtain independent advice.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, you indemnify us against any claim, loss, liability, cost or expense (including reasonable legal costs) arising from your breach of these terms, your misuse of the site, or your provision of the site's output to a third party who relies on it. This does not apply to the extent the claim arises from our own breach, negligence or wilful misconduct.
You may stop using the site at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access immediately if you breach these terms. Sections 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20 survive termination.
Our Privacy Policy forms part of these terms and explains how we handle personal information.
These terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. You and we submit to the non‑exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales and the courts entitled to hear appeals from them.
XTO Pty. Ltd. (ACN [ACN NOT SET])
Level 1, 457 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010
support@calculatedchoices.com.au