TPD insurance advice in Australia.
Total and permanent disability insurance pays a lump sum if you can no longer work. Whether it pays at all comes down to which definition you hold and how the policy is owned.
The definition does the work.
TPD has more variation across insurers than any other personal cover. The same event can be a clean claim under one policy and a dispute under another. Picking the definition is the whole game, and it is the single biggest reason specialist doctors need an own-occupation contract written for the actual job they trained for.
- +Own versus any occupation
Own occupation is paid out when you cannot do your specific job. Any occupation is paid out only when you cannot do any work suited to your training. Two different policies in everything but name.
- +Specialty practice matters
A neurosurgeon who can no longer operate may still be able to teach. Own occupation pays; any occupation may not.
- +Insurer wording shifts every few years
PDS wording is not static. We compare the version on offer today, not the version of the policy you bought five years ago.
- +Standalone or bundled changes the maths
A bundled policy is cheaper at the start. A standalone policy preserves the full sum if a life claim is later paid on the same person.
The six structures that shape TPD.
TPD divides into three definitions and three ownership structures. The six combinations have very different premium and claim profiles.
Own occupation
Pays a lump sum if you cannot return to your specific job. The right definition for specialists whose training is narrow and not easily redeployed.
Any occupation
Pays only if you cannot return to any work suited to your training, education, and experience. Cheaper, harder to claim on, and the default inside super.
Activities of daily living
A third tier used for non-workers or where insurers will not offer the broader definitions. Pays only on severe loss of function.
Standalone TPD
A standalone policy with its own sum insured. The full benefit is preserved if a life claim is later paid.
Bundled with life
TPD attached to a life policy. Cheaper to start. A TPD payout reduces the remaining life benefit.
Inside super
Premiums paid from your balance. Restricted to any occupation in most cases and subject to the SIS release conditions before benefits are released to you.
What the lump sum has to fund.
We size TPD against the actual costs that follow a permanent inability to work, not a default multiple of salary. The monthly counterpart, income protection, carries the household through the recovery period; TPD steps in for the permanent case. Both decisions sit inside the financial planning file.
Clear non-deductible debt
Mortgage and personal loans paid off so the household is not carrying repayments on a single or zero income.
Medical and rehabilitation costs
Out-of-pocket specialist fees, allied health, equipment, and the cost of accessing private treatment.
Home and vehicle adaptation
Ramps, lifts, accessible bathrooms, modified vehicles. Costs run into six figures in serious cases.
Income to retirement
Income protection runs to age 65 at most. TPD bridges from then to the planned retirement standard.
Carer and family support
Replacement of unpaid care, partner income reduction, and dependent care.
Investment capital
A buffer that can be invested to generate ongoing income alongside other cover.
Credentials and licensing.
- Practitioner
- Balki Balakrishnan
- Experience
- 12+ years on personal risk
- Membership
- FAAA
- Authorisation
- AR 409415 of La Verne Capital Pty Ltd
- Focus
- Definitions, ownership, and claim outcomes
- Standalone reviews
- Available without a full plan
TPD is one of the four common covers we arrange most often, alongside income protection, trauma, and life. Recommendations require personal advice and sit inside the financial planning pillar.
The questions clients ask before booking.
Own occupation is the stronger contract and matters most for specialists whose training is narrow. Any occupation is cheaper and is the default for cover held inside super. The right answer depends on your job, your alternatives, and what you can fund.
Inside super eases cash flow because premiums come from your balance. Outside super lets you hold an own-occupation definition and avoids the release condition layer at claim time. Many clients hold a split for that reason.
We size it against debts to clear, lifestyle replacement, capital for medical and home adaptation costs, and ongoing income needs to retirement. Default sliders rarely produce the right number.
Total and permanent inability to work, assessed against the policy definition. Common causes include cancer, mental health conditions, musculoskeletal injury, neurological conditions, and major accidents.
TPD held in your personal name outside super is generally not taxed at claim. Inside super the benefit is released subject to the SIS conditions and may be taxed depending on your age and the components of the payout. We work through the structure case by case.
Read on adjacent cover
- All personal risk coverTPD in context with the four other covers we advise on.
- Income protection insuranceThe monthly counterpart to TPD. Replaces a portion of income while you recover.
- Trauma insuranceCritical illness lump sum on diagnosis.
- Life insuranceLump sum on death or terminal illness, often bundled with TPD.
- Business insuranceKey person, buy and sell, partnership protection.
- Insurance for doctorsOwn-occupation TPD and specialist underwriting.
Information on this page is general in nature. It does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation, or needs. Read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and consider whether personal advice is appropriate before acquiring any insurance product mentioned here.
Book a free TPD review.
An hour on the file. If the definition you hold matches the work you do we will say so. If it does not we will show you the alternative.