Does TAC pay super?
Once you have an accepted TAC claim, if your ability to work has been impacted you will likely be entitled to the payment of income benefits.
Income benefits are payable for a total of three years post accident.
In some cases, income benefits can be paid beyond the three year mark, but in very limited cases.
For the first 18 months a person will be paid what’s called loss of earnings benefits.
Thereafter, from 18 months to 3 years, they will be entitled to claim loss of earning capacity benefits.
When the TAC calculates a persons loss of earnings payment rate, the TAC will not include the employers compulsory superannuation contribution.
They will only consider a persons gross earnings prior to a persons salary being structured into a mix of salary and non salary benefits.
Likewise, when it comes to loss of earning capacity benefits, periodic superannuation payments are not taken into account by the TAC.
So in short, the TAC will not pay superannuation payments to you following an accident if you are not able to work.
What if I can partially work following an accident?
If you are partially able to work following an accident, then your employer will be required to make superannuation contributions based on your earnings from employment.
The period of time that you are not able to work that you would have worked pre-injury, is not able to be covered by the TAC.
There are also no other mechanisms that will allow you to make up for lost superannuation payments in this instance, unfortunately.
Common law claim
You can read about common law claims here.
The person succeeded in a common law claim, one thing they may be entitled to claim is lost earnings.
That is, any loss of income from the date of accident to the date of settlement and ongoing into the future.
What their loss of earnings is likely to be will depend upon medical material that addresses what their work capacity is likely to be moving forward.
It is possible to factor in to those calculations superannuation payments that a person may have obtained but for the accident.
So for example, if a person is no longer able to work following an accident, any superannuation payments that they might have received into the future had they continued to work can be taken into account as part of a loss of earnings claim under a common law claim.
You can still make your own contributions
Notwithstanding the fact that you will not be getting paid super by the TAC if you can’t work, you can still make your own contributions to your superannuation fund.
If no super contributions will be made for an extended period of time
Also, if it’s likely that there aren’t going to be any contributions made to your super for an extended period of time, it’s a good idea to review your super and any insurance arrangements connected to your superannuation account to ensure they don’t lapse due to non contribution.
The super fund should contact you in this regard if there is a chance your insurance connected to your superannuation account may cease.
Conclusion
TAC will not pay superannuation contributions after an accident if your ability to work has been impacted.
However, if you pursue a common law claim you may be able to factor in any lost superannuation related to the accident as part of a loss of earnings claim.
