If someone dies while they have a membership in ElectricSuper, their legal personal representative or a potential beneficiary can lodge a claim requesting the release of the late member’s benefit. The benefit will be made up of the member’s superannuation balance and the insurance benefit, if they had Death Insurance through their super.
Whether the member had insurance or not, use the Death Claim Kit to lodge the claim. You can find this on our website on the Resources/Forms page.
The Death Claim Kit will help step you through the process. The kit includes:
- a list of all the documents that you may need to provide so that we can process the claim,
- a list of the people who may need to fill out the Claim Kit. The list includes any legal personal representative and all potential beneficiaries,
- definitions of the different types of people considered a “dependant” under superannuation law. This can help you work out who should complete a copy of the Claim Kit to return to us, and
- the form to provide all the required details for each potential beneficiary.
What happens when we get the completed Claim Kit?
First, your Claim Case Manager will check the Kit and all the attached documents you provide. Your Claim Case Manager will contact the executor (or the main contact for your case) if anything is missing. They will let you know what we still need.
We will review the Claim once we have all the information and paperwork that we need.
If the member had insurance
If the member had Death Insurance, we will forward the information you provide in the Claim Kit to our insurer. They will then assess the information.
If the claim information you provided meets the conditions of the insurance policy, the ElectricSuper Board Trustees (or their delegate) will review the information. They will consider the advice received from the insurer and confirm if payment is authorised. They will also state who will receive the benefit and in what proportions. To make this decision, we use the information that all potential beneficiaries and legal personal representative(s) provided in the Claim Kit, as well as any valid Nomination of Beneficiaries that the member had lodged with us.
If the decision is made that the insurance claim is valid and the insurance amount should be paid out, the benefit will be paid out for the sum insured plus the superannuation balance.
However, if the information provided doesn’t meet the conditions of the insurance policy, the insurer will advise us that payment of the insured amount is not recommended. The ElectricSuper Board (or delegates) will then decide who will receive any benefit and in what proportions.
If the decision is to not pay out the insurance, your Claim Case Manager will advise you. They will also explain the reason for the decision.
If the member didn’t have insurance
In the case that the deceased member didn’t have death insurance as part of their ElectricSuper account, the ElectricSuper Board Trustees (or delegates) will review the Claim Kit information and determine who will receive the superannuation balance, and in what proportions.
The Trustees (or delegate) use the information that has been received in the Claim Kit and any valid Nomination of Beneficiaries that the member had lodged with us to make this decision.
What happens after you’ve lodged your claim?
If, for some reason, you didn’t provide all of the information we need at the time you lodged the Claim Kit, your Claim Case Manager will contact the legal personal representative (or the person who is designated as your case’s point of contact) to advise of what we still need.
You can reach out to your Claim Case Manager at any time if you have questions or want an update.
The account balance of the deceased member’s super account will fluctuate between the time you lodge the claim and the time any benefit is paid out. This is because the deceased member’s account will continue to receive investment returns and have costs deducted throughout that time.
Investment returns can sometimes be negative. This may mean the account balance will be lower when it is paid out than it was at the time the member died.
Who will receive the benefit?
There are a number of factors that influence who receives the benefit. These include whether the member had a valid Death Benefit Nomination or Reversionary Beneficiary Nomination in place when they died, the Rules of the scheme the member was in and what information is received as part of the Claim Kit process.
Read more about who may receive the benefit in our article, Estate Planning – the details.
How long will the process take?
This is a hard one to answer! Every case is different. However, once we have the everything we need, including, but not limited to, the full Death Certificate and Claim Forms from all the potential beneficiaries, it typically takes up to 6 weeks to make payment to the beneficiaries.
Where can I access the Claim Kit?
The Claim Kit is available on our website. Visit the Resources > Forms page.