We are committed to taking extra care with customers who experience vulnerability. We recognise that a person’s vulnerabilities can give rise to unique needs, and that their needs can change over time and in response to particular situations.
A person’s vulnerability may be due to a range of factors such as:
- age;
- disability;
- mental health conditions;
- physical health conditions;
- family violence;
- language barriers;
- literacy barriers;
- cultural background;
- Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status;
- remote location; or
- financial distress.
We encourage you to tell us about your vulnerability so that we can work with you to arrange support — otherwise, there is a risk that we may not find out about it.
Support Measures
- If you tell us, or we identify, that due to a vulnerability you need additional support or assistance, we will work with you and try to find a suitable, sensitive and compassionate way for us to proceed. We will do this as early as practicable and we will protect your right to privacy.
- If you tell us, or we identify, that you need additional support from someone else (for example, a lawyer, consumer representative, interpreter or friend), then we will recognise this and allow for it in all reasonable ways. We will try to make sure our processes are flexible enough to recognise the authority of your support person.
Protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information is important to us.
You can contact us on 1300 328 042 Mon-Sat 8am-10pm.
Or you can email us on [email protected] where your issue or idea will be considered by the appropriate dedicated team.
Financial Hardship
If money is tight, please talk to us. You will not be the first and you will not be judged for it.
Financial hardship means you are having difficulty meeting a payment you owe us. It does not have to be caused by something dramatic. Rising costs, a change in hours, an unexpected bill or a run of vet visits are all reasons people find themselves short, and plenty of people in financial hardship are working and have a steady income.
We would much rather hear from you early than have you go without cover, or delay care your pet needs because of an excess. Financial hardship support is available on all of our policies, to our policy holders, third party beneficiaries, and anyone we are seeking to recover an amount from.
How we may be able to help
Every situation is different, so we will talk through what would actually work for you. These are examples of what we may be able to do:
- Deduct your excess from your claim payment, so you do not have to find it up front by using the GapOnly ® network for claims
- Change your payment schedule with no additional financial cost such as move to monthly or fortnightly, or annually.
- Put any recovery action on hold while we look at your situation
- Fast track a claim so you get a decision sooner or pay a portion of the claim in advance
- Waive or reduce an amount you may owe us, including excess or overdue premiums’
- Put you in touch with a free financial counsellor
These are examples only. If none of them fit, tell us what would help and we will look at it with you.
How to ask for help
There is no form to fill in and no set wording. Just tell us you are having trouble paying, and we will take it from there.
- Call us on 1300 328 042 or
- Email us at [email protected]
What happens next. A member of our support team will get in touch, usually within 2 business days. They will talk through your circumstances and the options above, and confirm what we have agreed in writing. You will not need to explain your situation more than once. Depending on the type of support you may need, you may be required to complete a form and provide supporting documents such as bank statements, Centrelink statement
You can ask someone to deal with us on your behalf, such as a family member, a friend, a financial counsellor, an interpreter or a legal representative. Tell us who they are and we will work with them.
Anything you tell us is confidential and is used only to work out how we can help.
Free and independent support
You do not have to talk only to us. These services are free, independent and confidential.
- National Debt Helpline, 1800 007 007, ndh.org.au. Free financial counselling.
- Moneysmart, moneysmart.gov.au. Free budgeting tools and guidance from ASIC.
- Lifeline, 13 11 14. 24 hour crisis support.
- Beyond Blue, 1300 22 4636.
- Good Shepherd, 1300 121 130 goodshep.org.au. No interest loans and financial support.
If you need help communicating with us
If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service on 133 677 or at accesshub.gov.au.
Interpreter: call TIS National on 131 450 and ask them to call us on 1300 328 042.
What if you disagree with our decision?
If we cannot reach an agreement on a hardship arrangement, or you are unhappy with the outcome or how your request was handled, you can ask for our decision to be reviewed through our Internal Dispute Resolution process.
If you remain dissatisfied with our final decision, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).
Website: www.afca.org.au
Phone: 1800 931 678
Email: [email protected]
Mail:
Australian Financial Complaints Authority
GPO Box 3
Melbourne, VIC 3001
Family Violence
We offer additional support measures to customers affected by family violence. If your pet insurance policy is administered by Trupanion, and you are affected by family violence, you can access this support by calling 1300 328 042 or emailing us on [email protected].
Trupanion’s commitment to you
We are committed to providing support to our customers affected by family violence. We will achieve this through training and support of our employees, engaging you with sensitivity, dignity, respect and compassion while protecting your information and privacy. We will also refer you to specialist support services that can help you with family violence, details of which can be found below.
Your safety is paramount to us
Whenever family violence is identified or suspected, our priority is the safety of the person affected and the protection of their family. We will strive for the early recognition of family violence, and we encourage you to tell us if you are affected so we can help you.
How we will deliver on our commitment
- We will ensure that any disclosure of information to us, request for support made under this policy, and private information we already have on file is kept confidential and secure. We will ensure any information provided to us in relation to situations of family violence is used solely for the purpose of assessing the individual needs of that customer.
- We will ensure our employees of Trupanion are trained so that they are aware of our family violence procedures and can identify and deal appropriately and sensitively with customers affected by family violence.
- We will minimise the number of times that our customers need to tell us that they have been affected by family violence.
- We will work with customers affected by family violence to try to find a suitable, sensitive and compassionate way to respond to your needs under your insurance policy.
- Our claims handling processes will be considerate and sensitive should our customers affected by family violence need to make a claim under their insurance policy with us.
- We will ensure customers affected by family violence also have access to Financial Hardship assistance and support if they are experiencing financial difficulties in relation to their insurance policy.
- We will inform our customers, as well as employees of Trupanion, about information and support processes available to assist our customers experiencing family violence.
- We will refer our customers, as well as employees, to specialist organisations who can offer support and advice for those experiencing family violence, details of which can be found below.
- We will support our employees who are affected by family violence or where they have assisted a customer affected by family violence.
- Where a customer tells us, or it is identified that a customer needs additional support from someone else (for example, a lawyer, friend or support organisation) we will recognise this and allow for flexibility of our processes where we can. This will not affect a customer’s right to privacy of their information.
What is family violence?
Family violence is “violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person’s family or causes the family member to be fearful.”*
Family violence includes physical violence, emotional or psychological abuse, financial or economic abuse and damage to property.
Specialist support services
If you are in danger or if you are not feeling safe, call 000.
The following organisations offer free family violence support services:
- 1800RESPECT: http://www.1800respect.org.au or at 1800 737 732 (24hrs)
- National Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault helpline: 1800 200 526 (24hrs)
- Domestic Violence Crisis Service: http://www.dvrcv.org.au/domestic-violence-crisis-service or 1300
782 200 ( 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday) or 131 611 (after hours Crisis Care) - Family Violence Response and Counselling Referral Line: 1800 633 937 (24hrs)
- Lifeline: http://www.lifeline.org.au or 13 11 14
- Relationships Australia: http://www.relationships.org.au or 1300 364 277
- DVConnect Mensline: http://www.dvconnect.org/mensline or 1800 600 636 (9am – midnight, 7
days) - MensLine Australia: http://www.mensline.org.au or 1300 789 978 (24 hrs)
- LGBTQIA Support for Domestic Violence: 1800 063 060
* Family Law Act 1976 (CTH), section 4AB