Christine Cupitt
Australian life insurers are making major changes to the way they support victim-survivors of family and domestic violence.
The Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI) has released a new Best practice guidance on family and domestic violence that sets new benchmarks for compassionate and effective engagement with victim-survivors. This approach has been informed by the lived experiences of victim-survivors.
“People often contact life insurance companies during the most difficult moments in their lives. For those who have suffered domestic or financial abuse, just making that first call can be overwhelming,” said CALI CEO Christine Cupitt.
“This is a comprehensive best practice guide, developed to ensure that, when a person who is at their most vulnerable reaches out, they will be cared for by a human being who is respectful, compassionate, and empowered to assist them in their time of need.”
The industry guidance was developed in consultation with social enterprise Flequity Ventures and the Independent Collective of Survivors, who advised on lived experiences with life insurance and financial safety by design. It also involved CALI’s 20 member companies to better understand the challenges victim-survivors face with life insurance.
“This is the first finance sector guidance to incorporate financial safety by design and commit to considering financial abuse in product design,” said Catherine Fitzpatrick, social entrepreneur and Director, Flequity Ventures and Adjunct Associate Professor UNSW School of Social Sciences.
“The recommended changes will prevent perpetrators from weaponising life insurance as a tactic of coercive control and provide additional protection and support to victim-survivors.”
By providing a detailed framework for engaging with victim-survivors, the best practice guidance will help Australian life insurers identify family and domestic violence situations, such as financial abuse, and respond sensitively to their customers’ needs.
Key initiatives of the best practice guidance
The best practice guidance on family and domestic violence focuses on creating a framework and new processes that foster trust and avoid re-traumatisation including:
- Addressing financial abuse and coercive control by building flexibility into product design. This includes making sure the victim-survivor whose life is insured is informed of changes, like when a policy-owner cancels or starts a policy.
- Simplifying policy changes for victim-survivors by helping them navigate the legal requirements to separate or change a policy.
- Enhancing privacy and confidentiality with additional security measures, such as preferred contact methods and times for victim-survivors and flags in systems.
- Simplifying the application process by providing a guide to help victim-survivors understand application wording and, where possible, applying previous underwriting assessments for a new policy.
- Handling queries and claims sensitively by minimising the need for victim-survivors retelling their story and adopting flexible, supportive measures for their claims.
- Considering the forfeiture rule when reviewing claims made by perpetrators of domestic and family violence and consider paying any benefits to the Court.
- Providing access to designated staff who are trained to identify customers under extreme stress because of family and domestic violence, and supporting staff with training to ensure their well-being and resilience.
- Providing access to additional resources such as support services, financial options, and specialist referrals, both online and in print. This information will be regularly updated and accessible on life insurers’ websites and cali.org.au
The best practice guidance will help Australian life insurers support victim-survivors with safe and secure practices when they need it most.