Family or domestic violence

Family and Domestic Violence Policy

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In an emergency or if you’re not feeling safe, call 000.

If you’re experiencing family or domestic violence, we are here to support you with compassion, respect, flexibility and care.

We understand it takes courage to openly speak about your situation. We have specially trained employees available to work with you 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.

Support for customers experiencing family and domestic violence

TIO recognises family and domestic violence is a serious issue that can affect diverse sectors of our community. Our policy outlines the support available to all customers who may be experiencing family or domestic violence. It acknowledges that if you have previously experienced or are currently experiencing family or domestic violence, you may provide indications or disclose this through your contact with us. This may make your ability to communicate with us more challenging, and/or make payments to us more difficult. We have a responsibility to ensure we have measures in place to support you in these times of need.

Our commitments

TIO recognises family or domestic violence is unacceptable in any relationship and customers experiencing family or domestic violence will be treated with dignity and respect
the support of customers experiencing family or domestic violence and their children is the highest priority
customers who indicate or disclose that they are experiencing family or domestic violence are able to access support from TIO that is appropriate to their circumstances
disclosures made to any relevant third parties will be made with great care, keeping in mind the sensitivity and confidentiality of the customer’s situation
We may need to be flexible and vary our approach based on individual circumstances, including providing more personalised support to help customers navigate our processes

Our team is here to support you

Where you disclose family or domestic violence, or where we have reason to believe family or domestic violence is occurring, we will protect your right to privacy and will consider, on a case by case basis, various measures to support you, such as:

prioritising the sensitivity of your situation
maintaining confidentiality of information
minimising the number of times you need to disclose your situation by having dedicated employees specifically trained to assist customers experiencing family or domestic violence
managing the way we communicate with you so we do not add further risk
providing financial hardship support, depending on the circumstances
stopping or deferring collections activities
referring you to appropriate support agencies where needed

Training our employees to assist you

All our customer-facing employees will receive training relevant to their role. Additionally, TIO has dedicated employees within our claims and contact centre teams who have specialist skills and knowledge to support customers experiencing family or domestic violence with extra care and flexibility.

Confidentiality

We understand the risks of disclosing information to third parties in relation to customers experiencing family or domestic violence. Protecting your personal and other confidential information – such as your physical address and telephone number – is critical to your safety in these situations. In addition to our Privacy Policy, we will discuss safe ways to communicate with you and record these. We will protect your sensitive information and, where possible, give you control over how your personal information is shared with third parties. We will inform you about the circumstances and nature of information that has to be shared with other policyholders, such as information about a claim, so you can make appropriate arrangements.

Sensitive claims handling

We will support you throughout the claims process on a case by case basis. This may include fast-tracking the claim, providing emergency payments or accommodation and/ or reviewing decisions where there is uncertainty about cover.

If you’re having trouble paying your insurance premium

Family or domestic violence may cause circumstances that impact on your financial wellbeing, including the ability to meet payments. If you have identified that you are being affected by family or domestic violence, or where our trained employee has reason to believe family or domestic violence is occurring, we may offer financial hardship assistance, including offering deferred payments for premiums or waiving excess/es on a current claim.

Support services

Always call 000 if your or your family members are in immediate danger

1800 RESPECT

Phone: 1800 737 732

Website: 1800respect.org.au

National 24-hour Domestic and Family Violence and Sexual Assault Line.

MENSLINE

Phone: 1300 78 99 78

Website: mensline.org.au

24/7 support, information and referral service for men with family and relationship issues.

Lifeline

Phone: 13 11 14

Website: lifeline.org.au

24/7 counselling and referral service for people in a crisis situation.

Beyond Blue

Phone: 1300 224 636

Website: beyondblue.org.au

24/7 support to people experiencing anxiety or depression.

National Debt Hotline

Phone: 1800 007 007

Website: ndh.org.au

Financial counselling is a free, confidential service to assist people in financial difficulty.

National Association of Community Legal Centres

Website: naclc.org.au

An independent not-for-profit community organisation that provides legal and related services to the public, focusing on the disadvantaged and people with special needs

Support from your bank

Your bank may be able to help provide relief for your mortgage payments or provide other forms of relief.

Utility bills

If you’re finding it tough to pay your bills give your utility company a call because they may be able to assist.

NewAccess for Small Business Owners (NASBO)

Phone: 1300 224 636

Website: beyondblue.org.au

Beyond Blue’s NewAccess for Small Business Owners (NASBO) is a guided self-help mental health coaching program.
It’s free, confidential and convenient. Available nationally by phone or video call.

Definitions

Abbreviation / Term	Definition
Customers	Are person(s) who: have applied for (including obtaining a quote for) a TIO Retail Insurance product underwritten by Allianz have been issued with a TIO Retail Insurance product that is underwritten by Allianz are Relevant Third Parties to a TIO Retail Insurance product that is underwritten by Allianz
Relevant Third Parties	Are person(s) who are: Third Party Beneficiaries a third party not of the type listed in a), who TIO is recovering money from under a TIO Retail Insurance product underwritten by Allianz a third party not of the type listed in a), who are seeking damages from customers of a Retail Insurance product underwritten by Allianz
Retail Insurance	Retail insurance is defined in Part 16 of the General Insurance Code of Practice 2020.
Third Party Beneficiaries	A person, company or entity who is not an insured but who is seeking to be, is specified to be, or is referred to as, a person to whom the benefit of insurance cover extends under a Retail Insurance product
Family or Domestic Violence	Behaviour that is violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that caused or controls a member of the person’s family, or causes the family member to be fearful. This behaviour can occur in current or past family or domestic relationships. Examples of behaviour that may constitute family or domestic violence include, but are not limited to the following: physical or sexual abuse emotional or psychological abuse economic or financial abuse threatening, intimidating or coercive technologically abusive, such as abusive emails or tracking activity on phones and electronic devices behaviour that in any other way coerces or controls the family member and causes that family member to feel fear for their safety or wellbeing of that family member behaviour by a person that causes a child to hear or witness, or otherwise be exposed to the effects of behaviour referred to above