Death claim payment

A death claim payment is money that’s payable after a Media Super member passes away. It may include:

• the member’s super balance.
• an insurance payment, if the member held insurance cover with Media Super when they died.

There are laws about who a super fund can pay a death benefit to. In most cases, the benefit goes to:

• The member’s dependants, who must be either:
  • their spouse (including same-sex, married or de facto),
  • their child/children (including adopted, outside of marriage and step),
  • someone who was financially dependent on them, or
  • someone they were in an interdependency relationship with.

and/or:

• The member’s legal personal representative

The member might have chosen who they want to receive their death benefit by making a binding or non-binding beneficiary nomination.

You can find more information about eligible beneficiaries on our Nominate a beneficiary page.

Our goal is to work with you to ensure we receive all the information needed to assess your claim as soon as possible. We may need you to provide certain documents and information. We’ll let you know if that’s the case. As part of our responsibility, Media Super will consider the member’s wishes and the information provided by claimants.

If the member had a valid binding death benefit nomination in place when they died, we will pay the death benefit to the people nominated in the proportions chosen. A valid binding death nomination makes it much faster for us to pay the death benefit.

If the member has not made a valid binding death benefit nomination, we will review all documentation and decide who to make the payment to. This process can take some time, but it’s important to make sure the death claim payment goes to the right beneficiary or beneficiaries.

This process can take some time, but it’s important to make sure the death claim payment goes to the right beneficiary or beneficiaries.

We understand that this may be a difficult time for you, so we aim to make the process as simple as possible. However, if you decide to use a lawyer or another third party to make a claim on your behalf, you’ll need to complete a Third party authority - Death Claims (PDF) form.

We’ll let you know what information and documents we need in the letter we send you. Please make sure you provide all requested information, as this will help us assess your claim as quickly as possible.

Once you have everything ready, double-check you’ve provided all requested information and then either scan and email, or post your completed forms and documents back to us:

• Email: claims@mediasuper.com.au
• Post: Media Super Insurance, Locked Bah 5056, Parramatta, NSW 2124

For any questions about claim forms or the information you need to provide, contact Media Super on 1300 722 152 and ask to be transferred to the Claims team.

If the member held insurance cover with Media Super when they died, the insurer will assess your claim according to the insurance policy, when all the requested documents are received.

The insurer will inform Media Super of its decision to admit or decline the claim.

Media Super will then determine which of the member’s potential beneficiaries to pay the death payment to, in accordance with super laws and the Trust Deed, and taking into account the member’s wishes.

If the member had a valid binding death benefit nomination in place, we will pay the death benefit (made up of the member’s super and any insurance benefit) to the people the member nominated in the proportions they chose.

In most cases we’ll be able to let you know as soon as the claim has been assessed. If the member has not made a valid binding death benefit nomination, we will review all documentation and decide who to make the payment to.

In many cases this step won’t be required. However in some circumstances when we make a decision who to pay a death benefit to and in what proportions, we’ll write to you (along with any other potential beneficiaries) letting you know about the proposed distribution and give you 28 days from when you receive our letter or email to tell us whether:

• you’re satisfied with the decision, or
• you object to it and would like a review.

If you’re satisfied with our decision you may choose not to respond and we will treat your non-response as acceptance of the decision.  We’ll pay the death benefit after the 28 day period has expired so long as no objections have been received. However, if all parties notify us they are satisfied with the proposed distribution, we may pay the benefit sooner. If any objections are received, we’ll let you know and we may ask you for more information to help with our review.

If you’re not satisfied with our decision or how we’ve handled your claim, you can lodge a complaint or contact us.

Generally, payment of the claim can’t be finalised until all objections have been resolved.

If Media Super confirms a payment will be made to you, we’ll write to you to let you know the next steps (by post or email), explaining  payment options, and we’ll let you know if any other documents or forms are required, such as your ID documents.