It’s important that you are aware of the potential implications of some new government rules if you are behind in your employees’ super contributions.
REI Super members have death and total and permanent disablement cover through their super account.
We are urging employers to be aware that if a member’s account is inactive their insurance cover could be cancelled as a result of new government rules - if they don’t take action or if you don’t make a contribution on their behalf.
In particular, please be aware that if a member makes an insurance claim and their insurance has been cancelled because their employer is behind in their super contributions, their employer could be subject to legal action.
The government’s ‘Protecting Your Super Package’ aims to protect members’ super accounts from being unnecessarily reduced by fees, including insurance premiums.
To minimise the impact of fees on inactive accounts, the government’s new rules mean that from 1 July 2019 super funds are required to cancel insurance for members when they haven’t received contributions or rollovers from them for a period of 16 continuous months.
So if a member or their employer have not made contributions to the member’s REI Super account for 16 months as at 1 July 2019 and onwards, members need to make a contribution to their account or have one made for them, or they need to let us know if they still want their insurance cover.
We recently wrote to members with inactive accounts to alert them to this change.
To keep their insurance cover, members can:
- Log into their account and make a contribution (via a personal contribution or rollover) or have a contribution made for them.
For more information call our Helpline on 1300 13 44 33.
As premiums are paid from your superannuation savings, your superannuation balance will reduce by the premium paid each year.
The information contained in this article does not constitute financial product advice. However, to the extent that the information may be considered to be general financial product advice, REI Super advises that REI Super has not considered any individual person’s objectives, financial situation or particular needs.
Individuals need to consider whether the advice is appropriate in light of their goals, objectives and current situation. Members should obtain and read the Product Disclosure Statement for REI Super before making any decisions.
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