Domestic & Financial Abuse Policy
Introduction
This page sets out our commitment to victims of domestic or financial abuse. It is regularly reviewed and has been endorsed by our leadership team. Our Board and senior management receive regular reporting on matters relating to domestic and financial abuse and have ultimate accountability for this Policy.
Purpose
The purpose of this Policy is to inform all our staff, stakeholders and customers of our approach to identifying and supporting people affected by domestic and financial abuse.
We recognise that domestic and/or financial abuse is a serious and prevalent issue in Australian society. We acknowledge that domestic violence means much more than physical violence. It includes emotional abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, financial or economic abuse and damage to property. We consider that the safety of our customers affected by domestic and financial abuse is paramount.
In Australian law, ‘family violence’ is defined as “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.”
Immediate Danger
If you are feeling unsafe and are in immediate danger, call (Triple Zero) 000.
Delivering timely, targeted assistance
At St George Underwriting Agency, we aim to provide our
affected customers with safe, supportive, timely and flexible assistance.
For this Policy our “customers” are an individual insured, a third-party beneficiary, a potential customer or an individual an insurer is seeking to recover money from.
We have appointed a Domestic and Financial Abuse Officer (DFA Officer) who is responsible for:
• ensuring that our staff are aware of the contents of this Policy and of our
commitment to victims;
• ensuring that staff undertake appropriate training;
• monitoring compliance with this Policy;
• regularly reporting on compliance to senior management and our Board;
• reviewing and updating this Policy on a regular basis.
Contact our DFA Officer
Our DFA Officer can be contacted at 08 6381 7100.
Training
We provide training to all relevant members of our staff and our distributors. The
training is designed to ensure that our staff and distributors:
• recognise domestic and financial abuse;
understand the consequences of domestic and financial abuse;
• understand how to engage effectively and appropriately with affected
customers; and
• understand how to apply this policy
Disclosure
We understand the need for us to minimise the information that we require customers affected by domestic or financial abuse to disclose and the number of times they are required to disclose information about their situation.
When customers have been recognised as being affected by domestic or financial abuse, we have processes in place to limit the extent of disclosure.
Confidentiality
We recognise the importance of protecting the private and confidential
information of our customers affected by domestic or financial abuse. We are committed to ensuring confidentiality is maintained.
We will work with you to ensure confidentiality. This could include assisting you to change access to our systems, updating your contact details, offering different methods of communication and agreeing to the appointment of a trusted person to act on your behalf.
Claims
Where we are involved in handling claims we have established claims processes that recognise the need for appropriate and sensitive handling of claims for customers affected by domestic or financial abuse. These processes include consideration of Confidentiality and Disclosure.
Financial Hardship & Collection Arrangements
If a customer is identified as being affected by domestic or financial abuse then
we will make suitable enquiries with the customer about their financial situation to
determine whether they are experiencing financial hardship.
We understand that financial hardship can affect anyone. We will treat our
customers with respect, empathy and understanding and will work with them to
identify the type of support they require.
We will assist our customers to complete a financial hardship application form and
gather supporting documents. We will fast track any financial hardship request
and provide options to retain their insurance policy if they say they cannot pay
their premium.
Where we become aware that a customer’s debt involves a situation of domestic
or financial abuse then will not refer the debt on to a third-party debt collection
agency. We will consider the risks involved in attempting to recover debts in these
situations.
Sometimes customers may need extra help to get through a difficult time. Free,
confidential, independent financial advice is available from Financial Counselling
Australia or call the national financial counselling hotline on 1800 007 007.
Expert support for our customers
We are committed to supporting our customers within the bounds of our
insurance expertise. A list of organisations that provide free and confidential
support services for all Australians is included below:
State-based Services
ACT
Legal Aid ACT - 1300 654 314
Domestic Violence Crisis Service – 02 6280 0900 (24/7)
NSW
Legal Aid NSW – 1300 888 529
Domestic Violence Line – 1800 656 463 or 1800 671 442 (24/7)
NT
Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission – 1800 019 343 Domestic
Violence Crisis Line – 1800 019 116 (24/7)
QLD
Legal Aid Queensland – 1300 651 188
DV Connect Crisis Support – 1800 811 811 (24/7)
SA
Legal Services Commission of South Australia – 1300 366 424
Women’s Safety Services – 1800 800 098 (24/7)
TAS
Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania – 1300 366 611
Family Response and Referral Line – 1800 633 937 (24/7)
VIC
Victoria Legal Aid – 1300 792 387
Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre – 1800 015 188 (24/7)
WA
Legal Aid WA – 1300 650 579
Women’s Domestic Violence Helpline – 1800 007 339 (24/7)
