{"id":27464,"date":"2014-09-22T15:36:38","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T05:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/?p=27464"},"modified":"2025-09-02T11:34:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T01:34:37","slug":"pro-bono-claims-service-launched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2014\/09\/22\/pro-bono-claims-service-launched\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro Bono Claims Service Launched"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an Australian first, a number of risk specialist financial advisers have formed a network to provide pro bono assistance for Australians with life and disability insurance claims.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>
Peter Kaleta, Founder of Claims Aid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Called Claims Aid<\/a>, the service has been designed to assist those people who have a claim, but don\u2019t have a financial adviser. It is understood to be the first structured network of advisers to provide pro bono assistance to claimants in Australia.<\/p>\n

Via the Claims Aid website<\/a>, claimants can submit an online request for assistance. They will then be contacted by the most appropriate adviser within the Claims Aid network, who will discuss the claimant\u2019s needs and determine what type of support is required.<\/p>\n

According to Claims Aid, assistance may take the form of a simple conversation to help the claimant understand what type of cover they have and whether they\u2019re eligible to make a claim on their policy. Other cases will require more extensive assistance, including the preparation of claims forms and other requirements, and liaising with the insurer on behalf of the claimant.<\/p>\n

The initiative is the brainchild of Peter Kaleta<\/strong>, Principal Adviser at Life Shield<\/a>, licensed through Guardian Advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs experienced financial advisers, we understand that many Australians have insurance policies that are not aligned to an adviser. These may be through industry superannuation funds or direct products, for example. In these instances, making a successful claim can be an exhausting and drawn out process \u2013 not only due to impaired health and therefore ability to gather information required, but also due to potentially not having a proper understanding of what the policy entitles the holder to claim for. This has the potential to create much distress to the policy holder and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Kaleta also acknowledged the support of his licensee and Asteron Life in setting up the service.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been working on this concept over the past two years and are very grateful for the assistance we have had from Guardian Advice and life insurance company Asteron Life. We are launching with a small network of senior advisers across the country and have many more on \u2018standby\u2019 from Guardian Advice depending on needs,\u201d Mr Kaleta said.<\/p>\n

Jamie Forster<\/strong>, a Brisbane-based financial adviser and founding member of the Claims Aid Adviser Network, said he was looking forward to being part of the group.<\/p>\n

This is great for an industry that has had its fair share of negative publicity<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cPro bono work is an important ethical value of a profession,\u201d Mr Forster said. \u201cClaims Aid advisers are motivated by a desire to provide a genuine public service particularly for the more vulnerable in our community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst many advisers already provide services of this nature, Claims Aid enables it to be co-ordinated and made visible to those who need it. As such, as well as providing a tangible benefit to consumers it enables the industry to highlight the good things we are doing. This is great for an industry that has had its fair share of negative publicity, much of it unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Forster and Mr Kaleta also invited other advisers to nominate their services, and to share the service with other professional contacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe invite interested advisers to get in contact through our \u2018Get Involved\u2019 page. In addition, anyone with relevant knowledge may also be able to contribute if they are interested.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn particular, accountants and lawyers who have clients needing assistance but are not sure how to help or where to turn are welcome to contact Claims Aid. We look forward to helping them,\u201d Mr Kaleta said.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to learn more about this positive initiative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an Australian first, a number of risk specialist financial advisers have formed a network to provide pro bono assistance for Australians with life and disability insurance claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8294,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-27464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-claims","7":"category-services","8":"headers-new"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27464\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}