"I can't work and I'm on Centrelink. Do I have insurance somewhere?"

Quite possibly, yes. Many working Australians have insurance attached to their super, and many have no idea it is there. Finding out is free, and it is a fact about your own account that your fund is required to give you.

The one phone call that answers it

Call your super fund. Every fund has a member line on its website and on your statement.

Which funds should you call?

Every fund you held at the time you first stopped work because of your condition, not just the one your employer pays into now. What usually matters for a claim is the cover that was in force when you stopped work, and that includes a fund you have since closed, merged or rolled over: closing an account later does not undo cover that was active then. Write down every fund you can remember from around that time, and make the same call to each. The fund directory lists who insures each major fund, and past names funds have traded under.

What the answer can include

• Total and permanent disability (TPD) cover. A lump sum that may be paid if you are unlikely to return to work that fits your education, training and experience, judged under the policy's own definition.
• Income protection. Ongoing payments for a period if illness or injury stops you working, under the policy's terms.
• Death cover. Also called life cover.

Cover can switch off on inactive or low balance accounts, which is why "is it still active" is part of the script above. A fund you left years ago may still matter.

Read more in News & insights

• How to find out what cover you hold, step by step
• What TPD cover is and how it got into your super
• Insurance inside super, explained