We may send a Preliminary Notice to a payer if a person claiming compensation also has claimed a Centrelink payment. We’ll do this if we’re notified of their compensation claim.
If you have received a Preliminary Notice, you cannot release funds until you have sought approval from us.
When we need to know about a claim
If the injured party has received a Centrelink payment affected by compensation, they need to complete and return a compensation and damages form. We can then issue a Preliminary Notice.
When we send a Preliminary Notice
We send Preliminary Notices to compensation payers under section 1182 of the Social Security Act 1991.
A Preliminary Notice requires a compensation payer to notify us before the release of compensation. A Preliminary Notice continues to have effect until the insurer’s full liability is discharged. The insurer must advise us of any further compensation payments containing an economic loss component.
Compensation payers who have not been served a Preliminary Notice are not obliged to notify us of any weekly payment entitlement or any lump sum. This includes common law settlements with economic loss.