How long does a TPD claim take?

Months rather than weeks. There is no single national deadline that fixes how long an insurer may take to assess a TPD claim, which is the honest answer and also the frustrating one. What is fixed is what happens once you complain: a superannuation trustee must give you an internal dispute resolution response no later than 45 calendar days after receiving your complaint, under ASIC Regulatory Guide 271. That deadline is the most useful number on this page, because it is the one you can hold someone to.

Last reviewed: 14 August 2026

Why nobody can give you a number in weeks

The elapsed time in a TPD claim is mostly not the insurer typing. It is:

• Medical evidence. Treating doctors and specialists complete forms between patients. A single medical attendant statement can take weeks, and most claims need more than one.
• The employer statement. Depends entirely on how organised and responsive your former employer is. Employers that no longer exist make this considerably harder.
• Any waiting or qualifying period in the policy. Many policies require you to have been off work for a set period before the claim can be assessed at all. Moneysmart lists "are there waiting periods?" among the questions to ask, precisely because this varies and it delays the start of assessment rather than the end of it. Which definition and conditions apply to you is covered in TPD insurance explained.
• Independent medical examinations, if the insurer arranges one. Scheduling with a specialist adds time.
• Requests for further information, which can arrive in waves rather than all at once.

Anyone quoting you a confident average without knowing your policy, your condition and your evidence is guessing. The variables above swamp any industry average.

The deadline that is real

ASIC Regulatory Guide 271, issued 2 September 2021 and in effect since 5 October 2021, sets maximum timeframes for internal dispute resolution. For superannuation trustee complaints, the maximum is 45 calendar days from receiving the complaint. Complaints about death benefit distributions get 90 days, which is a different situation from a TPD claim.

Two things follow from this that are worth understanding clearly:

The clock starts when you complain, not when you claim. A claim that has been sitting for eight months has no deadline attached to it. The same matter, raised as a formal complaint, has a 45 day deadline attached to it. That asymmetry is the single most practical thing on this page.

The deadline binds the insurer too. ASIC has been explicit that third parties involved in handling complaints, including an insurer for claim related complaints, must be able to meet the 45 day maximum. The fund cannot treat "we are waiting on the insurer" as an answer that stops the clock.

When waiting stops being normal

There is no bright line, but these are reasonable signals that a claim has stalled rather than progressed:

• All requested evidence has been submitted and several weeks have passed with no contact.
• You cannot get a straight answer about what the claim is actually waiting on.
• Requests for information keep arriving one at a time, each restarting the wait.
• You are told the file is with the insurer, and repeated calls produce no change.
• Nobody can tell you who is handling the claim.

At that point escalate, in this order. It costs nothing.

1. Ask the fund in writing for a status update and the specific reason for the delay. Email creates a record, which matters later.
2. Make a formal complaint to the fund's internal dispute resolution team. Say the words "I want to make a complaint" and ask them to confirm the date they received it, because that is when the 45 day clock starts. Complain about the delay itself, you do not have to wait for a decision to complain about not getting one.
3. Take it to AFCA on 1800 931 678, free, if you are unsatisfied with the response or the 45 days passes without one.

If the delay ends in a refusal rather than a payment, the same escalation path continues and the first two steps still cost nothing. We have set it out in what to do if your TPD claim is denied.

One warning about the clock while you wait. Complaining to the fund does not extend your deadline at AFCA. Under Rule B.4.1.2 of the AFCA Rules, the decision that starts the clock is the original decision, and a later one confirming or replacing it "is taken to have been made at the time when the original decision was made". So if your claim has already been refused once, time is running even during an internal review. The limits and the two details that catch people are set out on the denied claim page.

Delay is a complaint in its own right

This surprises people, so it is worth stating plainly. AFCA lists "an unreasonable delay in paying a benefit" among the issues it can consider, and its material treats a decision as including failing to make a decision. You do not need a rejection letter to have something AFCA can look at. A claim sitting in limbo is inside the complaints system, not outside it.

Delay is treated seriously, with evidence

If it helps to know that this is a recognised problem rather than just your bad luck: in 2025 the Federal Court ordered United Super, the trustee of the Cbus fund, to pay a $23.5 million penalty over serious failures that caused delays in processing death benefit and TPD insurance claims, affecting more than 7,000 people. That penalty came on top of the fund's own remediation program of approximately $32 million in compensation to an estimated 7,402 affected claimants and members, and it exceeded the trustee's entire declared revenue for the 2024 financial year.

ASIC's Deputy Chair described the failures as needlessly exacerbating the distress of people who were already in upsetting situations. Unreasonable delay in claims handling is treated by the regulator and the courts as a serious failure. If your claim has stalled, complaining is a normal and appropriate response, not an overreaction.

This is also the honest context for anyone searching specifically about a Cbus TPD claim. We have no affiliation with Cbus and no view about your fund, but the enforcement record is public and it is reasonable information to have.

How to make the wait shorter

The parts you control are mostly at the evidence stage:

• Book an appointment specifically for the forms rather than dropping them off. A form that needs a consultation to complete will otherwise sit.
• Send complete bundles. Partial submissions generate another round of requests.
• Ask, up front, for the full list of everything the insurer will need, so requests do not arrive in waves.
• Keep a dated log of every call, letter and submission. If you end up complaining, that log is your evidence, and it is much easier to keep as you go than to reconstruct.
• Ask who pays for medical reports. Chasing a report you are unnecessarily paying for is a common and avoidable delay.

The short version

Expect months, not weeks, and be sceptical of anyone quoting a confident average. Most of the time is medical evidence, employer statements, and any waiting period in the policy. No single national deadline governs the assessment itself, but once you make a formal complaint a superannuation trustee must respond within 45 calendar days under ASIC RG 271, and that deadline binds the insurer too. Delay is itself complainable: AFCA can consider unreasonable delay, and treats failing to decide as a decision. Escalate free, in order: written status request, formal complaint to the fund, then AFCA on 1800 931 678.

Common questions

How long does a TPD claim take?

Months rather than weeks, and there is no single national deadline that fixes how long an insurer may take to assess a TPD claim. The time is driven mostly by how quickly medical evidence arrives. What is fixed is what happens once you complain: a superannuation trustee must give you an internal dispute resolution response no later than 45 calendar days after receiving your complaint, under ASIC Regulatory Guide 271.

Is there a legal time limit for an insurer to decide a TPD claim?

There is no single legislated deadline for the assessment itself in the way there is for a complaint response. That is precisely why the complaint path matters: once you lodge a complaint about delay, the 45 calendar day clock under ASIC Regulatory Guide 271 starts, and AFCA can consider unreasonable delay in paying a benefit.

My TPD claim is taking too long, what can I do?

Ask the fund in writing for a status update and the specific reason for the delay. If that does not move it, make a formal complaint to the fund's internal dispute resolution team, which must respond within 45 calendar days. If you are still unsatisfied, or the deadline passes, take it to AFCA on 1800 931 678, which is free and can consider unreasonable delay.

Is delay something I can actually complain about?

Yes. AFCA lists unreasonable delay in paying a benefit among the issues it can consider, and treats a decision as including a failure to make a decision. A claim sitting in limbo is inside the complaints system, not outside it.

Do super funds actually get penalised for delays?

Yes. In 2025 the Federal Court ordered United Super, the trustee of Cbus, to pay a $23.5 million penalty over unreasonable delays in processing death benefit and TPD insurance claims affecting more than 7,000 people, alongside a remediation program of approximately $32 million. Delay is treated as a serious compliance failure, not an inconvenience.

Where this comes from

• ASIC Regulatory Guide 271, Internal dispute resolution, issued 2 September 2021, in effect from 5 October 2021. Source for the 45 calendar day maximum for superannuation trustee complaints.
• AFCA, Superannuation complaints, for unreasonable delay in paying a benefit as a complainable issue, and for a decision including a failure to decide.
• ASIC 25-286MR, Cbus ordered to pay $23.5 million penalty, for the penalty, the number affected and the remediation figures.
• ASIC Moneysmart, TPD insurance, last updated 29 July 2026, for waiting periods as a question to ask your insurer.

About this guide

This is general information, not legal advice and not financial advice. Timeframes vary by fund, insurer and policy, and nothing here predicts how long your claim will take. Biz in a Box is an independent Australian small business site. We are not affiliated with Cbus Super, or with any superannuation fund, insurer or law firm, and we do not act on TPD claims or take referral fees for them. For your own claim, speak to your super fund first, then AFCA on 1800 931 678, then a lawyer if the situation calls for one.