COVID-19: Early access FAQs
Generally, your superannuation early release claim will be processed within five business days upon receipt from the ATO. However, there are exceptions to timing and some claims may take up to 10 business days. Your claim timing is dependent on whether all of your account details are up to date, there is no suspicious activity on your account which forces us to investigate and you have not responded ‘No’ to any SMS messages regarding your claim. Please give us a call if you would like a status update on your claim if you have not received an SMS.
You will receive an SMS once your claim has been received from the ATO and a 2nd SMS once your claim has been processed to give you an indication on timing and when your funds should hit your bank account.
If you have entered the wrong bank account details during the ATO application process, please contact us immediately to let us know and so we can update your correct details before your claim is processed after we undertake security checks. We will then review the information you provided to the ATO against the new information provided to us to determine if the payment can be made to the updated bank account.
You will need to contact the ATO as soon as possible to notify them of your application error. Unfortunately, once we receive the file from the ATO, we are unable to alter the amount of the claim or pay an amount higher than the claim as the notification is an instruction from the ATO to us to release a specific amount from your account.
We may pay less than the ATO approved amount if for example your account balance is less than the approved amount, or you contact us and request that a lesser amount be released.
The early release of super claim can only be processed from superannuation or accumulation accounts. If you request for your claim to be deducted from a TTR account through the ATO application process, we will contact you to confirm that you have an active super account with us and if there is sufficient funds for your claim. If you do not have an active super account, you will need to transfer your TTR account to a new super account to be able to apply for the early release of super. Please let us know if you require assistance with this process.
Unfortunately not - only matched accounts reported to the ATO through a superannuation reporting process will be displayed. If you are unable to see your new account on the ATO application process, please let us know.
If you applied for an early release in this financial year which is up to 30 June 2020, you can apply for the second claim from 1 July 2020. Note that a second claim from 1 July 2020 is not available if you a temporary resident.
Withdrawing money from your superannuation account pre-retirement can have an impact on how much money you end up with for your retirement, especially with market fluctuations. Everyone’s circumstances are different so we have put together this calculator to assist you with understanding how you may be impacted.
Accessing your super can have an impact on your insurance. If you apply for the early release claim and request your whole balance if your balance is $10,000 or less, you will no longer have future insurance cover from the date your account is closed. If you take a partial amount from your account and leave your account open, your insurance will continue as long as you have a sufficient balance to cover your premiums.
Generally, yes you can contribute these funds back into your super account as a personal, non-concessional contribution, however there are age requirements to be eligible to do so. If you are under 65 then you are free to contribute up to $100,000 a year into your account however if you are over 65 there are specific requirements you will need to meet regarding employment before you can do so. For more information please refer to our Member Booklet.
For more information on what support is available to you visit our COVID-19 information page.