maternity leave and your super - motor vehicle insurance
With my super fund, if you have life insurance cover and you want it to continue, you must apply to the super fund before you commence your maternity leave otherwise you will not get it. My last baby was born 6 weeks early and I had extreme difficulty in convincing the fund to provide me with any cover. Eventually, after about 6 months of heated phone calls I have managed to persuade them to give me some limited cover. As I am almost back at work, I think I will soon be looking for a new fund.
The issue of applying for the continuance of life cover is something I have never seen raised anywhere and I think it is something that ought to be considered because with a lot of super funds, once your employer has stopped contributing, your life cover ceases.
There is another issue that I think should be raised - that is driving after having a C/S. Although mostly you are probably able to drive after having one, you should consider the insurance issue should you have an accident. After my C/S, I contacted my insurance company (for both CTP and third party property damage) to check before I ventured out on the road. I was told that the wording of the policy was ambiguous. It was probably OK to drive but that if I did have an accident within the first 6 weeks after the operation the insurance company could argue that I was unfit to drive and there was a possibility of my policy being voided. Their suggestion was to get a certificate from my doctor to say it was OK to drive.
