Funeral bonds and investments 108-04080030
This document outlines the assessment of funeral bonds and investments, including pre-paid funerals, cemetery/burial plots and funeral insurance.
Staff trained in Process Direct select the Process Direct tab. Staff not trained, select the Customer First tab
Process Direct
On this page:
Information needed for assessing funeral bonds and investments
Information needed for assessing funeral bonds and investments
Table 1
Step |
Action |
1 |
Type of funeral investment or product + Read more ... What type of funeral investment/product does the customer own?
Note: for Manual Follow-up (MFU) reviews, see Customer First tab Table 3, Step 6. |
2 |
Customer contact + Read more ... Check the Managed Investments Summary (MIS) screen. Is this an update to an existing funeral bond?
|
3 |
Documents provided + Read more ... Documents containing details of each funeral bond, including purchase price and date must be requested, sighted and checked for compliance with the exempt asset policy. Two funeral investments can be exempt if their total cost is less than the Indexed Funeral Bond Allowable Limit (IFBAL). If they purchase an additional funeral investment, the customer may choose which one(s) to exempt. If purchased by the customer and the purchase contract does not include the purchase price, a bank statement showing the purchase price must be provided. If customer is lodging a new claim and has an existing funeral bond, further steps are required to check if the customer has contributed any extra funds since purchasing. Have all the required details been provided?
|
4 |
A pre-paid funeral or cemetery burial plot + Read more ... Documents containing details of a pre-paid funeral or cemetery/burial plot must be requested, sighted and checked for compliance with the exempt asset policy. The amount of an advance payment made by an income support recipient for their or their partner's funeral service (a pre-paid funeral) is an exempt asset if all of the following apply:
There is no limit to the amount that an income support recipient may invest in a pre-paid funeral or pay for a cemetery or burial plot. Have all the required details been provided?
|
5 |
Funeral insurance plan + Read more ... Check the contract or purchase document. Does the insurance plan have a surrender or cashable value?
|
6 |
Documents and information needed from customer + Read more ... Check the customer's record to see if a request for the return of documents has already been recorded.
Procedure ends here until documents are returned. |
Coding funeral investments
Table 2
Step |
Action |
1 |
Purchase of a funeral bond + Read more ... Documents containing details of each funeral bond, including purchase price and date must be requested, sighted and checked for compliance with the exempt asset policy. For existing bonds, consider any additional funds contributed by the customer since purchasing. Note: if the customer has a pre-paid funeral and a funeral bond, only the pre-paid funeral is exempt. Is the total amount contributed by the customer since purchased (not including investment earnings and bonuses) less than the IFBAL?
See Resources page for the current and historical Indexed Funeral Bond Allowable Limit (IFBAL) amounts. |
2 |
Coding an exempt funeral bond + Read more ... Two funeral bonds per customer may be exempt if the total cost and any extra contributions made by the customer (not including investment earnings and bonuses) is less than the IFBAL at the time of purchase or the time when additional contributions were made. Each funeral bond is coded separately. Note: check the MIS screen to ensure that the funeral investment has not already been coded. If a customer owns:
Is the funeral investment to be coded as exempt?
|
3 |
Coding a new non-exempt funeral bond or investment + Read more ... If the funeral bond does not meet the exemption criteria:
See Resources for further explanation of assets that are not exempt. Procedure ends here. |
Updating funeral investments
Table 3
Step |
Action |
1 |
Existing funeral investment coded + Read more ...
Is the investment coded on the MIS screen?
|
2 |
Check for additional contributions + Read more ... Funeral investments pay interest so the total investment may be worth more than the Indexed Funeral Bond Allowable Limit (IFBAL) due to accumulated interest payments or bonuses. Provided the original amount Invested by the customer does not exceed the IFBAL, the funeral investment remains exempt. Has the customer contributed additional funds since the funeral bond was first purchased?
|
3 |
Check funeral bond exemption status + Read more ... For the investment to remain exempt the total contributions paid by the customer (purchase amount plus any extra funds contributed but not including investment earnings or bonuses), must be less than the IFBAL. See Resources page for IFBAL amounts. Is the total less than the IFBAL?
|
4 |
Updating an exempt funeral investment + Read more ... Update for products that remain exempt:
|
5 |
Updating a non-exempt funeral investment + Read more ... Update for products that no longer meet the exempt criteria:
See the Resources page for further explanation of assets that are not exempt. Procedure ends here. |
Customer First
On this page:
Information needed for assessing funeral bonds and investments
Updating funeral investments/bonds
Information needed for assessing funeral bonds and investments
Table 1
Step |
Action |
1 |
Type of funeral investment or product + Read more ... What type of funeral investment/product does the customer own?
Note: for Manual Follow-up (MFU) reviews, see Table 3, Step 6. |
2 |
Customer contact + Read more ... Check the Managed Investments Summary (MIS) screen. Is this an update to an existing funeral bond?
|
3 |
Documents provided + Read more ... Documents containing details of each funeral bond, including purchase price and date must be requested, sighted and checked for compliance with the exempt asset policy. Two funeral investments can be exempt if their total cost is less than the Indexed Funeral Bond Allowable Limit (IFBAL). If they purchase an additional funeral investment, the customer may choose which one(s) to exempt. If purchased by the customer and the purchase contract does not include the purchase price, a bank statement showing the purchase price must be provided. If customer is lodging a new claim and has an existing funeral bond, further steps are required to check if the customer has contributed any extra funds since purchasing. Have all the required details been provided?
|
4 |
Purchase of a pre-paid funeral or cemetery burial plot + Read more ... Documents containing details of a pre-paid funeral or cemetery/burial plot must be requested, sighted and checked for compliance with the exempt asset policy. The amount of an advance payment made by an income support recipient for their or their partner's funeral service (a pre-paid funeral) is an exempt asset if all of the following apply:
There is no limit to the amount that an income support recipient may invest in a pre-paid funeral or pay for a cemetery or burial plot. Have all the required details been provided?
|
5 |
Funeral insurance plan + Read more ... Check the contract or purchase document. Does the insurance plan have a surrender or cashable value?
|
6 |
Documents and information needed from customer + Read more ... Check the customer's record to see if a request for the return of documents has already been recorded.
Procedure ends here until documents are returned. |
Coding funeral investments
Table 2
Step |
Action |
1 |
Purchase of a funeral bond + Read more ... Documents containing details of each funeral bond, including purchase price and date must be requested, sighted and checked for compliance with the exempt asset policy. For existing bonds, consider any additional funds contributed by the customer since purchasing. Note: if the customer has a pre-paid funeral and a funeral bond, only the pre-paid funeral is exempt. Is the total amount contributed by the customer since purchased (not including investment earnings and bonuses) less than the IFBAL?
See Resources page for the current and historical Indexed Funeral Bond Allowable Limit (IFBAL) amounts. |
2 |
Coding an exempt funeral bond + Read more ... Two funeral bonds per customer may be exempt if the total cost and any extra contributions made by the customer (not including investment earnings and bonuses) is less than the IFBAL at the time of purchase. Each funeral bond is coded separately. Note: check the MIS screen to ensure that the funeral investment has not already been coded. If a customer owns:
Is the funeral investment to be coded as exempt?
|
3 |
Coding a new non-exempt funeral bond or investment + Read more ... If the funeral bond does not meet the exemption criteria:
See Resources for further explanation of assets that are not exempt. Procedure ends here. |
Updating funeral investments
Table 3
Step |
Action |
1 |
Existing funeral investment coded + Read more ... Is the investment coded on the MIS screen?
|
2 |
Check for additional contributions + Read more ... Funeral investments pay interest so the total investment may be worth more than the Indexed Funeral Bond Allowable Limit (IFBAL) due to accumulated interest payments or bonuses. Provided the original amount Invested by the customer does not exceed the IFBAL, the funeral investment remains exempt. Has the customer contributed additional funds since the funeral bond was first purchased?
|
3 |
Check funeral bond exemption status + Read more ... For the investment to remain exempt the total contributions paid by the customer (purchase amount plus any extra funds contributed but not including investment earnings or bonuses), must be less than the IFBAL. See Resources page for IFBAL amounts. Is the total less than the IFBAL?
|
4 |
Updating an exempt funeral investment + Read more ... Update for products that remain exempt:
|
5 |
Updating a non-exempt funeral investment + Read more ... Update for products that no longer meet the exempt criteria:
|
6 |
Manual Follow-up (MFU) reviews + Read more ... If a funeral bond investment is not currently recorded as exempt, from 1 July 2024, triggers will be run to determine if it is able to be automatically exempt. In some circumstances, an MFU is created and will display on a customer’s record in Customer First. Contact must be made with the customer to confirm which of the funeral bonds they would like exempt, as the funeral bond may no longer exceed the IFBAL as a result of 1 July indexation. MFU activities for funeral bond exemptions display on the Activity List (AL) screen with notes Funeral Bond exemption decision required and keywords FBONDCPI and I011MI. On 1 July, an MFU activity is created on all customer records that have:
When actioning the review:
If contact is unsuccessful, send a request for information, see Requesting information (CLK). Procedure ends here until documents are returned. |