Claims process and FAQs

Claims process and FAQs

There are eligibility criteria for who can claim, and only certain financial products and services are covered by the CSLR.  There are some steps that need to be completed before you can make a claim.

Make your claim

It’s free to lodge a claim with us, and a claims officer will support you through the process. First, make sure you meet the eligibility criteria. If eligible, follow these steps:

  1. Create a profile on our Claims Portal.
  2. Validate your identity using IDVerse.
  3. Enter your claim details and attach your:
    • determination (with the date of determination, case number and reasons for your decision) from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) awarding compensation
    • ‘appropriate steps notice’ from AFCA confirming that all reasonable steps to obtain compensation from the financial firm have occurred.
    • If you are making a claim on behalf of a Trust or small business you will also be required to provide documentation verifying that you are authorised to act on its behalf.

If you’re unable to access the Claims Portal or have other accessibility requirements, please call our team on 1800 372 757. We assess the eligibility of your claim based on the legislation. We must also confirm if you have received any part-payment of your compensation or are eligible for payments from other parties or funds. If eligible, we’ll confirm the details of your claim with:

  • the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)
  • your financial firm’s liquidators/administrators and insurers
  • any other statutory schemes.

We’ll then let you know the outcome of your claim. If your claim is successful, we’ll make a formal compensation offer. If not, we’ll explain why.

Frequently asked questions

We know how important this is to you, and we want to make sure we get it right. Collecting and reviewing information relevant to your claim can take some time. The claims process can take around 12 weeks.

The CSLR assesses claim eligibility based on the legislation that governs the scheme. To provide greater clarity on how a claim may be assessed, and to learn how the CSLR applies the legislation throughout the claims process, explore our claims scenarios.

When making an offer, we first check if you’ve been paid some of the money from:

  • the firm
  • liquidator
  • third party
  • other compensation schemes.

As CSLR is a genuine last-resort compensation scheme, Section 1067 of the Corporations Act (2001) requires us to undertake this check.

We will also consider the compensation you were awarded by AFCA. The CSLR can only pay up to $150,000 even though AFCA can award more than this in its determination.

Please note that we can’t change AFCA’s decision or the compensation amount. AFCA independently reviews the merits of a complaint and provides an outcome, which may include awarding compensation. AFCA decisions are made independently of the CSLR. The CSLR has no discretion to alter the AFCA determination (complaint outcome) or change the awarded compensation.

Before making the claim payment, we will provide details of the offer for you to consider.

Things you need to know before you accept an offer:

  1. you’re accepting the amount of compensation offered
  2. accepting the offer transfers legal rights to us to recover the offered amount from the insolvent firm.

You have 90 days to accept or reject the offer through the Claims Portal. You must also provide banking details for payment. Please note that your account must be:

  • with an Australian bank
  • in the name of the claimant or beneficiary (if claiming for a trust).

You’re not obliged to accept an offer from us. If you do nothing within 90 days, your offer will expire, and your compensation application will be considered withdrawn.

The law allows us to change or cancel the offer if we find:

  • mistakes
  • evidence of fraud
  • changes in eligibility or compensation
  • other exceptional circumstances.

If we pay you too much, you must repay the extra amount. We can take legal action if you don’t agree to repay.

If you disagree about your claim or offer amount, please contact us.  We’ll talk you through our decision and answer any questions you have.

General queries or complaints about your claim should be raised with your Claims Officer.  If you are dissatisfied with the response, you can contact feedback@cslr.org.au or call 1800 372 757.

There may also be grounds for you to apply to the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia for a review of the decision on your claim, in certain limited circumstances on limited legal grounds.

We strongly recommend you seek independent legal advice prior to taking legal action. Unfortunately, the CSLR is unable to provide legal advice on these matters.

For the offered amount:

If your claim is successful and you accept an offer of compensation, you transfer your legal rights to us for the offered amount.

This requirement is set out in law and allows us to pursue the funds from the financial firm.

You’ll no longer be able to claim the offered amount from the firm or any other relevant party.

We’ll explain this during the claim process.

For an amount above the offer:

Any amount that exceeds the CSLR offer that was awarded in the AFCA determination can still be claimed from the insolvent firm.

For example, if you received $400,000 in the AFCA determination and the CSLR pays you $150,000, the CSLR only has the rights to recover $150,000. You will still retain the right to pursue the insolvent firm for $250,000.

For information regarding any tax implications a payment from the CSLR may have on your personal finances, please visit the following page – Compensation from financial institutions or under a scheme | Australian Taxation Office.