Comminsure Accused of Turning its Back on its Own mentally ill Employee

Matt Attwater is a former CBA employee who battled for three years to get an insurance payout from CommInsure. Photo: supplied

Commonwealth Bank is under fire over the handling of mental health claims in its insurance arm that saw even one of its own star employees battling for compensation.

Former Commonwealth customer services representative Matthew Attwater, 32, won a top award from the bank in 2010 for his performance at work.

But he was told to "ill-health retire" in 2013 as he struggled to cope with the aftermath of a vicious attack in which he was beaten and his beloved dog was decapitated.

Matt Attwater was recognised for his work at Commonwealth Bank with an award in 2010. Photo: Supplied

The bank's psychiatrist found Mr Attwater was suffering from "severe" post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses.

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But when Mr Attwater tried to claim on the CommInsure total and permanent disability insurance he held through his CBA-specialist super fund his application was refused.

His laywers say the super fund and CommInsure argued that with psychiatric treatment he may, one day, be able to return to paid employment.

Former CBA employee Matt Attwater before his traumatic family events and his battle with CommInsure.Photo: Supplied

Mr Attwater's case came to light as part of a Fairfax Media-Four Corners investigation that has uncovered how CommInsure and the life insurance industry is scrambling to deal with Australia's mental health crisis with 7.3 million Australians expected to suffer from mental illness during their lifetime.

The investigation's findings have raised the ire of mental health experts who also took aim at Comminsure's advice to underwriters on how to gauge the risk of claims from clients.

Customers are being screened by staff with no formal qualifications, who are told to look for a long list of risk factors including starting a new business, perfectionism and being older than 50 as well as other pressure points such as new mothers.

Beyond Blue chief executive Georgie Harman said Comminsure was using outdated mental health stereotypes to assess policyholders and then amend or deny insurance coverage.

"To have people without formal qualifications assessing risk in this way would be like assuming somebody has cancer because they have lost weight," she said.

The Fairfax Media-Four Corners investigation revealed on Saturday that CommInsure had engaged in other unethical behaviour including not paying out heart attack victims based on a technical and outdated medical threshold.

Mr Attwater said his dilemma only added to his stress.

"That job was the last thing that I had in my life that was any type of link to my past," he said. "It was the last little bit of independence that I had."

Beyond Blue chairman Jeff Kennett lashed Commonwealth Bank for its treatment of Mr Attwater saying it was "disgraceful".

"You don't go and dismiss someone because they've got mental illness. There are programs internally and programs externally to help," he said.

"If you're saying to an individual you're no good or your illness can't be treated, you're doing great psychological damage to that individual."

Despite hiring a lawyer and arranging multiple medical reports to support his claim, Mr Attwater battled the bank for three years. It quickly settled with him, however, after he was interviewed by Fairfax Media and Four Corners.

Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ian Narev on Friday admitted more needed to be done to improve the handling of mental health claims.

"I think in general in business and actually more broadly in society, our attitude to mental illness has got a long way to go," he said.

"And I'm not going to sit here today and say to you that either in our employment practices in relation to our understanding of mental illness or in our insurance practices we are anywhere near where we need to be.''

Asked about Mr Attwater's situation, Mr Narev said: "I understand … how he must be feeling, and again I reiterate, I think from the employment perspective, from the insurance perspective, from all different ways in which we participate in the community, we have got a long way to go on mental illness."

Mr Narev said he had spoken to Mr Kennett about the issue of mental illness.

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Summary:

Beyond Blue chief executive Georgie Harman said Comminsure was using outdated mental health stereotypes to assess policyholders and then amend or deny insurance coverage.
"You don't go and dismiss someone because they've got mental illness. There are programs internally and programs externally to help," he said.
"If you're saying to an individual you're no good or your illness can't be treated, you're doing great psychological damage to that individual." Despite hiring a lawyer and arranging multiple medical reports to support his claim, Mr Attwater battled the bank for three years.
"I think in general in business and actually more broadly in society, our attitude to mental illness has got a long way to go," he said.
"And I'm not going to sit here today and say to you that either in our employment practices in relation to our understanding of mental illness or in our insurance practices we are anywhere near where we need to be.'' Asked about Mr Attwater's situation, Mr Narev said:"I understand how he must be feeling, and again I reiterate, I think from the employment perspective, from the insurance perspective, from all different ways in which we participate in the community, we have got a long way to go on mental illness.