POLICIES AND
GUIDES

This Family and Domestic Violence Policy sets out how we support customers affected by family and domestic violence.

Your safety is our priority. If there is an immediate threat to you or your loved ones, please call Emergency Services on 000.

Fuse Fleet’s Commitment to You

Fuse Fleet Underwriting Pty Ltd (Fuse Fleet) is committed to providing support to our customers affected by Family and Domestic Violence (FDV). We will achieve this by providing the required training and support to our employees. We will also refer you to specialist support services that can help you with family violence and domestic violence.

Why This is Important

This Policy sets out how Fuse Fleet supports our customers who are affected by FDV. It is important because we believe in doing the right thing by our customers, respecting who they are and their individual circumstances. This Policy supports Fuse Fleet’s purpose and strategy by helping to make our customers safer and reducing the risk of harm from FDV.

This Policy is designed to produce these outcomes:

1. Minimising the risk of harm to customers affected by FDV.
2. Supporting our customers with empathic, consistent, and timely responses in their dealings with Fuse Fleet.

How We Support Our Customers

If a customer tells us they are affected by FDV, we can discuss options on how they can get support. We may refer them to a specialist team at Fuse Fleet when appropriate. Our customers’ safety is paramount.

If a customer is affected by FDV, we will keep the information they give us about their situation confidential. We will explore the most appropriate options for an insurance customer’s Policy or claim with flexibility and care, including if the customer has a joint policy.

If you are a customer affected by FDV our employees will:

1. Recognise that you may be vulnerable, particularly if experiencing a claim event and FDV.
2. Be flexible and explore the best options for your Policy or claim.
3. If it is appropriate, refer you to emergency services or to a trusted external support provider below. These services can be accessed online or over the phone for confidential online or telephone counselling, information and referral services.

We will train our relevant employees to understand and support customers who are experiencing vulnerability, including those affected by FDV.  Training will depend on an employee’s role, and will include information about:

1. Making sure customers’ safety is paramount and referring them to emergency services if there is an immediate threat of harm.
2. How to recognise the potential for future violence or vulnerability, and that violence or abuse may be happening now.
3. Understanding the impacts of trauma and how it can make a customer look, sound, and behave.
4. How best to support customers affected by FDV sensitively and empathically, including:
   • Minimising the number of times a customer needs to disclose information about FDV;
   • Protecting information that is private and confidential; and
   • Referring a customer to a specialist team or other services where appropriate.
5. Understanding each customer’s personal situation to consider financial hardship assistance for those having difficulty paying Fuse Fleet because of FDV.  This includes how to support customers when debt collection is needed.
6. Referring customers to trusted external programs and services available to support people affected by FDV.

We will continue to work with industry bodies, non-profit groups, and communities to understand FDV better, and refine our approach to supporting customers affected by FDV.

Support for Employees

Anyone can be affected by FDV, including our employees.  We support our employees by giving them access to:

1. Local employee assistance programs, external support services, and internal specialist teams.
2. Sick leave, emergency or additional leave, and flexible work arrangements if needed.

Definitions

In this Policy:

Family and Domestic Violence or FDV means violence, abuse, or threatening behaviour in domestic or family settings, as set out below:

1. Domestic violence means acts of violence that occur in domestic settings between two people who are, or were, in an intimate relationship. It includes physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, and financial abuse.
2. Family violence is any violent, threatening, or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of their family or household or makes the family or household member fearful.
3. FDV does not have a universal definition and can be different in different countries, states, and territories.  The core characteristic, however, is controlling behaviour, whether criminal or non-criminal, that is aimed to cause fear within another person or their family.
4. It may be a pattern of behaviour designed to make a person dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and abilities for personal gain, depriving them of means needed for independence, resistance, and escape, or regulating their everyday behaviour.

Contacts for Questions and More Information

If you have any questions or want more information about this Policy, please refer to complaints@fusefleet.com.au.