A vocational assessment is a professional evaluation of your employment potential — considering your skills, experience, education, physical and cognitive limitations, and the realistic job market. In TPD claims, it's the key evidence for "any occupation" definitions where the insurer argues you could work in some other job.
When vocational assessments matter most
If your policy uses an "any occupation" definition, the insurer must assess whether you can perform any work suited to your training, education and experience. They often engage their own vocational assessor who may identify theoretical alternative roles you could do. Your best counter is an independent vocational assessment that demonstrates those roles are unrealistic.
What an assessment considers
- Your full work history, roles and responsibilities
- Transferable skills across industries
- Educational background and capacity to retrain
- Physical and cognitive limitations (referencing medical evidence)
- Local labour market conditions and realistic employment prospects
- Your age and the realistic timeline for retraining
Countering an adverse insurer vocational assessment
If the insurer's vocational assessor identifies jobs you "could" do — say, a cleaner who develops a serious back condition being assessed as capable of telephone work — your own assessor can challenge these findings. Key arguments include:
- The nominated roles are inconsistent with your functional limitations
- The roles don't exist in your local labour market in realistic numbers
- Your age and lack of experience make retraining unrealistic
- The roles require sustained activity your condition prevents
See our guide to definition-based rejections. Start with a free eligibility check.