My son lodged a claim with his income protection insurer after being injured (disc prolapse) on a fishing boat while working. His claim was accepted and he has been paid an income stream for nearly 2 years. He has now lodged a claim for the small PTD portion of the policy as he is unable to go back to work - either his old job or another job he has skills experience or training for. His PTD claim has been refused as they now say his disc prolapse was caused by degeneration which is specifically excluded in his policy. Yet, the income protection payments were accepted despite degeneration also being excluded on that portion of the policy. The issue of degeneration wasn't brought up then. Can they turn around now and say he is not entitled to a lump sum payment despite already paying him income payments for the same medical condition. He meets all the criteria of the policy for the PTD payment. His position is that he suffered a trauma that caused the injury, not degeneration.