Union head Matt McCarten will ring his insurance company today after it tried to contact him about possible early release of the life insurance money he wants to use to pay his tax bill.
Mr McCarten has terminal cancer and was considering selling his policy so he could pay off the $150,000 tax bill owed by his company Unite Support Services, which was now in liquidation.
After the story ran in the Herald, his insurance company - Sovereign Insurance - tried to contact him to advise him of a clause which allowed for early release of the full value of his insurance in cases of terminal illness.
A representative from Sovereign told the Herald that policy applies where someone is diagnosed as having less than 12 months to live. All Mr McCarten needed to do was provide the company with information from his specialist or refer the company to his specialist.
The representative had rung Mr McCarten and left messages to contact them before doing anything about selling the policy, which would not collect anywhere near as much.