EBM vs Terri Scheer

Hi,

I'm due for my policy renewal for LL and building insurance for my property in Western Sydney (non flood prone as far as i know).

I've previously had Allianz insurance, but their excess was too high ($500 for loss of rent) and they don't allow claims for break fees. I have since changed to Terri Scheer, but have not had to claim during this policy period. I'm now up for renewal. Terri Scheer have sent me the renewal policy schedule with around a $100 increase. I did another online quote on the Terri Scheer website, and it came back around $40 more expensive than last year, but still cheaper than the renewal policy schedule they sent me in the mail.

I have heard and read so many good things about EBM, but i'm unsure on whether they cover just as much as Terri Scheer. I've read through the PDS for both EBM and Terri Scheer and tried not to skip over anything. EBM currently seem cheaper, but after a year, their 2 months free is over and their policy is slightly more expensive than Terri Scheer's (which i thought was odd).

Does anybody have any advice, especially on break fees, tribunal fees, maximum rent, etc? I feel like there is always small print you don't find out until you want to claim. I'm not just wanting landlord insurance, but also building insurance too. I read on this forum that its beneficial to keep both insurance policies with the same provider so there is no argument between them, if a claim ever needs to be made under one of the policies.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

 

@brettc can answer.

 

Hey, I have an IP in Adelaide that had insurance with TS, we had a family in the house and both lost their jobs within a matter of a few weeks, anyway they just stopped paying rent and wanted to go on a payment plan. We refused and had property manager follow procedure and eventually go them kicked out of the house, took approx 6 months. When they left there was 6 months rent not paid and about $10,000 damage to the property. TS paid out very quickly and we basically broke even on the deal, probably ended up only costing us a few hundred in the end. So TS were great for us in this instance.

Having said that I am renting out my house in Melbourne now and am going with EBM to give them a go, have heard lots of good things about them also. Either way, insurance is a must, but I think both EBM and TS are leaders in what they do and are both really good.

 

Most of my properties are with EBM and two with TS. I've had claims with both companies this year and I have to say that given all the good things said about EBM, I found TS were far better. Damage between the properties was similar, plus tenant non payment issues, and TS were faster to process and paid out three times what EBM did. TS is more expensive but it appears they might be worth it.

 

Slightly off topic, but would love to hear more about this case. Do you have a case number I can look up? SA Tribunal will always enforce a payment plan for the first time during a lease that the tenant stops paying.

 

I had Terry Sheer LL insurance for a couple of IP's in Adelaide. Unfortunately I wasn't happy with them. I won't go into details, but I was compensated only around 50% of money spent on cleaning and renovations after the tenants left. If I'll ever rent out again they will not be my choice.

 

I'm with EBM, had two claims this year and found them good ( in comparison to CGU, who I used to use).

The 60 days free in the first year is nice too.

I have my house and contents through them too, but they no longer offer that cover.

Who do others use for house and contents? (I have a GF on back of my PPOR too).

 

Was this dictated by the insurance co or the tribunal?

The tribunal has been known to estimate (sometimes accurately sometimes not) what things cost to do and only award that amount, even if you have quotes/receipts to the contrary.

You also mentioned that you renovated which the tenant shouldn't be responsible for, only returning to original state (minus reasonable wear and tear). As an example, if a kitchen bench has a 50c sized hole in it, its not possible to repair so has to be replaced. The tribunal won't award cost to replace the whole thing, only for a proportion that was damaged.

 

It was dictated by the insurance. I had to renovate after tenants left scratchy and stained walls, the even scratched tiles. Carpets had stains everywhere, so they had to be replaced. I wasn't compensated for the carpets, only for a small bit. And it was a new house. I had to do all the work myself and wasn't compensated for that as well.

 

[QUOTE="Coconutwheels, post: 76682, member: 571

Who do others use for house and contents? (I have a GF on back of my PPOR too).[/QUOTE]
I'll be interested too.

 

All of mine in Aus are with EBM.
There have been alot of bad experiences on SS over the years with TS. You also have @brettc on here for EBM that will help you out if you ever have a problem or need a claim looked into further.

 

I have all my IPs with EBM as well. They have been good thus far.

 

Did you have any claims?

 

EBM state manager told me over a coffee one day (not sure if I'm allowed to repeat it) that all claims under 25k are processed straight away.

 

Yes, I had a runner last year mid tenancy contract. While the property was vacant, copper pipes were stolen as well.
These were all processed quick. As @D.T. mentioned above, it was under 25K, so could be why it was processed quickly!

 

My claim with them took months, and it was under $4k. The incompetent property manager was probably responsible for at least half of this delay, but they paid out very little, refused claim on new wardrobes because they weren't built in (even though permanently attached to walls), charged extra excess (per item) due to assessing as accidental damage instead of malicious despite police report being provided.
They were going to send out an assessor, but didn't and instead continually asked for more and more information. TS by comparison just paid out a lump sum with hardly any hassle.

Maybe it just depends on who is processing your claim at the time, given good and bad experiences with both companies.

 

This thread isn't making it any easier to make a decision.

I was hoping there would be one clear winner.

Oh well, when it doubt, go with the cheaper option.

 

Hehe, which one was cheaper?

 

Haven't inquired yet.

 

No I don't have a claim number, but I also feel we were lucky with this one, it did still take 6 months to get them out of the property. When they went to the tribunal on a Friday they were told to be out of the house by Monday 5pm.. so that was a good result.