Insurance Quotes - Recommendations

We have a total of 9 properties, 1 PPOR and 8 investment properties. Most are in Qld, a couple in NSW and 1 in VIC if it matters. We live in NSW.

The majority are currently insured with Suncorp and we are now looking at reducing our insurance costs. Total annual insurance bill is around $14k at the moment which is a big hit on cashflow at once.

I have tried approaching a few insurance brokers with no response via their websites. My day job means I can't spend a lot of time on the phone and rely on communication via email where possible. If I get no response from an online inquiry form or email then they don't get my business!

We have looked at reducing contents as I think for most the cover we have is too high.
Can anyone recommend a broker or any other tips for reducing costs (e.g. negotiating direct with insurers)?

 

Try @brettc from EBM insurance

 

Thanks, one thing I forgot to mention - some properties are self managed which I know can be an issue with some insurers. At the moment it's around 50/50 but at times we have self managed all the properties.

 

If you would like to private message me your email address, or email me at [email protected] I will let you know how we can help you. Self managed properties are not an issue.

 

Welldone. Just curious what programme you use to manage this, esp those you self-manage?

Try reducing the excess. I find this most effective. After all, you wont really bother to claim small items. On Contents, Tenants should have their own insurance and you should only cover the minimum essential.

 

We have been using honan for our IP's and had no issues.


I be happy to discuss with @brettc if EBM can get better pricing and Service.

Thanks

 

I think Pumpkin meant to increase the Excess.

 

@brettc May I know what types of insurance that you are providing ?

 

Hi Albert

As a company we do pretty much everything, with specialists dealing in various areas. From a $29 per year student accident policy, to personal insurance, small business and all the way through to major corporations. Landlord insurance is a major division of ours which we have done for over 25 years. So other than health insurance there is pretty much nothing we can't do. In most instances we act as a broker to help find the right solution for clients utilising the most appropriate Insurer for the circumstance.

 

Happy to get someone to talk to you and discuss what we can do if you wish. Our priority is providing the right cover and the claims service, yet still having competitive pricing. If you would like me to get someone to contact you just email me your phone number to [email protected]

 

Yes, increase the excess thereby reducing the premium. Thanks!

 

We've tried a number of programs/websites over time and some had useful features such as automatic receipts and tenant logins. But I found that the automatic features such as logging rent deposited into an account was just too slow, and I was getting reminders saying the tenant was late when they had already paid. In those circumstances you don't want the system automating late payment reminders when the tenant isn't actually late!

The web interfaces were often clunky as well and I'd need to do several clicks and dropdowns to enter one expense for example. I could see summaries for individual properties but not for the portfolio.

I've gone back to my favourite standby - an excel spreadsheet. I've worked on a spreadsheet over time that suits my needs and that summarises everything I need for tax etc. I still need to manually input income and expenses but I'd have to do that anyway with any other system. It's not that advanced (I'm not good with macros etc) but it works for me.

 

If you didn't get traction form the service providers above you can try;

Alison Evans @ EMS Insurance - EMS Insurance Solutions - About Us

 

I have split them and mostly did that due to what some insurers may or may not cover, so now do building separate to landlord also if possible (and many do not allow this).

There is no one size fits all I found, unless every place is financed the same, rented the same way, and not in any sort of possible flood area (remember, flooding from storms can happen anywhere, not just where flood maps show potential flooding)

Most of the companies that combine are poor on the LL side too, then you have those that wont pay unless there is a lease in place or managed by a PM or any combo of these.

No quick easy way IMO.

 

Honan is good but limited benefits cover for properties on periodic leases.

As for flood, flood in the insurance policies is defined as the covering of normally dry land from a lake, river, dam, creek or other natural watercourse. Not to be confused with "Flash flooding" (as we often generalise but not a definition under the policies), caused by heavy rain/storm events which is normally covered.