Landlord Insurance

Hi Guys,

Just having a review of my landlord insurance for one property currently with westpac but seeing if anyone has / could recommend an insurer?

Just looking for a better deal and service.

Thanks in advance

 

Terrischeer is good
Landlord and Building Insurance for Australians | Terri Scheer ..

I have been using CBA and they not bad either tbh ..

 

EBM and Terri Scheer are the two bigger ones, both similar (ish) policies. Another one which is newer, but again similarish is Property Insurance Plus. I've had claims with the two former, but not PIP as yet so couldn't give you feedback on that side of things.

I tend to steer clear of the big banks or "general" insurers - if you actually read the policies many barely cover anything and makes it not worth the paper it's written on IMO. I distinctly remember reading a policy from a cheap insurer some years back (I hadn't read theirs before) and pointed out to the client that it didn't cover loss of rent due to a default, accidental damages, periodic leases, vacancy if the property is inhabitable and from memory the malicious damage cap was stupidly low as well.

Point is, read the PDS. And there's no harm in having two different policies with two different companies for building and LLI.

 

Strongly disagree with this last point.

Would not want to have a situation where each insurer defers a claim to the other one (just for the sake of saving a few dollars on premiums).
Not to mention managing multiple bills etc. Go with one of the recommended insurers for both building and LL.

 

Prefer to have building and LL together myself, not always possible in the case of units of course.

As far as insurance goes, there's 3 tiers of providers;
Tier 3 : supermarkets eg Woolworths
Tier 2 : banks eg westpac
Tier 1 : investor specific eg EBM, TS, PIP.

Never use a non tier 1.

 

Thanks for the replies they have been insightful.

We have a great tenant who is almost perfect ( ahead on rent and bills, only hear from her with big issues) and looks to be there for the long term. Thoughts on just having building insurance over LL and building?

 

Almost perfect tenants can turn into the tenant from hell virtually overnight with a job loss, or domestic violence, or drug problem.

 

I use EBM. Well priced and lots of inclusions compared to the banks.
However, I recently discovered that along with your landlord insurance, make sure you get a very competent property manager!
My tenants recently broke lease and left the unit with damaged carpets and walls. Had to spend $5k fixing up the place. The original property manager’s report had no details of what the original condition of the unit was before tenants moved in, so basically, had no baseline to compare to. In this case, landlord cover won’t help me..

 

Let me tell you a real story that I'm going through right now as I type this.

18 months ago we accepted a tenant for a property, did all the normal screenings and reference checks. Had a decent job, previous PM said she was great etc.

Was good for 18 months. Paid rent on time, inspections were satisfactory. All parties happy with how everything was going.

Her ex partner invites himself to move in with her. Beats her up, beats the property up, she flees interstate. We go to tribunal to get possession of the property back (this takes 6-8 weeks in SA at the moment), which is granted. However bailiff attends and someone else is camping in a caravan there out the front (we changed the locks so he couldnt get inside of course). Council won't assist, police tried to assist but can only warn/arrest him for trespassing if actually there at the time. He goes after a few days and few harsh warnings, thankfully.

Next step, spend $2K on junk removal. Execpt they don't want to do the job until the tenants abandoned pet dog and pet snakes are removed from property, so spend a couple of days organising homes for those.

Next step, insurance claim for $4K worth of rent/water arrears (plus rent til new tenant found - make sure your policy has that). Organise repairs - haven't got quote back yet but probably $5K worth i'm guessing.

Get property back in order and get it rented again.

So yea, you can do all the screenings you want, and tenant can be as perfect as you say they are, but you honestly have no control over whether they lose their job, lose their relationship, get involved with ex partners or drugs or gambling etc. These are real life people we deal with everyday, and things happen with people.

Please get tier 1 insurance.

 

Thanks for the response guys and the true stories @D.T. Really Appreciate it.

After looking at some policies and getting through the exclusions we are going to move to Terry Sheer. Their premiums are competitive and so is their coverage for where the house is located.

 

Any recommendations for landlord insurance for a property on acreage?
EBM only cover to 10 acres and Terri Scheer only cover up to 2 acres
We have a few clients with properties just over the 10 acres who want a good landlord policy - suggestions?

 

Hi Adelaide, what I found in going through the policy inclusions was Terri and EBM were comprehensive, well regarded in claim management but off the shelf (no flex) in coverage. From my end, I felt I didn’t necessary need say 20 weeks of rent insurance given this was based on break leases. However, accidental damage to say internal fixtures was important to me so I used an insurer like CGU to structure the desired balance between the various sum insured between insurable events. Generally I’d end up with a significantly lower premium outcome which better met my insurance needs. Hope that helps.

 

whats the little bit thats not making them " perfect "

 

Just like a LL who no longer has any money to repair anything due to gambling it away or smoking it away.

Tenants are people like you and i , just because a tenant has gone from the perfect tenant who ran into some trouble out of there control or even lost there job doesnt make them a tenant from hell , crap happens get over it

 

I would always have building insurance with IPs, with the public liability insurance that goes with that being key. However, for landlord insurance, the question becomes when you self insurance. If you have a number of properties, can be more attractive to put premiums into account and just pay for expenses, vacancies, etc when they arise.

 

I am over it - that's why I have a LL policy in place on all my properties. It's also the reason I have little time for LL's who do not insure and want to go on ACA complaining about a tenant from hell.

Look you seem to have misunderstood what I was trying to get across to the OP. I did not say that all tenants who lose a job or run into life's problems, turn into a tenant from hell. Just that a small number will.......and that is why IMO the OP should take out LL insurance despite having an almost perfect tenant currently, to cover that small risk.