Landlord's insurance - who to go with

Oh! Thats so nifty. I did not know that. I thought I wasn't eligible anymore.

Thanks for letting me know @PMC Property and @Beano

 

Sounds like an online quote....farrrrrrr

 

I was with EBM and TS before but both were difficult and avoidant when it comes to claim. The wording in policy is vague and can be interpreted broadly.
For ex: cover for accidental damage- they wouldn’t cover damage to house from rain/storm water because it was not caused by the tenant.
If you have a strata insurance, take the LL insurance from the same company to get additional benefits such as no or low excess and a lot of other added benefits.

 

I have my beef/s with insurers too, and they are indeed different and also depends on how those interpret the info they have or get.....

But rain and storm water would never be accidental damage...how could it be unless your tenant was God ? i.e mortals do not control these things.

What are the lot of other benefits ? Which company is doing better than EBM and TS, do tell so those interested can look into it.

 

We go through Honan for all of our investment properties with Chubb as the underwriter.

Never had to claim but efficient and as they are all in strata apartments very reasonable at only $350pa for landlord insurance.

 

Damage caused by rain/storm water is a defined event in policies and is covered under that section ("defined" or "insured" events), not accidental damage, but it's still covered.

 

A good quality landlord insurance policy protects you against a number of things that other home and contents insurance policies do not cover. And the good news is that because it is an investment expense, your policy premium is tax deductible.

 

Yes, but that is different to what I was told when it comes to claim.
The policy is not written in plain English.

 

As soon as it is a rental, don't they all just call it LL insurance ?

 

How ?

You still did not explain how a storm could be an accident ?

It would come under another part of the policy if it was a full policy ?

 

I would be interested to know what you were told, it sounds quite straight forward so I don't rteally understand.

 

Agree. I am gradually moving everything, both investments and personal, from Suncorp to RACV.

 

That is good to know. We are with EBM but I think service level has dropped so planning to switching to someone else.

 

Have come to the conclusion that insurance is a waste of time and money and excesses are continuously creeping up.
Only insure for total loss and screen tenants as best as possible, do regular and thorough property inspections, and do not be afraid to terminate leases and take problem tenants to court.
Just need more people prepared to take tenants to court and engage lawyers help if necessary. If this means that rents need to rise to cover this possibility "so be it".
Some tenants are getting away with far too much and it should not be up to the owner to insure against these events, then have to fight it out with the insurance company.
Respect for property and other people needs to be re-established in society.
Oh, and a good property manager would be a help, but have't found one yet in Perth that wants to work. Most are lazy and are just "email shufflers".

 

With insurance, and I mean all insurances, my rule is :- if you can’t afford to lose it, you can afford to insure it.

With LL insurance, the premium is $300 per year and tax deductible.

I just pay it .

 

I have a number of properties insured with Chubb via Honan and I just received two renewal invoices today. They have completely removed flood cover from one policy but not reduced the premium. I hate this.

 

How did you find they removed this @NedKelly ? It appears ours renewed in May 2019 DID cover Flood (according to the "Landlord Contents KFS.pdf" ....this said all our apartments are on the 2nd or above floor.....eg if they get flooded we have bigger issues in Sydney to worry about than not having insurance coverage.

This said does Flood mean external water only? Or does that mean water damage entirely (eg flooding from taps being left on/over flowing tubs by tenants etc etc?)

There is a section in the KFS that says does not cover Sea or Tidal damage.

All of our Sydney IP's are strata so not too worried about pipe/or blocked gutter issues as these are covered by Strata Insurance.

 

Not sure if it's of interest to you, @NedKelly, but if you have an iPhone or iPad there's a new app you can access called myhazard. I haven't used it yet because I am an android user.

It's provided via the Insurance Council of Australia - helps you see if your place has risks like flood, bushfire etc.
Data comes from the Engineers society or something.
Fun to check all your properties (or prospective ones)
I'm sorry if this is not relevant to you - you probably know all about your property's risks - just popped into my mind, that's all!

 

When I got the renewal invoice there was an attachment saying flood will not be covered. This only applies to water from a lake, sea, river, dam etc. not taps or tenants.

 

Thanks @KateSydney. I also have an Android but it sounds like a great app.