QLD landlords/ building insurance increases

I was speaking with a relative of mine earlier today. They mentioned on the properties they had in townsville that premiums had tripped after last few years natural disasters. To the point where its turning cash flow positive into negative.

I think they were paying 350 per month on landlords insurance on a 400k townsville property.
they mentioned this was the same all over qld insurance companies, irrelevant of location.

Does anyone have any similar stories?

Thinking of investing in QLD and thought this would have a huge impact!

 

I would think the insurance premiums in townsville vs premiums in brisbane and surrounds are different. All my houses in QLD premiums are inline with all my houses in Sydney. I think like $100 bucks more on average. Nothing that would impact on cashflow really - the amounts are insignificant.

P.S I just paid 3 landlord insurance policies this morning in QLD

 

It's north QLD. South of Mackay should be much cheaper. I work in insurance and there is a clear distinction between north and south QLD in regards to insurance premiums.

In short, insurance companies used to spread their losses over the whole state/country. Now there are budget insurers that came in and wrote polices in the "safe" areas cheaper as they didn't need to subsidise the "high risk" areas. Big insurers needed to match this as they were losing all of the profitable policies and being left with the crap. Since Yasi, it's become 'user-pays' and you can't purchase in an area that gets smashed every three years and expect the premium to be cheap.

 

$350 a month on landlords insurance? That is an absolutely ludacris amount of money. LOL

Who in their right mind would pay that? Thats $4200 a year? WTF

Your friend also saying that is the norm all over QLD is absolute bullocks so you know he's lying on that aspect.

I pay $760 PER ANNUM!!!!! LOL on a $420k house in SE Brisbane.

 

I think you mean general building insurance that combines LL.

Maybe only invest in concrete buildings, not QLDers where weather gets nasty.

 

Recently paid both building and LL. No increases...

 

I've paid the following LL+building premiums this year:
$102/m for 3/2/2 house in LCC
$1055/yr for 3/2/2 house in LCC
$819/yr for 3/1/2 house in MBCC

 

SE Brisbane is NOT Townsville!

North Qld insurance premiums are much higher than Brisbane because of the far greater cyclone risk.
Marg

 

I understand that if you would read my very first sentence which I clearly say exactly that. My price reference was in relation to the ops friend saying its right across QLD which is obviously not true.

 

I always paid $1300-1800 on both landlord and building insurance with terri or ebm for my property at SEQ and Sydney. Less than $1000 is cheap

 

EBM Insurance | Insurance Brokers and Risk Management Specialists

EBM has got a special atm, first two months free. They show you how much it cost for the year and then how much it costs with the promotion. I used them for ours in Loganlea for almost 1.3k (LL +building). Who do you use @electronic_exp0430?

 

I use NRMA but thinking of changing maybe.

I haven't read the PDS for EBM but does their Landlords policy include both LL and Building Insurances? or do you need to take out separate policies? One for LL and one for Building?

 

Our brisbane property is about 850-900 - insured sum 220k
Our townsville property is 1,400 - but the insured sum is 435k (bank made us value at this)
Our excess is higher though

It is possible to pay 3.5k on insurance up north but if you up your excess a bit and shop around theres no reason to pay more than 1,500 - even with a high replacent cost

 

The RentCoverPlatinum policy includes both building and landlords (suits houses), whereas RentCoverUltra is landlords and contents only (suitable for units/townhouses).

 

Premiums above the 26th Parallel have certainly increased in recent years due to cyclone risks in particular. Similar increases have not occurred elsewhere in Qld. That said, premiums can vary substantially in different areas between Insurers as each one looks to balance their risk individually.

Older properties and non-brick properties attract higher premiums, due to the increased risk of damage. At $350/mth it is quite likely to be fairly old (therefore lower cyclone proof building standards) and not brick.

 

As @brettc says it is all about the perceived risk.

If cyclones only happened once every 100 years the premium would be a lot less however as they are a lot higher the cost is more.

If I was to insure a timber house in the middle of the forest the premium would likely be higher than having that same timber house on a cleared, flat, densely populated, location. However if it was on the waters edge it might attract more as the chance of flooding would be higher.

Having a cheaper insurance policy means you are less likely to claim so can be a positive or a negative as you are also most likely not needing to claim so wasting money.

I cant remember who it is but I think it is Youi and it is about a car driver that drives like an idiot and isn't insured but they will insure a normal person for less to keep premiums down.