AAMI for landlord insurance??
- Thread starter MelbGal
- Start date
Hi MelbGal
I've recommended Terri Sheer and EBM insurance for two reasons.
1) They seem to cover you for a wider variety of things and are more in-tune with the general (and upto date) practices of renting a property because they focus landlord insurance rather than the bigger companies like AAMI - they do a lot of different types of insurance.
2) Secondly, most property managers have an 'Account Manager' so if they need to make a claim they can get help from their Account Manager where as if it was a AAMI they have no relationship with who they are dealing with when making a claim with makes it slightly harder.
Yes there is generally a small kickback but that generally covers the time that I put into keeping their brochures and talking about their product. Not enough just to push their product.
Hope that helps.
I've recommended Terri Sheer and EBM insurance for two reasons.
1) They seem to cover you for a wider variety of things and are more in-tune with the general (and upto date) practices of renting a property because they focus landlord insurance rather than the bigger companies like AAMI - they do a lot of different types of insurance.
2) Secondly, most property managers have an 'Account Manager' so if they need to make a claim they can get help from their Account Manager where as if it was a AAMI they have no relationship with who they are dealing with when making a claim with makes it slightly harder.
Yes there is generally a small kickback but that generally covers the time that I put into keeping their brochures and talking about their product. Not enough just to push their product.
Hope that helps.
I've never received a kickback but always recommend them to landlords. I know exactly who it is I need to call if I am having trouble & making a claim. I've met them several times over the years (especially EBM). it makes the claim process a little smoother 
. I absolutely second what MichaelGilbert has said!!!!
. I absolutely second what MichaelGilbert has said!!!!
Second the above.
They do offer a small kickback, but some agents choose not to accept them (I don't).
Both Terri Scheer and EBM are good with their claims process, and I have found in many instances they're easier to put a claim through with.
They do offer a small kickback, but some agents choose not to accept them (I don't).
Both Terri Scheer and EBM are good with their claims process, and I have found in many instances they're easier to put a claim through with.
I went with AAMI (QLD) after comparing few. Not many have cover for floods.
AAMI doesn't have a fixed 'replacement value' so there is no under insured issue.
I had a claim with (NRMA). PM & NRMA exchanged documents directly and everything went smoothly. I had few other insurances with them as well. May be that would have helped too.
AAMI doesn't have a fixed 'replacement value' so there is no under insured issue.
I had a claim with (NRMA). PM & NRMA exchanged documents directly and everything went smoothly. I had few other insurances with them as well. May be that would have helped too.
Go with either EBM or terri scheer. Because they focus on Property management insurance they are in tune with what happens. Other insurers don't quite understand and won't pay you out as easily or as much.
My partner was with a non PM insurer, claim was a debacle. Also read the fine print. Some don't consider the bond for cleaning and repairs like Terri and EBM do (who pay from day one), this can mean you are 4 weeks behind straight from the get go..
My partner was with a non PM insurer, claim was a debacle. Also read the fine print. Some don't consider the bond for cleaning and repairs like Terri and EBM do (who pay from day one), this can mean you are 4 weeks behind straight from the get go..
Actually, I haven't had any issues with their car insurance. They're not the cheapest but are pretty prompt and provide good service when you have a claim. I just don't know what they are like with LL and home/contents insurance.
Not suggesting you won't get paid out in the even of a claim, just saying it's a different product with 'less-frills'.
e.g. AAMI car insurance won't allow choice of repairer. 80% of the population may be happy with this, but for as a car fanatic I prefer to pay more and go with a mob that does give choice of repairer. If I had a door repainted and the colour didn't match really well, rather than 'close enough', I'd be annoyed. Again, most people might not even care or notice.
My chosen repairer used to do work for AAMI but no longer does, he said he just can't do the work at the prices they want to pay and offer his lifetime guarantee on it.
Same same with Budget, Bingle, Youi, etc. People can't really only do a dollar cost comparison to say RACV or Shannons insurance, it's a different product.
I'm sure it's similar with the Landlord insurance. With Terri Scheer and EBM you would be covered for more things and/or limits no doubt.
Look for things like 'do they include bond when paying out a claim'. I believe AAMI does, which means you only are ahead once there is more than 1 months rent + your excess worth of damage. Factor in how much lost rent, etc they pay when doing your comparison.
Having said all that AAMI may be the best option. The few times I have claimed, after all the stuffing around, it really wasn't worth it in the end for the measly few hundred I got after they subtracted the bond and stupid arguments over accidental vs malicious damage. Pretty annoying after the thousands I had paid in premiums over the years. Make sure to do the maths on self- insuring.
Based on this I only really use Landlord insurance for the real big risks/claims - i.e. tenant hurts themselves on my property.
Personally, I think it's pretty useless for the smaller claims and I self insure for these.
My experiences:
- I have used AAMI in the past. They were cheap but I didn't have to claim.
- Allianz (via NAB) were reasonably priced, I did claim and it was fine. Hardly got anything after all the stuffing around though, really only a few hundred ahead.
- Currently I'm with Suncorp, one building claim, it went well. Price was good. Went with these guys as was advised by a QLD laywer that they were one of the few who paid out in during the floods (probably due to it's history as a government entity). Again, was only about $200-300 ahead after all the stuffing around and filling out forms.
- I had quotes from Terri Scheer and EBM but they were really expensive, perhaps even double AAMI from memory (?). Didn't proceed.
Based on this I only really use Landlord insurance for the real big risks/claims - i.e. tenant hurts themselves on my property.
Personally, I think it's pretty useless for the smaller claims and I self insure for these.
My experiences:
- I have used AAMI in the past. They were cheap but I didn't have to claim.
- Allianz (via NAB) were reasonably priced, I did claim and it was fine. Hardly got anything after all the stuffing around though, really only a few hundred ahead.
- Currently I'm with Suncorp, one building claim, it went well. Price was good. Went with these guys as was advised by a QLD laywer that they were one of the few who paid out in during the floods (probably due to it's history as a government entity). Again, was only about $200-300 ahead after all the stuffing around and filling out forms.
- I had quotes from Terri Scheer and EBM but they were really expensive, perhaps even double AAMI from memory (?). Didn't proceed.
Is it even really worth doing landlords insurace? Last time I got a quote for LL it was about $400 more than just covering the building. I worked out by not going for the extra cover I have probably saved 15k over the last 10 years between my properties.
In that time I had 1 bad tenant who did a runner where I was out of pocket $1000. So im ahead roughly 14k
Food for thought...
In that time I had 1 bad tenant who did a runner where I was out of pocket $1000. So im ahead roughly 14k
Food for thought...
I swapped a few places over to AAMI. One particular was in an area where I wanted to get flood cover on it just in case - and the policy I had didnt cover flood.
A few months ago I spoke with a mate who is an insurance assessor. He said in Qld you always take the insurer with flood cover -whether it be suncorp or whoever - if you're in a possible flood area. Outside of that he refused to take any policy that wasnt a Stedfast policy... as in his opinion it was the best policy running if you didnt need flood (and leaving price out of the equation). Since he's the guy who sees which claims get approved and which dont I'm happy to run with his advice.
Now this being said - our group has Stedfast as one of its arms but when you bring a flood cover in the premiums do spike
Cars I dont care who fixes them and in my prior car claims with AAMI havent had a drama with any repair jobs.
A few months ago I spoke with a mate who is an insurance assessor. He said in Qld you always take the insurer with flood cover -whether it be suncorp or whoever - if you're in a possible flood area. Outside of that he refused to take any policy that wasnt a Stedfast policy... as in his opinion it was the best policy running if you didnt need flood (and leaving price out of the equation). Since he's the guy who sees which claims get approved and which dont I'm happy to run with his advice.
Now this being said - our group has Stedfast as one of its arms but when you bring a flood cover in the premiums do spike
Cars I dont care who fixes them and in my prior car claims with AAMI havent had a drama with any repair jobs.
I agree their car arm is pretty good. Last time there was hail damage in Melbourne, AAMI were one of the fastest in paying out/finalising claims. I think they took a customer service approach and said, we can fix the car (taking x time) or we can pay you out (immediately).
We were more than happy to take the payout given it was a lot more than the resale value of the car and we were thinking of selling anyway so bonus. Other friends of ours with different insurers were waiting a very long time for their claims to be assessed and settled.
Some agents receive a small administration fee for arranging and administering the policy, but this is not the case for all agents. This same arrangement is in place for other landlord policies so we're not on our own there. Essentially, like many businesses we use this conduit (via real estate agents) to distribute material rather than spend it on mainstream advertising. At the end of the day it keeps costs down which is reflected in premiums being kept in check (comparitive to claims paid).
I would find it unlikely that there is an agent in Australia that would do it for the money, they pass on information about EBM (or someone else) because they believe at the end of the day there is an advantage to their owners to have the right sort of cover in place, and to be honest they have a duty of care to let landlords know. And by the way an advantage to the agent because the less losses a landlord suffers the happier they will be.
The fee paid to an agent (where it is) is not coming out of your pocket, a policy directly with us will cost exactly the same. The fee we (EBM) would otherwise have paid an agent goes towards the increased costs we have in dealing on a direct basis.
The reality is property managers are dealing with these sorts of issues on a daily basis so they see the sorts of risks that landlords are exposed to, and are in the best position of anyone to steer landlords in the right direction to minimse their risks. Of course everyone is still entitled to make their own decision, and we tell everyone to read the Product Disclosure Statement, by all means do comparisons etc. I've been comparing policies for over 20 years and happy to stand by our product.
I have chose to include EBM brochures in my landlord packs as they gave me the best customer service, and I was happy with what they offered.
They do offer a commission (as do most) but some, myself included, choose not to accept it.
Personally I would much rather spend the $285p/a (price quoted) for landlord insurance, but typically I'm not the luckiest person.
It's fantastic that you have had great tenants, and most other landlords do too, it's just the off chance - like car insurance. I could save heaps of $$ by not insuring my car, but would rather spend the $800/year just in case.
