Cairns insurer

Hi Nancia

My tips:
- select your property carefully - pay attention to flood and crime maps, as well as the position and construction of the prperty.
- understand that if you buy something older than 1985 you have fewer options
- try to buy into a block of units with 5 or less, and that is administered under the Small Schemes Module.
- consider security screens, locks on windows, alarms etc.
- understand that you have to go through a broker for strata insurance.
- the broker you choose can make a difference. Ask if they will charge a commission or a flat fee.
- reduce your premium by reducng excesses.

Let me know if you need any help!

Cheers

Jen
 
Revised old thread but may as well pitch in as recently did this -

Cairns building only insurance with BOQ - $1955 ish for standard 3bed/1 bath block house with pool in Edge Hill.

Covers flood and storm $2000 excess, doesn't include contents, accidental damage, swimming pool cleaning or painting if a flood/storm (cyclone).

Canstar recommended.

Other quotes were way over 5k or didn't want to insure as seemed to think that house was in a flood zone (despite council maps saying otherwise).
 
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I have researched insurance in the region quite a bit. I use Suncorp for building insurance. Terry Sheer is popular for Landlord's insurance. Insurance costs vary depending on post code, flood risk/cover, security etc.

I have found that you can go online and adjust the various excesses etc to get an idea, then phone them up for a personal quote. If they put the price higher, you refer them to the online quote. Often they will offer you less in an attempt to get you to sign up there and then.

cheers

Jennifer

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All I wanted was LL for a 2 bedder in Cairns. Massive price difference between RACV my normal insurer who wanted almost $3K ! - Even with an increased excess and multi-policy discount, down to Suncorp who wanted almost $900.

I was a bit apprehensive to go with a newer insurer as there were some bad experiences noted on the forum, but I suppose all insurers are the same and you need to do your own due diligence.

In the end I went with Terry Scheer who wanted one third Suncorp's figure.
 
Hi all.
It's really disappointing the widespread opinion seems to be you can't insure in cairns for under 4k. I live in trinity beach. Northern beaches of cairns. Suncorp do all your flood cover. The original quote for my house was 8k! Turned my wife of buying. I wonder how many people say no after that first quote. After telling them they have overpriced my house (very common it seems). I dropped building insurance to 400k and contents to 100k and also upped the excess to 5k. The result was an insurance premium of 1700! Big difference. I know the excess is high but I think it's worth it when you look at the price discrepancy. I must admit I have a discount as I use them with other property. The discount was 10 or 15 percent. No more. So you can insure a property well ABOVE the median near the beach for under 2k with all the cover you need. Hope this helps
 
So you can insure a property well ABOVE the median near the beach for under 2k with all the cover you need. Hope this helps

Do you know if you're in a flood zone? If so, what rating?

Might be worth me investigating as I'm in Trinity Park under the red zone flooding wise and RACQ was the cheapest I could find which was ~$2.6k
 
Do you know if you're in a flood zone? If so, what rating?

Might be worth me investigating as I'm in Trinity Park under the red zone flooding wise and RACQ was the cheapest I could find which was ~$2.6k

No kesse I'm at the foot of earls hill just outside red zone. It may be worth ringing them up though! Let us know if it's better. I do wonder how many investors or people thinking of moving to cairns hear the first quote and say bugger that and invest or move somewhere else like sunny coast or Brisbane.
 
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All I wanted was LL for a 2 bedder in Cairns. Massive price difference between RACV my normal insurer who wanted almost $3K ! - Even with an increased excess and multi-policy discount, down to Suncorp who wanted almost $900.

I was a bit apprehensive to go with a newer insurer as there were some bad experiences noted on the forum, but I suppose all insurers are the same and you need to do your own due diligence.

In the end I went with Terry Scheer who wanted one third Suncorp's figure.

Was this for a house or a unit?
 
No kesse I'm at the foot of earls hill just outside red zone. It may be worth ringing them up though! Let us know if it's better. I do wonder how many investors or people thinking of moving to cairns hear the first quote and say bugger that and invest or move somewhere else like sunny coast or Brisbane.

I'll give them a call when I get a chance and see if they can do it a bit cheaper. Not confident though as when I did their on-line quote with max excesses it was still over $6k, I'll see what I can negotiate over the phone.

Probably quite a few - it was almost a deal breaker for us. During our conditional period I researched insurances and even engaged the services of a broker and the cheapest I could find was ~$5k but then I was eventually able to find RACQ and EBM who were around the $2-3k mark.

If I were investing in Cairns it would be for cash flow and not capital growth. Stupidly high insurance premiums eat into the cash flow, so much so sometimes that it's a deal breaker.
 
Get your house valued kesse. We experiencing capital growth right now. Don't think it's going to stop any time soon either
 
Get your house valued kesse. We experiencing capital growth right now. Don't think it's going to stop any time soon either
 
Thanks Gilly, I plan to in the next few months. Not long settled on the place.

There's a few houses for sale in my street that are for sale for less than what I paid for this which isn't helping matters. They're both inferior but one has an extra bedroom. Hopefully they don't mess with the comparables too much.
 
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