Fire in IP

[silas]

I found out on Friday that there had been a fire in one side of a duplex both of which we had just finished renovating ( in a rural centre about 11/2 hours from where we live). I rang the insurance company CGU and was pleasantly surprised by the response and speed with which the have dealt with everything. We have a landlords policy on all our properties with the sum insured being around the value of the whole property. The actual replacement cost of a new building would be way above the value of the property. They got a building company that day to do an appraisal of the works and secure the property byboarding up windows and putting a fence around the front. On Saturday morning they had an appraiser on site. Today I have finally got to inspect the damage and found out that the fire was started by the tenant on purpose. He got drunk and depressed and pured petrol everywhere and set it alight before taking off. There was another guy in the other duplex asleep who fortunatly woke and heard the fire and called the fire brigade. The fire was pretty extensive but the insurance company will replace everything as new and pay the lost rent They will even paint the outside which we hadn't got to yet.

Acouple of things I have learnt through the process. If the property had been written off they would have had a valuation done of the property less the land value and paid out that amount. Also they will not put you in a financially better position than before the fire. CGU have so far been very easy to deal with. Will let you know whether that has still been the case when it is all settled.

Silas

 

[MJK]

I sure do hope I dont have to go through something like that . I'm really please to hear you are getting good reponse from your insurer . Good luck.

MJK

 

[lobboroz]

hey silas
Just refering to your last paragraph, do you mean if your house was written off they would just pay u out what they think the house is worth? not how much u insured it for? Just asking cause i remembered asking my insurance and they said if i insured it for x amount they would payout that amount. Hope they havent given me the wrong info. Anyways i insured it the minimum the bank wanted which is probably alot more then what its worth anyways.

 

[silas]

Hi Loboroz.

Yes that is what I was told by ouor insurer that with our policy which is the CGU lanlords insurance policy they would either reinstate or if you agreed on a pay out the payment would be taken from a valuation from a valuer that you are happy with less the value of the land giving the reidual value of the building. I think they would cover removal of property etc if you wanted.(I am not sure if you can refuse and demand that they rebuild). At least that is what I was told by the assessor today. I asked as the house was so badly damaged it was getting close to the insured amount to replace. We did not have insurance for the full replacement cost as that would have been a lot more than the property was worth ( and cost significantly more each year for the number of properties we have.

Silas

 

[kyl37]

Hi Silas

Sorry you had some bad luck with a tenant. It does sound like you are (so far) having a good response from CGU. Please keep us posted about that, as I just received renewals from them and I was thinking of moving to a different insurer (if I could find one cheaper, and willing to do a deal for multiple properties that is). I will be happy to stay with them though if you continue to report good things from them. Don't want to end up on Current Affair some day with the insurer that won't pay out for things like tenant damage!
I was also curious, did you have to report your tenant to police?

Good luck!
Kylie

 

[silas]

Hi ky137

I heard from the tenant on the other side who texted me to ring him which I did in the morning. He was the one who thought it was the other tenant. The fire brigade had been called and had called the police because of the situation. I did find the police very slow to get in touch with me (as the victim) the incident happened early Friday morning I rang our insurance broker who recommended ringing the insurance company direct which I did and they took that part from there. I then rang the police but was given no information at all except to be told that they would leave a message for the person dealing with the case. I rang again at 4:00pm and was told the person had gone home and they were the only ones who could tell me anything. I rang again on Monday and was told that they couldn't tell me much except that they had someone in custody for the fire and they would get the detective to ring me which he did Tuesday morning when I was with the assessor working out what the options were. He then told me that it was the tenant and he was currently being charged and that it wasn't a good idea to visit him. They also said that he had been in custody since Friday afternoon. I found it difficult as although the other tenant had told me that the tenant had set the house on fire I didn't want to accuse him to the insurance company etc until I had heard it from the police.

Silas