Landlord Insurance

I am looking to get Landlord Insurance (Buildings plus malicious damage) and was wondering what others were paying and who they were using so that I could do a ring around and compare.

Any positive reccomendations for those who have claimed would also be appreciated.

Does it cost much more for loss of rent coverage due to vacancy?

Cheers,

Noddy.
:cool:
 
Hi Noddy,

I just contacted AON re landlords insurance and building insurance and was quoted:

We sell the Landlords Property One policy as a package for contents, public
liability, rent default, malicious damage & theft including by tenants etc
for $230.00 then we add the building cover to this for an additional
premiums which is based on the building sum insured. (Unit owners do not
require building cover as the Body Corp insurers the building and common
areas)

The annual premium for building $220,000 is $461.00.

However, I range the NRMA (I am a member and have other insurance with them and get a discount as a result) and they quoted approximately $218/year for building insurance for replacement value of $160,000. NRMA don't handle landlords insurance.

(The AON quote was too high - they quoted on the price of the land and building, I wonder if this was on purpose since I had just asked them for a quote on a house purchased for $220k.)

I hope this helps. I would like to see other responses before I sign up, too.

AON can be reached at
Aon Risk Services Australia Limited
Ph: 07 3223 7473
Fax:07 3223 7524
[email protected]
aon.com.au
 
Raoul,

Thanks for that good info.
Unit owners do not require building cover as the Body Corp insurers the building and common areas
I'm not sure on this. My impression was that the body corporate covered the common areas, as you've said- but anything of the structure of the unit is your own responsibility. If there was a fire, the body corp insruance would replace the shell, but you would have to paint/refit/carpet etc.

Noddy, there's some good info in at least one old thread- http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4289

I haven't taken landlords insurance though on my latest block of flats. They're country, rented out at $90pw- insurance would have been (say) $230 by 9- the cost of insurance is the same it seems, regardless of the level of rent or value of property. The cost seemed too high- it would take a lot of tenants a lot of defaults to have made it worth my while.
 
Noddy, Try this mob, they are pretty competitive. But they might only insure in QLD.

QRI
Membership Services & Benefits
Shop 1, Central Railway Plaza 309 Edward St Brisbane 4000

(07) 3235 2334
Fax (07) 3235 2370

Outside Brisbane 1800 651 838
QRI Conference Centre (07) 3235 3800
Cafe 8 (07) 3235 1660
Cafe QRI (07) 3235 3800

www.qri.com.au
 
Geoff,

You're correct - I was quoting the email from AON but was too lazy to surround it with quotes

Thanks for the link back to past thread - I got some useful info from there.

Noddy,

Thanks for link to QRI - will check them out shortly.
 
I use R.E.I. Insurance Brokers
(02)96830950


Thier premium is $280.00

The good thing about this policy is the rent default by the tenant is 15 weeks, some other policies only have approx 6 weeks so watch out for that
Regards
Steve
 
Originally posted by raoul
Geoff,

You're correct - I was quoting the email from AON but was too lazy to surround it with quotes
raoul,

Sorry, I can see that now.

But it's a bit worrying to see misleading information being given out by insurance companies.
 
Originally posted by noddy
Does it cost much more for loss of rent coverage due to vacancy?

I can't lay my hands on the full insurance policy at the moment but I've got an adjustment where I added,

Loss of rent - $9880 cover - $9.58/yr
Rent default & theft by a tenant - $90 /yr

This is from CGU through St George.
The loss of rent is only for when the property is un-rentable due to damage etc, rent default is when the tenant does a runner.

Regards,
Kim
 
Noddy,

I have recently taken out a policy with Terri Scheer Insurance Brokers. The cost was quite reasonable. I could have got it cheaper elsewhere but the range of things covered and the amounts / length of time you are covered I found were much better with this policy. This policy also covers you for tenant hardship !

Check it out at : http://www.terrischeer.com.au/prodlp.html

Cheers
PIppety ;)
 
There are three policies that I am aware of that may answer your question. They operate through a Real Estate Agency's rent roll. The agency has a single policy and monthly lists the new Landlords and addresses of any new property to add to the agency list.

One policy is cheaper than many individual policies.

REI agencies in each state (most States)
Rent Cover Plus - EBM Insurance
Landlord Preferred Policy - Terri Scheer Insurance Broker

I prefer the last one.

Regards


Ross

I have no association with any Insurance Co. except as a client.
 
Hi guys,

Ditto to that.

Terri Scheer seems to be the best for answering email questions in a prompt and helpful way. Their cover is equal or better than most while their premiums are close to the cheapest.

Let's face it if staff can't repond well and in good time when you're buying, you can imagine how they'll perform when you want them to cough up some money.
 
Interesting with the AON Policy..Im also with them for Landlord Protection Insurance and they only charge $194 in WA for the same cover. Although in reality they only charge me $177 per property due to numerous property policies with them !
 
Thanks for the great responses,

I checked out the AON policy and the RENTCOVER policy. The rencover and rentcover plus appear to be in addition to normal house insurance.

Does the AON policy cover the basics or is it also an add-on to a normal building insurance product?

Cheers,

Noddy.
 
Noddy

The $230 policy previously mentioned is for landlord insurance.

You can add building insurance for an additional premium.

I have a mix of providers but no experience of when the crunch comes and it's time for the insurer to pay. When I find out which one is the best I'll switch all to them for a discount.
 
Hi Noddy

A couple of issues seem to have come to the fore.

If your property is Strata titled, the Body Corp (by whatever Name known) is required by statute law to insure the building(s) and common area plus some other lesser insurances are required.

That part of the building they are required to insure is that part usually delineated by a heavy line on the plans which means all the outer walls, footings, foundations and roof area from inner ceiling upwards, i.e. the buildings themselves. They are responsible through to the undercoat paint in your premises BUT not the top coat. It is as specific as that.

If you own the property (not strata titled) then it is your decision to insure or not. I would strongly recommend that you do.

If you are Strata titled and use a manager, on site or local REA, then Rent Cover Plus and Landlord Preferred are two mostly regarded amongst the best. These policies were designed to cover the Landlord against those people regarded as "bad tenants", the tenants from hell.

They are those who deliberately or maliciously damage your property, do a bolter, a runner or midnight flit, lose their income because of loss of job or long term sick or can't pay the rent and must be evicted, strip your premisis of internal fittiings etc., and a variety of other "tenant from hell" type issues. Your are also covered for loss or rent under many conditions, say if next door premises is damaged by fire and your premises are untenantable for a while and so on and so on.

More recently, these policies now have added cover features for internal things. Once again, I would strongly recommend one of these policies as an add on.

Get a copy of their bumph from the web and make your own decision. Both are good policies, you make your choice.

Once again, I am not associated with any Insurance mob etc.. I use Landlord preferred but both are OK.

Regards

Ross
 
I am also in process of comparing AON Landlords Property One insurance + building insurance (through REI Insurance Brokers) with Terri Scheer's Landlord Preferred Insurance + building insurance.

From first look both policies seem very similar.

For Landlords Insurance only, AON quoted $230 p.a and Terri Scheer - $280 p.a. However Terric Scheers Legal Liability is $20,000,000 compared to AON's $10,000,000, where AON's excess on malicious damage and accidental loss/damage is $300 compared to $350 with Terri Scheer.

Has someone here already closely compared the two policies and what main differences made up your mind when determining the superior policy?
 
Does anybody have a checklist for landlord insurance policy which would include all covered events, excesses, amounts, etc? It would make it much easier to compare different policies.

Say cheese :p

Lotana
 
What about getting landlords insurance with the actual bank that provided the mortgage in the first place? Are banks reliable to insure with?
 
Hi idiep

Good thinking but it would be a job checking all the banks insurances and then factoring that into the lending equation.

I've looked at a few and was only moderately impressed so passed them up. Banks look after Banks. Do they look after Landlords?

Regards

Ross
 
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