Making insurance claims

[bubbleroo]

Hi there,

I have a landlord policy with CGU. Property is in Qld.

Last mth my tenant done a runner & naturally there were a few damages. Many Holes on walls, carpet badly stained in main bedroom & lounge (does not look like it can be clean), dog poos all over rooms, rumpus & deck, yard is a total mess, rent is in arrears (naturally). So there were some reassurances when I know I have insurance to cover me. Claims were lodged on my behalf by RE & this is what came back.

Firstly, 7 holes were identified. CGU claim assessor told me that under normal circumstance they would consider these holes were not punctured at the same time hence an excess ($400 for malicious damage claim & $50 claim excess )have to apply to each hole (that's 7 x $450 = $3150). Quote to fixed was $1400. So she decided to only apply 1 excess of $450. I got $950.

Secondly, stains on carpet. She said as they were the direct caused by the cleanliness of tenants they won't be able to cover me AND due to wear & tear of carpet & age of carpet (more than 10 yrs old) policy state cannot replace old for new. But she will try to contribute something. Quote came back to replace carpet for the 2 rooms at $1400. She then took out TWO excess ($450 x 2 = $900) then said the most she could contribute towards carpet replacement is $500.

Thirdly, rent default capped at max $3000 so less excess I got $2550 BUT I asked her due to the circumstance where the whole place is scatter with poos & under my opinion cannot be rent out until cleanned, carpet replaced & holes patch up. So while i get the place ready for new tenants, I would not be getting any rental income. Tenant still under leased until end of october. I asked her whether I can claim the remainder period "under loss of rent". Her explanation was by the look of it all someone still can move in with prospect that I will fix the whole things up. So she's saying someone will move in with holes on the walls, poos stains on carpet so can't help me "under loss of rent". She explained that this clause is more for when kitchen is not operational, whole place is flooded/fire damaged & basically no one can move in & occupy the premises at all.

Just in case you guys wonder about bond money...It was used to do cleanning mostly as he also left 1/2 of his junks (including 2 cars used for parts)

My thoughts all along were it's a rental & tenant done a runner, how can one prove whether what happens when. I know that some of you are with CGU so just want to know did this happens to you & what were the outcomes ? Is this normal practice in the insurance industry ? My RE suggested i change to Teri scheer ? (not sure i spell it right)

thanks
bubbles

 

[luckyone]

Shocking!

Hey Bubbles,
That's a shocker of an explanation by the claim assessor. I can't believe they can get away with that kind of crap.

I haven't had to make a claim as yet, but I am with Terri Scheer. They seem to have a good policy and I know of someone who made a claim for malicious damage for the carpet in their place which had damage everywhere and they only had to pay one lot of excess. i think you're definitely better off changing.

Good luck! Hope it hasn't cost you too much.

 

[Jacque]

Bubbles,

I'm aghast at all the excesses! Surely for damage caused by one tenant (regardless of the amount) there should only be one excess?

If this is indicative of what CGU is going to assess in every claim, then I'm on the look out for a new insurer!

Please keep us informed as to any changes.

 

[likewow]

Firstly, go over your policy documents with a fine tooth comb and make sure what they are doing is in the policy. If it isnt, write them a nice letter and if you get no joy, go to whatever bodies look after insurance claims complaints. I cant believe these guys and i would be absolutely ropeable.

If what is happening is in the policy, there isnt much you can do about it beside change your insurance provider.

 

[kissfan]

Hi there Bubbles, sorry to hear of your plight . These insurance companies amaze me. Always nice as pie whilst taking your money but as soon as they have to pay, things change real quick . Touch wood I've yet to make a claim. As a matter of interest, where in Qld is your investment property (if you dont mind disclosing)

Regards
Marty

 

[bubbleroo]

Hi all,

Thanks for your responses.

I wanted to know if anyone had made a claim with CGU & what were the outcomes ? I don't mind them charging an excess, that's part of the business deal anyway but i thought it was quite excessive & double dipping. They applied the normal excess ($50) & then add the 'other' excess ($400 for malicious, rent default etc).

I thought their explanations were quite disheartenning. What I've learnt is that don't expect them to be of any support at time of stress & financial hardship due to someone else neglect lack of consideration. For all of you that have not made a claim with CGU...beware.

Our family will cancel all landlord policies (8 in total) with CGU.

 

[TomL]

grrrr

Righto.. so much for risk mitigation it seems.

Heres my thoughts..

1) Are there any insurance brokers/assessors reading this that can comment.
2) Bubbles, did you negiotiate directly with CGU? Do you have an insurance broker?
3) I have my insurance broker's number in my phone. If I ever get a call something is up with an IP, thats gonna be the first number I call.

We had a claim once (not IP related) where something fell off a wall (on its own due to wear and tear) and it was NOT covered by our contents policy. The real problem was that we didnt call our broker, we talked directly with the insurance co. Our broker subsequently informed us we presented our case incorrectly, used the wrong words and that was that. Too late.

Thoughs?

 

[Queen Bee]

I'm not with the same insurance company, I'm in NZ. But the same thing happened to me. I was ropeable too. I begged and pleaded with them, was nice to them, was rude to them, you name it I did it. They wouldn't budge much.

My tenants left at short notice, rent was paid up, but left alot of damage, burn in wooden floor from fireplace, door frame removed, window removed in bathroom, broken window, blood over walls (from the dog), broken locks in both doors, really badly stained carpet in bedrooms. They said that all the damage would have happened at different times so they would all have different excesses ($250 each). I said how did they know they happened at different times, and their answer was "because they would have". I said surely it's not up to me to prove that it's up to the insurance company to prove that they didn't. They wouldn't budge. Said it was highly likely that they were all different. They then said that it wouldn't have happened to me if I had been doing property inspections every 6 weeks. I said "alot can happen in 6 weeks" but they still wouldn't budge. I was doing them every 3 months.

Then went higher, to the Branch Manager. She said they would pay out $750.00 for the whole lot, and then take $250.00 excess off, which meant I got $500 from them. But I had to take that and sign a paper to say I wouldn't pursue the rest of the claim. I felt like telling them to get stuffed, but it was really stressful at the time and so I took the money. The bond covered stuff all. Nobody would have moved into that house in the condition it was in.

You get insurance for your rentals and then you think you have peace of mind that if anything happens you will be covered. She actually read a big list out to me of what I wasn't covered for (which was practically everything) and I said "just tell me what I am covered for" but she couldn't really tell me. I have 8 different premiums with this company, and I'm still with them, because I think they would all be the same.

They put the fear factor into you - that if you don't have insurance you'll be up the creek without a paddle, when in fact you do have insurance, you're still up the creek without a paddle. Insurance is all based on people's fears. We have an acquataince who use to sell insurance and he got out of it, because he said he sold insurance policies all day based on people's fear.

Cheers, QB

 

[bubbleroo]

QB, sound like mine so maybe it's cgu(nz). How was their initial payment differ to the final $500 ? ie what did they offered to pay you in the first instance ?

I've been checking out Terri Scheer & they sound better but still awaiting for some feedback from this forum.

cheers