Need recommendations for landlords insurance

[godette]

Hello there everyone

Can anyone recommend a really good company for landlords insurance? I've been told that there's quite a vast difference in what different companies offer.
For instance, some will cover for loss of rent in between tenants for up to four weeks, others won't. There are so many firms out there that it's really difficult to know who has the best deal.
Many thanks for your help

 

[Jamie M]

I normally use Real Insurance - they allow us to self manage and have been pretty good so far. I just recieved a check in the post because I hadn't made a claim on one policy in three years. I think they rebate 10% of the premium over the period - it was an unexpected surprise from an insurance company.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[eeho]

Terri Scheer has been really good thus far and came highly recommended.

 

[Investor78]

Hi godette,

I am using Terri Scheer too, currently paying $290 a year which covers:

$60,000 contents (eg. for tenant damage)
$20,000,000 legal liability
Up to $1000/week rental loss

You will pay an excess of between $100 to $250 depending on the type of claim.

I've never had to make a claim fortunately, so I can't comment on how they are with that but I have had to call them a couple of times and their customer service seems good.

Hope this helps.

 

[wylie]

I've just renewed with Suncorp for two small(ish) queenslanders (three bed/one bath) for $1,400 for both. That covers building and landlord cover. The premium had jumped from about $1,400 to $1980. I reduced the cover to a more realistic amount $350K which should be more than adequate to rebuild. I used to allow more for clearing the debris and architect fees, but this is built into the policy (15% of insured amount). I increased the excess from $500 to $1000 and removed the motor burnout, which seems to cover the dishwasher. It will be cheaper to buy a new dishwasher if the motor burns out.

We chose no contents cover, because there are no carpets or expensive curtains.

I could not insure with Terry Scheer without contents (minimum $35K I think it was), but that seems to be landlord cover only. I'm not sure if I can insure the building itself with Terry Scheer?

I tried EBM and they wanted $1,400 for ONE house. Being over 70 years old was a problem and seemed to bump up the premium, though they are in very good condition.

 

[sash]

Try Honan Insurance.

Building and Landlords cover is abotu $660 for a house and landlords only for unit/townhouse/villa is about $350.

I have made about 6 claims over the last 10 years....nothing has been refused.

 

[Chris75]

I give Terri Scheer a big thumbs up.

Long story short.
Organised policy through property manager. Nearly 2 years later we submitted a claim for unpaid rent. Received a phone call from TS telling me we didn't have a policy. We had filled in forms but policy was never issued for unknown reasons. Property manager assured TS that they had sent them the paperwork. I sent them a Stat dec stating that I had filled it in. TS said they would honour the policy if I paid 2 years of premiums. Paid the premiums and they paid out.

I couldn't believe any insurer would pay out on a policy under these circumstances. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again and I will recommend them to anyone who needs landlord insurance.

 

[brettc]

I give Terri Scheer a big thumbs up.

Long story short.
Organised policy through property manager. Nearly 2 years later we submitted a claim for unpaid rent. Received a phone call from TS telling me we didn't have a policy. We had filled in forms but policy was never issued for unknown reasons. Property manager assured TS that they had sent them the paperwork. I sent them a Stat dec stating that I had filled it in. TS said they would honour the policy if I paid 2 years of premiums. Paid the premiums and they paid out.

I couldn't believe any insurer would pay out on a policy under these circumstances. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again and I will recommend them to anyone who needs landlord insurance.

That's exactly how they should have handled it so I'm glad to see they did. As the agent would be acting as a Distributor for Terri Scheer they need to accept responsibility for their actions, and also accept that something may have gone wrong in the process between their Distributor and them. It actually comes up quite a bit, but not all companies will necessarily act in the same way so it is really important that investors make sure they have current policy documents and know that the policy has been paid. The last thing you want is to end up in a fight over it when a problem has occurred, particularly if it's a major event.

 

[brettc]

Hello there everyone

Can anyone recommend a really good company for landlords insurance? I've been told that there's quite a vast difference in what different companies offer.
For instance, some will cover for loss of rent in between tenants for up to four weeks, others won't. There are so many firms out there that it's really difficult to know who has the best deal.
Many thanks for your help

Just to clarify a point you have made. Bear in mind I work in this industry, I'm not here to make a recommendation (although I am also a landlord) as I will no doubt be biased on that front, but I would like to clarify a point.

You referred to "some will cover for loss of rent in between tenants for up to four weeks, others won't". Essentially landlord policies will generally have varying levels of cover while you find a new tenant, but only where the tenant has done something wrong (or with some policies also due to tenant hardship). No policy that I am aware of will simply cover a "casual vacancy" where you are looking for a tenant following a previous tenant moving out (unless they broke their lease etc.).

You are quite right that it is difficult to compare policies as there are so many policies out there (20 years ago there were only two available), and they do vary considerably in what they cover and how they interpret claim situations.

Some of the key things I suggest you look at (as these can really vary) are:

• some policies will not pay the first 4 weeks rent loss so only commence week 5
• check the excesses, some are very high, especially if they have an excess on loss of rent
• check whether the policy will cover you if your tenant goes on to a periodic lease or lease continuation following a fixed lease
• check whether they cover for tenant hardship or not, it's becoming more prevalent
• check whether they include Accidental Damage as well as Malicious, it's more imporatnt than most people realise because with malicious you need to prove malicious intent

There are other things but these are some of the most prevalent at the moment. Just remember, although it's good to get feedback and opinions from others, make sure the policy you choose suits your individual circumstances, as what is important to cover for one person may be a risk that another is happy to take.

 

[RazzaDazzla]

5 Bedroom house in South West Sydney purhcased 12 months ago for $300K by a discretionary trust.

Insurance policy with NRMA with an excess of $1,000. Not sure of all the bells and whistles of the top off my head that this policy does and does not cover.

Main reason for insurance is to protect the property and ourselves in case of negligence etc. we are not concerned (touch wood) with the tennant as he has been fantastic, pays rent on time, looks after the house etc.

Insured at the time with NRMA Landlord insurance for $695.55 including a 15% no claim bonus. so undiscounted price of $766.12.

The renewals is due tomorrow evening (oops I've been slack). NRMA is now charging $913.31 with a 20% no claim bonus. That's an undiscounted price of $1,048.27, or an increase of 36.8%!

For the record, we have had no claims.

I had rang NRMA previously to say, hey, fairs fair. There response, blah blah floods, blah blah premium increase. I asked them if this was there best and final offer, they said yes.

I wonder if this is a case of get the new business at a discount and then jack up the premiums and hope they don't notice.

I'm about to check out terri scheer. Anyone else worth checking out?

 

[RazzaDazzla]

Just checked out Terri Scheer and maybe NRMA isn't too bad after all.

Residential building Insurance with Terri, so not including contents, or tenants not paying rent, the premium with a $500 excess was $907.99.

From memory the NRMA policy covers buidling, contents (up to ~10% of insured value) and also tennats not paying rent. Unless of course the reason for them not paying rent was becuase the house was uninhabitable by an insurable event.

To get the equivalent coverage with Terri, I believe I'd need the Residential building insurance and also the Landlord preferred Insurance ($423).

That would be a total of $1,323.

So looks like I may be going cap in hand to NRMA and paying their premium of $913.31.

 

[The Y-man]

We use EBM/Rentcover.

Better not let BrettC know we have probably claimed more that we have paid in premiums...(not true! But almost got that way at one stage some years ago when we had some big claims go in).

Unlike care insurance, there's no rating system so a claim doesn't make your premiums jump either, which is good.

The Y-man

 

[brettc]

We use EBM/Rentcover.

Better not let BrettC know we have probably claimed more that we have paid in premiums...(not true! But almost got that way at one stage some years ago when we had some big claims go in).

Unlike care insurance, there's no rating system so a claim doesn't make your premiums jump either, which is good.

The Y-man

Don't worry Y-man, I'll be sure not to notice.

One of the plus sides about RentCover is that as it has been so successful it now has a big premium pool, so when individual properties or areas etc. have a bad run (which happens), it can generally be absorbed across the whole portfolio, or at least a whole State. As a broker (even though we actually own the product) and not the Insurer, we appreciate that things swing around from year to year. So generally, premiums are pretty much on a State by State basis and there are not knee jerk reactions.

 

[JohnHenry]

Hello there everyone

Can anyone recommend a really good company for landlords insurance? I've been told that there's quite a vast difference in what different companies offer.
For instance, some will cover for loss of rent in between tenants for up to four weeks, others won't. There are so many firms out there that it's really difficult to know who has the best deal.
Many thanks for your help

I go with ANZ bank for my LandLord insurance property.