Recommendations for Landlord Insurance in VIC for self-managed properties?

[redtea]

Hi everyone,

Me and my wife have been readers for about two years on the Somersoft forums, but this will be our first post. Hope to start participating in the community more actively from now on ... inspired by recently introducing a colleague to the forums who is very pro-active.

Do you have any recommendations for landlord insurance in Victoria for self-managed properties? Or good insurance brokers? We own two different townhouses on strata title, currently under Terri Scheer but looking to shift to a landlord insurance policy that does not require a property manager.

Key criteria would be coverage and any experiences with ease of claims.

 

[DavidMc]

All that I checked out required a PM from memory. Do you know of some who don't?

 

[wylie]

We self manage and insure the house and landlords cover with CommInsure, which I think is underwritten by Allianz.

There has been a thread recently bagging some insurance companies, but we have only ever had one landlord claim (not CommInsure) which was smooth and easy. I could find out who that was if you like, but the records are with my mother as she co-owns the house involved.

 

[Mike F]

All that I checked out required a PM from memory. Do you know of some who don't?

I have LL cover though Westpac Insurance. For me it was a good cover as for Strata units, I only require Liability cover and loss of rent, and cover for curtains and carpets (westpac covers 10k towards these items) etc - I do not need 40K of contents cover, which many require, or building insurance, that is covered by the Strata group.

All they require is a signed tenancy agreement as far as I know

 

[Rob Williams]

I just took out LL Ins for my properties with ING
https://www.ing.com.au/ing-insurance/10046.asp#
They had the best cover/premium option for what I was looking for:
$10,000 contents cover
$10m Liability cover
No Loss of rent etc.
All done online. Easy as.

 

[LynnH]

I have LL cover though Westpac Insurance.
.....
All they require is a signed tenancy agreement as far as I know

To confirm Mike's info, Westpac does do LL insurance for self-managed properties, as long as there is a written lease in place and a bond has been lodged with RTA.

Cheers
LynnH

 

[Pablo]

I am also with Westpac and was told that they cover periodic leases as well. Haven't had to make a claim so time will tell in that department.

 

[fisherman]

Because landlord insurance is often taken in conjunction with home insurance it is worth pointing out that most (all?) insurance companies will not pay a claim where three or more unrelated individuals are renting your house, despite the fact that all are on the one lease.

Just because your insurer has accepted premiums and issued a policy does not imply it will accept liability where the house burns down and the insurer then finds out that there were three or more unrelated tenants occupying it. Some draw the line at two unrelated tenants, others at three.

Even where you have two tenants or less, your home insurance could be voided by the tenant/s sub-letting.

I found this out by accident and have since phoned around insurance companies to confirm. No it is not written in your policy as an obvious clause but ask the question formally and you will be advised.

It would be a financial disaster to have a house burn to the ground and not know that the insurer has an 'out' you were not aware of.