Westpac Landlord Insurance

Anyone made a claim yet and what was the result.

Had a long term tenant do a runner for a xmas present to us, **** you very much Mr tenant

Left the place a bit of a mess but in the scheme of things, no biggy and the defaulter being out is a plus, changed locks, cleaning etc etc but it'll cost someone more than a few weeks in rent plus a few grand in damages by the sound of it.

Cant get the cleaners in until the new year and tenants are lining up for a viewing now, but we cant show them

So, Westpac, are they nice?



Dave
 
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Just wanted you to know that somebody is out here and we're not all ignoring you. ;) I have no idea about Westpac's landlord insurance, though, sorry...
 
I can't help either. Although I would be interested to know the outcome. Having just purchased a new PPOR, when getting the insurance, one of the questions was have you had any claims. I said no. They came back to me & said that indeed I had as I had a Landlord claim earlier in the year. Seems that ANY claim on ANY Home Policy, whether PPOR or IP's affects your no claim bonus.:eek::mad: Obviously I have to get the IP insurance(s) from a different company to the PPOR as they are the ones that have all the claims.
 
dave
I have a mate who works for a broker
Said to me the westpac insurance is garbage and overpriced
But then again he has a reason to say that

I do think it can be pricey from what I've seen
But never heard any bad things as far as not paying claims etc

You might recall I had a horrible experience with comminsure so after that I'm wary of most bank provided insurances.

Cuz the guy in the branch who sells you the bs policy (who once was me many years ago) isnt the same person you speak to at claim time.

Keep us updated for the outcome and good luck
 
I inquired a couple years back but didnt go ahead because Westpac were more expensive than my existing AON & Terri Scheer policies.

On a slightly different tact we used to have our PPOR home & contents insurance also with Westpac for many years. It wasnt until it came up for renewal one year that I reviewed my options with other insures only to find I was paying $200 more per annum with Westpac than with another insurers quote (same fine print conditions) that I changed camps.
 
dave
I have a mate who works for a broker
Said to me the westpac insurance is garbage and overpriced
But then again he has a reason to say that

I do think it can be pricey from what I've seen
But never heard any bad things as far as not paying claims etc

You might recall I had a horrible experience with comminsure so after that I'm wary of most bank provided insurances.


Great:eek:

Actualy, when we got ours with Westpac it was cheaper than NRMA (who we used before) and a lot cheaper than Terri Shear(spelling?)

We also got .9% discount off of our locked rate at the same time, and it was suggested we may not if we didn't get the insurance as well:rolleyes:, so seemed too good a deal to knock back at the time.

Had the assessor call us at 6-30 last night, came across very professional and easy going (at this stage) and she will be out with the PM on Sunday to take some un-happy snaps.

She led me to believe that clean up and covering rent is no big deal and not to worry, which we're not, just annoyed at the timing and the fact that we had not jacked this guys rent as much as others as he's a long termer and had given him a break in the past when rent was late.
Cuz the guy in the branch who sells you the bs policy (who once was me many years ago) isnt the same person you speak to at claim time.

Which is the same as any company, smiles and sweet talk out front

Sharks and blood out the back

Keep us updated for the outcome and good luck

Shall do, thanks

Dave
 
when getting the insurance, one of the questions was have you had any claims. I said no. They came back to me & said that indeed I had as I had a Landlord claim earlier in the year. Seems that ANY claim on ANY Home Policy, whether PPOR or IP's affects your no claim bonus.:eek::mad:

Actually Skater, and my apologies in advance if you already know thi,s but just like Veda Advantage (used to be Baycorp) has a Credit History file on you and me, they also have the same thing for Insurance Claims made. You can get a copy free from Veda by asking just like with your Credit history. So I suspect all the insurance companies will look at your claim history.
 
Actually Skater, and my apologies in advance if you already know thi,s but just like Veda Advantage (used to be Baycorp) has a Credit History file on you and me, they also have the same thing for Insurance Claims made.
Not to mention that not declaring them to another insurance company would be fraud anyway...:eek: Though I'm sure skater had no intention of defrauding her insurance company.
 
Actually Skater, and my apologies in advance if you already know thi,s but just like Veda Advantage (used to be Baycorp) has a Credit History file on you and me, they also have the same thing for Insurance Claims made. You can get a copy free from Veda by asking just like with your Credit history. So I suspect all the insurance companies will look at your claim history.

No, rest assured, I am not planning on defrauding any InsuranceCompanies. I am merely pondering if it is better to spread the risk with different Insurance Companies as when renewals come due, some of them give a no claim discount if you have not made a claim WITH THEM (not over your portfolio).

Also, I was under the impression that each type of Insurance was kind of stand alone. For instance, say you have a claim on your Car Iinsurance. This is not something you declare when taking out Home iIsurance as they are 2 different beasts. In the same vane, I thought that the different Insurances covering a building were not connected. So your Home Insurance is different to your Contents Insurance is different to your Landlord Insurance etc.
 
Well, it all appears to be going good, Westpac appear to be playing the game, we were basically told to stop worrying and sit back and drink beer, which we can manage just fine.

Assessor has been through, PM has done their bit, locks changed, curtains at dry cleaners, cleaner in on the fifth everyone seems to be happy and in control.

Dave
 
Don't know about Westpac insurance but will recommend that you read, reread and reread what ever policy you get. Think of all types of situations that could occur and then apply it to the policy and see where you stand.

Never ever do an automatic renewal of insurance without checking the new policy against the old policy. You may think you are getting the same policy but quite often parts are removed or added. Had a claim for 20K not so long back and was originally rejected as not being covered in the policy which was an automatic renewal of the old policy or so I thought. Lucky for me the damage had occurred during the time of the old policy and my claim was made under that policy. I even had to fax copies of the old policy as they wouldn't believe me that the type of damage done was covered in the old policy.
 
Don't know about Westpac insurance but will recommend that you read, reread and reread what ever policy you get. Think of all types of situations that could occur and then apply it to the policy and see where you stand.

Never ever do an automatic renewal of insurance without checking the new policy against the old policy.

Definately check from one policy renewal to another - my partner recently left their wedding ring in the pocket of a work uniform which was never seen again once it entered their employers laundry system. Tried to claim on insurance only to find jewelery outside of the home was no longer covered. There had been a change to the policy we missed picking up on!

Cheers
Stella
 
Well, it all appears to be going good, Westpac appear to be playing the game, we were basically told to stop worrying and sit back and drink beer, which we can manage just fine.

Assessor has been through, PM has done their bit, locks changed, curtains at dry cleaners, cleaner in on the fifth everyone seems to be happy and in control.

Dave

And its all gone to plan.

We didn't lift a finger, never filled out any paperwork, everything is done and new tenants are in

Haven't actually seen a cheque from Westpac yet, but they took it from go to whoa and gave no indication that there would be an issue, infact the opposite.

HUGE thumbs up for our PM's who did all the running around, washed and rehung curtains, purchased (a) new venetian and generally made us feel pretty bloody confident that we can actually launch this boat and (almost) turn our back on the IP's with a feeling they have been left in very capable hands.

THAT, is a load off our minds.

All I need now is the ex-tenants nuts in a jar and I can die a happy man:D

Dave
 
Hi Dave,

Do you mind me asking, is it a fixed term tenancy or a periodical?

I'm getting quotes at the moment for a new IP and some like NRMA and GIO seem to be fixed term only, whereas others seem better but more expenisve..

I saw in the Westpac PDS it stated:
General Conditions
We will only pay a claim under this section of your policy if
you have a written rental agreement with your tenant. The
rental agreement must state:
– The term of the lease;
– The amount of rent payable; and
– The amount of the bond payable by the tenant.
Any claim under this section of your policy is to be reduced
by the amount of bond money you are entitled to receive from
your tenant after deduction of any costs or expenses you are
entitled to make from the bond which do not relate to your
claim under this section of your policy.
If you did not collect the bond from your tenant or you did not
collect the full amount of the bond you were entitled to, then
we will reduce your claim under this section of your policy by
the amount which you would have been entitled to receive
from your tenant, had you collected the bond you were
entitled to collect, less any costs or expenses you would have
been entitled to deduct had such bond been collected.

The definition of "written rental agreement" there seems to be one that specifies the term of the lease... this is a bit vague to me as to whether or not that covers periodic tenancy after the lease ends?

Anyone in Insurance have a better idea for me?

Cheers
 
Hmmm.

I went with Westpac for landlord insurance when I bought my IP because they were one of the few who accepted tenants on a periodic lease (which was already in place). Looks like I might have to make a few phone calls.
 
Yes the branch sales guy said it "should" be ok, but they don't sound too sure. It's hard to get an answer and even if I get an answer that's no guarantee that the assessor will see it that way if it comes to a claim...

So far for $600k building + landlords including rent default, we've found Allianz to be the cheapest quote compared to CGU, Terrischeer, EBM, AON and AAMI. Allianz is $942 compared to the others going up to $1700!

And I found NRMA and GIO do not cover periodic tenancy at all, although GIO is very cheap.

This year is very very expensive for insurance all round, including car :mad:

So I want to really save on the IP insurance as we need to cover 3 IPs.

Let us know what you find out about Westpac :)

Cheers
 
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