House Insurance Premiums Can Be Deceiving
Not all house insurance policies are created equal, basing your decision on the lowest house insurance premiums is possibly the worse insurance decision you can make according to Steve Sloan a broker with Insure 247.
“There are two types of home and content policies offered in Australia, generally they can be categorized as Accidental Damage and Defined Events.
Defined event policy’s are a budget offering from insurers that offer cover for common events like, fire, theft and storm damage, but may not cover certain flood events, accidental damage (breakage, heat damage motor burnout etc).
Accidental damage offers a higher level of cover and will cover the common claim types. Dropping your plasma will not be covered under a defined event policy, likewise a hot pot damaging your bench and what about a cricket ball through your large lounge window.
As brokers, its breakage and accidents we see most commonly with home insurance policies. They are smaller but are often more than the annual premium charged for the policy”
How Insurer Offer Reduced House Insurance Premiums
As well as only offering defined events policies to reduce premium some insurers will;
- Quote using higher excesses
- Use sub limits on claims
- Leaving high claim events off the policy
- Insurers with poor claims ratings often offer lower premiums
- Offer flood as an add on option
According to Sloan “Its better to have a broker consider your risk, leverage their experience and understanding of the product, even if you want them to look at the direct insurer that’s quoted.”
