Are You Under Insured?

Posted by on Jul 19, 2013 in Blog | 0 comments

What is Under-Insurance? Nominating a value for an asset such as your home that is too low to actually replace it in the event that it is lost or damaged is under insurance. In 2005 ASIC estimated a staggering 70% of Australian homes were underinsured. Should the worst happen and an underinsured asset be lost, there is no capacity under the insurance policy to replace the asset. Up to 81% of all consumers in Australia are under insured. Under Insurance is a major Problem in Australia, in fact, we are one of the most underinsured out of all the developed world. This can become an issue when insurers reduce the amount of your claim due to you having inaccurate sums insured. Home Building The Australian securities and investment commission have narrowed this down to a specific figure for people’s home insurance. According to their research in 2005 they estimate that up to 70% of all Australian home are currently under insured. But how can you make sure that you are not one of the 70%. We can help you ensure your not going to be left short in the event of a claim. It only takes a few minutes and will ensure your building sum insured is more accurate than just “having a guess” when you get a quote. Give us a call on 1300 635 315. Home Contents When was the last time you reviewed your sum insured? I don’t just mean increasing it each year by a couple of thousand because “that’s about right” I mean doing a walk through of your house and coming to the realisation of how much it would be to replace all of your contents if you lost everything. Keep in mind, contents that you have inside your home change on a regular basis such as new purchases, TV’s, clothes, furniture and that’s before you even take into account the rising cost to replace these items every year.   Commercial or Strata Building Insurance We can put you in touch with a Commercial Quantity Surveyor who can help you ensure the replacement value on your business property is adequate. This is extremely important due to most Commercial Building and Strata Insurance policies being subject to a co-insurance clause which can reduce the amount of they will payout significantly in the event of a claim should you have an inaccurate replacement value. Should your sum insured be out by 50% then the insurer would only payout 50% of what you have insured the property for. For example: Sum Insured $500,000 Replacement Cost $1,000,000 Insurers Payout would only be 50% of your sum insured which is $250,000, short of what you need to replace...

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