Block of units Insurance - Things to consider when insuring your Block of Units
Finding an insurer that will insure a Block of Units can be challenging if you don’t know where to look. Fortunately, Morgan Insurance Brokers has a panel of Australian-approved insurers that will offer comprehensive insurance to protect your Block of Units. We will approach the market on your behalf and negotiate an insurance policy that is comprehensive and also affordable.
Who should insure a Block of Units?
Standardly, if you are insuring a Block of Units, you will be the single owner of the property. If there are separate owners of the units within the building, this would be considered strata insurance.
What insurance do I need?
When insuring your Block of Units, there’s a few things you should consider insuring.
Building - Insuring your building for replacement value is the most crucial part of insurance when you’re considering insuring your Block of Units.
Block of Units Insurance can protect you against events such as:
- Fire, including bush fire and arson
- Storm damage, including rain, hail, and wind
- Water damage from burst or leaking pipes,
- including overflowing
- Cyclone
- Flood,
- Impact damage, including from trees and vehicles
Tip - you may see building sum insured calculators for residential homes available, but these can not accurately calculate the cost to rebuild a block of units. We recommend engaging a professional builder, Valuer, architect, engineer, or other suitable qualified person to determine an adequate figure.
Contents/Fixtures and fittings General contents items, and Fixtures and fittings such as curtains, carpets, and blinds are not automatically covered when insuring your Block of Units. You should consider the cost of these per unit and ensure that your policy reflects this.
Public Liability Insurance
Public Liability Insurance is usually automatically insured under a Block of Units insurance policy. Public Liability under this policy is designed to protect the property owner for their responsibilities to their tenants. Third party personal Injury and Property Damage that you are found negligent for will be covered under this section.
Optional covers
When insuring a Block of Units, there are many additional layers of cover that you can consider insuring depending on how risk-averse you are, and what fits within your budget.
Loss of Rent Insurance
Loss of Rent cover can protect your annual rental income if your Block of Units were to be deemed uninhabitable by the insurer. It can look to reimburse you for the lost rent whilst your property was to be repaired or rebuilt after an insured event.
Rent Default
Rent Default insurance can protect your rental income if your tenant stops paying rent without providing written or verbal notice. It can protect your rental income from the date your tenant stopped paying rent until the date you secure a new tenant. Your tenant must have a rental agreement in force to be able to claim on this cover.
Theft by Tenant
If your property is furnished, Theft by Tenant cover is going to protect your items from theft by Tenant.
Accidental Damage by Tenant
Accidental Damage cover is not available with all insurers. It will cover damages to the building caused by the tenants, or their visitors. As accidents happen all the time, this cover is important to consider so be sure to read the terms and conditions of your policy.
Malicious Damage
Malicious Damage by your tenants or their guests is an important cover if you have tenants. It is standardly included under a Block of Units insurance policy.
How to obtain a quote for your Block of Units
Engaging Morgan Insurance Brokers to approach the market on your behalf is the first step to obtaining a comprehensive policy to protect your assets. We can source cover that will provide you peace of mind that in the event of an insurance claim, you’ll have a qualified insurance broker to manage your claim for the best outcome.
Are you getting the most out of your Insurance Broker?
Handle your Claims
Claims handling is a crucial service that Insurance Brokers should provide to their clients free of charge. What good is an Insurance policy that fails to respond in the event of a claim, that should otherwise be covered? Claims handled by Insurance Brokers have a greater rate of success, in comparison to individuals who manage their own Claims direct with an Insurance company. This is due to the Insurance Brokers' comprehensive knowledge of policies and policy wordings, not to mention their experience in handling claims of a similar nature on a daily basis.
Policy remarketing
Many Insurance Brokers will approach a panel of insurers that will respond to a single automated quote request, calling it a job done. An exceptional Insurance Broker will go one step further and also approach other insurers that are not on the panel, submitting an individual quote request with each one. This extra step gets you the most comprehensive and competitive on the market, rather than the most comprehensive and competitive policy on a select panel.
Effective time management
You should be contacted roughly 4-6 weeks out before policy renewal to be able to discuss any situational changes to your business that may impact your insurance policy for the coming year. This ensures that your renewal isn't rushed, and considers all components of your insurance program to ensure it will adequately protect you for the coming 12 months.
Tailored recommendation
A good insurance broker will not overinsure your business by recommending policy covers, or policies that you do not need. Similarly, at the other end of the scale, they will also not underinsure your business leaving you with gaps in your cover, or without a policy that you need. A good insurance broker will conduct a risk assessment that uncovers any exposures that could be mitigated with an appropriate Insurance policy.
Clarify your situation each year
A good Insurance Broker should ask lots of questions to gain further insight into your business. A quality Insurance Broker will not limit their questionnaire to a few questions, they will delve deeper into all aspects of your business to ensure that all of your activities are covered where possible.
Effective Coverage Summaries
A good Insurance Broker will be able to appropriately summarise the key features of your policy, and effectively communicate those that are most important to you. They will also communicate any situations or events that are not covered by your current or future policy, giving you an accurate understanding of your policy and the covers it provides for your business.
Acute response times
Communication is key! We all know that clear and timely communication is what makes any experience with a business that much better. A good Insurance Broker is one that responds promptly or gives notice to contact you within an appropriate time frame, not leaving you wondering for days as to whether or not you will hear back from them.
A detailed summary of your policy, not just the invoice
Have you ever just been provided with an invoice with no context behind it? Have you had to look through your cover and find out what exactly you're covered for? A good insurance Broker will provide a concise, jargon-free summary of your insurance policy so you have a quick understanding of what you are, and are not covered for.
Treat you as a person, not a number
A good insurance broker will treat you like you are their number one client, no matter the size, no matter the type of policy you hold with them.
Dedicated Insurance Broker/Account manager
Some insurance brokerages don't assign a dedicated insurance broker to policies that don't generate much income. If you fall below a certain threshold, you may not have a Dedicated Insurance Broker that will look after you. A good insurance broker assigns an Insurance Broker to each client, regardless of the income generated.
If you're looking for an Insurance Broker that meets the above standards, contact Morgan Insurance Brokers today.
6 Tips on how to save money on your Tools Insurance in Australia
Having tool insurance is important. Without your tools, you cannot work. Ensuring that you have adequate cover is crucial for your business to continue operation with minimal disruption, and also without the financial burden of replacing all of your tools in one go. Making sure your insurance policy is affordable is also very important. Here are 6 tips that can help you reduce your Tool Insurance premiums.
Look into the sub limits
On tool insurance policies, there are usually automatic cover for items under a certain limit. Standardly policies cover items automatically for $2,500 - $3,000.
By noting your tools on your policy that are this amount or less will incur additional premium unnecessarily. Only look to specify items that are higher than the automatic inclusions.
Look at increasing your excesses
A simple way to reduce the amount you pay on tool insurance is to increase your excess. An excess is a portion of the claim that you bare yourself. Increasing your excess from $250 to $500 per claim can reduce your premiums. Be mindful the higher the excess goes, the less the premium starts to reduce.
Selecting the correct sum insured
Tool Insurance is important. The sum insured should be the greatest total value of the tools at any one location. This single sum insured will cover you across multiple locations, even though the total value of the tools across multiple locations is greater than the sum insured. For example, if you have $5,000 worth of general tools in one ute at your address, and another $5,000 worth of tools in a ute at your employees address, you will only need to insure for $5,000. If a theft occurred at both addresses on the same night and your tools were stolen, this would be deemed as two separate claims as they were unrelated events.
Reducing your level of cover
Some insurers provide you with the option to limit your cover to just fire and perils, and collision cover. This can reduce your premiums but this would mean you wouldn't be insured for accidental loss, damage, or theft.
Combining your policies for a discount
Some insurance companies don't like to insure just your tools by themselves and prefer to insure your Public Liability Insurance and Business Package insurance as well. Combing your tools with a Public Liability or Business Insurance policy provides you with more options and potentially lower premiums. The insurers usually provide discounts on the tool portion if you insure other covers with them.
Shop around
As you can see above, there are many different options that you have to restructure your tools insurance policy to look at bringing the cost of insurance down. One of the simplest ways to reduce your insurance premium is to contact Morgan Insurance Brokers. We approach a large panel of specialist tool insurers on your behalf. This guarantees that you will be provided with the most competitive quotes on the market for your Tool Cover. Reach out to us today for a quote.
How to find the best business insurance broker?
Like most small businesses, your knowledge of Insurance coverage and the policies that you require may be limited. Accordingly, this is where a Business Insurance Broker can assist you in sourcing an insurance policy that will protect your business at an affordable price for your budget
Purchasing an insurance policy directly with an insurer vs an Insurance Broker - what is right for you?
Insurance Broker
An Insurance Broker makes obtaining insurance easy. They do all the hard work for you. They approach a large panel of Australian-approved insurers with your requirements and do a multipoint review and comparison of the quotes that have been obtained. An Insurance Broker will put together their recommendation on their findings to ensure that the policy you purchase will protect your business. Insurance Brokers are your dedicated insurance advocate and your point of contact for all your insurance needs.
Direct through an Insurance Company
Insuring direct with an Insurance company can be a very quick and easy process through their portal and be covered within a matter of minutes. Purchasing an Insurance policy directly through an insurance company means you would need to do a thorough analysis of their cover, terms and conditions, and policy wording yourself, along with a comparison of other quotes you've obtained. This is especially important as some policies can have conditions that could impact your business if not understood correctly. If a claim were to occur, you would be representing yourself and have to liaise with the insurance company yourself.
A benefit of an Insurance Broker over insuring through an insurance company directly is that an Insurance Broker will manage all of your claims from lodgement through to settlement.
How to find the best Business Insurance Broker for my business
1. Ask for a referral
Asking qualified professionals such as your accountant, financial planner, or lawyer for a recommendation for a referral. These professions usually have a good relationship with an Insurance Broker.
2. Look locally
Start by looking online in your local area. There will be many Insurance brokers in your area to choose from. You can search using local directories such as Google maps and yellow pages.
3. Word of mouth
Ask your friends, family, or colleagues that are in the same industry as you how they manage their insurance and if they can recommend a good insurance broker.
Good Insurance Brokers like Morgan Insurance Brokers can save you time and money, and streamline your insurance policies so you can focus your time back on your business.
What to look for in a Business Insurance Broker?
Insuring your business does not need to be challenging. Insurance Brokers work by your side in obtaining an Insurance policy that will protect your business from unforeseen events. Here are some tips to help you choose the right Insurance Broker for your business.
Locality - Finding a broker local to your area
An Insurance Broker that is local to your area should be highly considered for many reasons. A local broker should know if your area is susceptible to flooding, and local and state regulations that could differ state by state. You could also have the opportunity to meet with your Insurance Broker in person so they can better understand your business.
Online reviews - Insurance Broker with great reviews
Word of mouth referrals are still a highly regarded way of transacting business. Still, the next best way to know if you've engaged a good Business Insurance Broker is to check first-party review platforms such as Google, Trust Pilot, Feefo etc. These, along with any testimonials that may be available can give you a good gauge on what type of service you could expect from your new Business Insurance Broker.
Does your Broker know your industry?
Insurance Brokers are specialists and are able to tailor insurance programs to suit your business needs. There are some complex occupations that require additional attention to detail, along with a thorough understanding of how your business operates in order to obtain the appropriate cover that will respond in the event of a claim. If your Insurance Broker primarily deals with construction businesses, they may not be well versed in Insuring professional service businesses such as Financial Planners. Both industries can be complex and have challenges to overcome when seeking insurance. It would be wise to seek an Insurance Broker that specialises in your industry.
Does the Insurance Broker deal with the type of insurance you need?
Similar to having a broker know your industry, you should also consider choosing an Insurance Broker that is familiar with the insurance product that you require.
Morgan Insurance Brokers are familiar with all insurance products but specialise in business insurance, Public Liability insurance, and motor fleet insurance.
What Industry experience does your Insurance Broker have?
When engaging a broker, you should ask them how long they've been in the industry. Having industry experience like the Brokers at Morgan Insurance Brokers assists us to accomplish our clients' objectives efficiently and effectively.
Fees - How much does the broker charge?
Insurance Brokers get paid by the insurer in the form of commission and at no additional cost to yourself. Some brokers however can charge a broker fee in addition to this which increases the cost of your insurance policy. Be sure to see if you are being charged a broker fee or not. If you're not comfortable with being charged an additional fee, most brokers will remove this from your policy.
How well do you get along with your Broker
Rapour, rapour, rapour! First impressions are everything. If you've finished your phone call with your Insurance Broker and you're happy with how the conversation went and had a positive experience, this sets the pace for the rest of your professional relationship with your new broker.
Qualifications - Is the Broker qualified?
Insurance Brokers now have to have a minimum requirement to be able to practice as an insurance broker; their diploma of insurance broking. Ensuring that your broker has these qualifications can provide you peace of mind that your broker is adequately trained to be able to provide you sound advice to you and your business.
You could find yourself contacting your insurance broker many times throughout the year. These tips can assist you in finding a business insurance broker that you enjoy speaking to, have trust in their service, and can rely on them to protect your business.
