Having a good landlord protection insurance policy has become essential in this day and age. The world is a different place and unfortunately, the level of respect shown by some people to the property they rent, is not the same as it used to be. Perhaps their sense of entitlement is not what it should be either.
But owners of rental properties do have ways of protecting their investment in the event of tenants not doing the right thing.
I.D.P.M. have an excellent arrears rate – normally well under 1%, which is also well under the industry average of 2% of tenants in rent arrears. But this 1 or 2% of tenants can cause a lot of problems for us as well as the owners of those properties. This is why we recommend to all our landlord clients that they consider the Terri Scheer Insurance policy – we also suggest that they compare the Terri Scheer product with other policies on the market as this is always necessary and also makes good sense.
But we are very pleased to advise that Terri Scheer Insurance has made even more improvements to what is already a great policy. I’m sure this will be of interest to all owners of investment property as the new benefits are quite outstanding. Some of these are listed below and will come into effect with ALL RENEWALS from 1st February 2018.
- Absconding Tenants – increased up to 20 weeks loss of rent.
- Defaulting tenant by termination notice – increased up to 20 weeks loss of rent.
- Defaulting tenant resulting in eviction by court order – increased up to 20 weeks loss of rent.
- Rent Reduction – The introduction of rent reduction. If Terri Scheer have accepted a claim in the contents or building section of the policy and an agency has agreed to reduce the tenants rent, Terri Scheer will cover up to a maximum of 6 weeks rent reduction. The agency must contact the Terri Scheer claims team first so that they can assess that it is a reasonable amount.
- Damage by pets has increased to $2,500 per period of insurance.
- Floating floorboards – the sublimit has been removed and floating floorboards now have full cover within the contents and building section of the policy.
- Previously, Terri Scheer Insurance provided cover for Accidental, Malicious or Deliberate Damaged caused by tenants. They have simplified the definition and created a new cover known as “Tenant Damage”. There is now no need to differentiate between the types of damage and only one $500 excess. This should make it easier when assessing claims. Tenant damage forms part of the contents and building section which has combined cover of up to $60,000.
(Information provided by Terri Scheer Insurance Pty Ltd.)
If you have any questions on any aspect of property management, please don’t hesitate to call or send me an email… Jan Malmstrom 0408 769 053 or jan@investorsdirect.com.au
We look forward to hearing from you!