Policies, premiums and rebuild costs have changed – it’s time to review your cover.
With bushfire season fast approaching and with some areas already being impacted in some part of Australia, it’s time to review your insurance policies cover and sums insured. That’s because many policy wordings have changed in recent times and premiums have again increased for many types of insurance policies.
These increases are in part due to the new building codes (following the Black Saturday Fires) that require buildings in high-risk areas to have a bushfire attack level rating. Dependent on this rating, buildings need to be built using specific designs and materials that significantly decrease the risk of bushfire damage. Unfortunately, these changes have also significantly increased rebuild costs.
On top of all these issues is the fact that the cost of rebuilding has significantly increased following the impact on supply chains and demand since COVID by as much as 25%, which could result in underinsurance, if the sums insured aren’t updated.
If all these problems aren’t enough to highlight the importance of reviewing your insurance, in southern Australia the bushfire season peaks in summer and autumn. While these are traditional peaks of the bushfire season, local conditions can drive dangerous bushfire activity at any time. Bushfires are not only becoming more extensive and frequent, but the season is becoming longer.
If you have questions about how you can better prepare for bushfires then why not ask us today how we can help you and your team.
Contact us at answers@oceanins.com.au