Preparing your insurance

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Insure what’s important.

Don’t get caught short. Work out how much insurance cover you need. Once you understand your risk, it’s important to prepare and protect what matters most to you. Insurance can help you do this by giving you and your family financial security if something should go wrong.

Before you buy insurance, it’s important to know how much money you would need to replace all of your possessions if you lost everything.

One of the best ways to prevent underinsurance is by accurately tracking and calculating the cost of your assets.

Contents Calculator

This handy contents calculator can help you work out the value of your assets.

Building Calculator 

The handy home building calculator can help you work out the value of your home.

Know your risks

In the Yarra Ranges, we are at greater risk of bushfires, floods and other natural emergencies. You might be tempted to underestimate your risk, to reduce how much you pay for insurance, but that can backfire if you lose everything.

Yarra Ranges Council and emergency management authorities can help you identify risk in your area and outline the local plans and recommendations for each.

Once you have identified the disasters you are exposed to, it’s important to review your insurance policies and confirm your cover against various events.

Following the ‘Black Saturday’ and ‘Blue Mountains’ bushfires in recent years, the Australian Government in conjunction with local councils and fire services, has amended the requirements set out in Australian Standard 3959 – Construction of Buildings in Bushfire Prone Areas.

A Bushfire Attack Level (commonly known as BAL) Rating has now been applied to all domestic buildings located within 100 metres of bushland vegetation.

So what does this mean for you insurance? Depending on the BAL Rating applicable to your property, the additional costs associated with the rectification of damage caused to your property, be it by fire, storm, impact, etc. need to be included within your Building Sum Insured and not be exhausted under your insurance policy.

The Building Sum Insured nominated on your insurance policy now needs to be increased to include these additional costs otherwise it will result in under-insurance leaving you with either an unfinished home or personal financial contribution (outside insurance) to complete the repair or rebuild of your property.

For more information on how to find your BAL rating visit: What is a BAL - do I need one?

 

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