Landlord Insurance Advice after a Bad Experience with an Ice Addicted Tenant

The Wololo Wombat on 05/10/2016 - 17:19
Last edited 05/10/2016 - 20:35 by 1 other user

Hi,

I'm a young teacher but somehow managed to get myself three (cheap) investment properties.

I've had them insured with my bank (NAB, who uses Allianz) but I want to switch to another insurer after a pretty rough time making a claim.

Basically my tenant got addicted to ice, stopped paying his rent has left the place trashed. We've evicted him and I will be covered for loss of rent and the 40+ random screws he drilled into the wall, but the ruined carpets, trash and mess have been deemed a 'bond expense' by Allianz and won't be covered. Now I'm at least 3k+ out of pocket for the cleaning bill, new carpets and paint. Could be worse I guess, 3k (so far) is lucky.

I'm assuming I will need comprehensive insurance for this one (as it is a house). My other two properties are townhouses (which include building insurance in the body corporate) so I assume I will only need landlord insurance for those.

I've heard Terri Sheer is great. Anyone had a good experience with them or would like to offer advice? Anyway to get a group discout (as I have three properties)

Thanks Team OzBargain!

Home & Garden

Comments

  • JimB on 05/10/2016 - 17:32

    I too read that Terri Sheer and EBM were good.

    I went with EBM as it was cheaper and offered similar cover to TS.

    Never made a claim and hopefully never have to.

    Congrats on 3 properties.. I'm assuming these are in regional areas?

    • The Wololo Wombat on 06/10/2016 - 13:13

      Thanks mate! No, Ipswich, Gold Coast and Logan in SE-QLD. All sub 250k purchase price.

      • JimB on 06/10/2016 - 13:31

        In Melbourne, nothing remotely that cheap even for a 1 bedroom place.

  • altomic on 05/10/2016 - 17:45

    I previously used Terri Sheer.

    out of curiosity, how was the real estate agent? were they on top of things?

  • ms_caz on 05/10/2016 - 17:50
    +2

    HI there,

    I can totally emphasise with you and relate to your predicament. I'm a teacher and we had rented to an ice addict as well. We were also left with an enormous cost to repair, remove rubbish etc - basically we spent around about $15000 to get it back to a rentable state. Our landlord insurance was through Budget Direct and we had a terrible experience with them. Basically they rejected almost everything as not being damage but instead claimed it was wear and tear. In the end they refused to renew our policy - not that we would have wanted to - simply because we had made one claim for the very reason that we actually took out insurance.

    But not to dwell on that - yes we have also heard that Terri Sheer is a good option but beware they are expensive in comparison to other policies we looked at. We ended up going with EBM brokers who were recommended to us via our property manager and also through property investment forums that my husband belongs to. So you could look into that as an option. However, we have never been successful in obtaining a discount for having multiple properties insured - so if you happen to find that, I'd be happy to hear about it!

    Finally, I know it goes without saying but make sure that you read your Product Disclosure Statements really closely and clarify exactly what your insurance will cover. Hopefully you will never need to use it - but if you do, you do want to make sure that it does what you think you are paying for.

    good luck with it.

    • blitz on 05/10/2016 - 21:11
      +4

      I can totally emphasise with you

      So can I. I really, really, really, really, really, really can.

      • ms_caz on 06/10/2016 - 07:06
        +1

        lol- serves me right - need to focus on one task at a time and proofread!

    • The Wololo Wombat on 06/10/2016 - 13:16

      Thanks so much. I will check them out! I'll let you know if I can swindle a discount! :)

  • oscargamer on 05/10/2016 - 17:59

    Terri Sheer

    but you might have a claim against your renting agency

  • fruit on 05/10/2016 - 18:46
    +2

    This thread is sad. Are there any good Landlord Insurers?

    • Kangal on 05/10/2016 - 19:00

      I would consider the OP is lucky.
      I don't want to share the story of my mother's rental property, its as sad as this thread.

      I think the best insurance is getting good tenants, so looking through the actual applicants is a big must.
      And on top of that, one must also keep a keen eye on the rental flow, do some inspections, and keep a nice relationship with the tenants.
      That's the best insurance… all it costs is some of your free time/effort.

      With that said, I'm not saying to not get an insurance.
      I'm just saying you should keep your expectations realistic with ANY insurance policy.

      • The Wololo Wombat on 06/10/2016 - 13:19

        I am lucky! I could have been a lot worse! I did have property managers looking after the property. On the one hand it's dissappointing they let this happen, but on the otherhand they probably stopped it being a lot worse!

        • Kangal on 06/10/2016 - 17:37
          +1

          Exactly.
          Profit from this as a learning experience, and be willing to put the time and effort into maintaining and looking after your property.
          Best of luck!

  • paaj on 05/10/2016 - 19:00

    after a similar experience, we've gone with EBM - haven't had to make a claim yet but they came recommended to us from multiple sources.

  • Stewardo on 05/10/2016 - 23:24
    +1

    That really sucks, have you had a depreciation schedule completed for the properties? You really should have this done for all properties. In the case of the damaged property the value of the items ruined could be an immediate tax write off (scrapping) as well as the value of the replacement items and the rest of the property claiming ongoing depreciation.

    • The Wololo Wombat on 06/10/2016 - 13:17

      Ahhh very good point. I do have a depreciation schedule, I didn't think about how my repairs would affect this - I'll look into it! Thanks so much!

  • tomorrows_angel on 07/10/2016 - 17:24

    Similar situation to you with three places - I'm also with EBM. I've not yet had to make a claim (I have one in the same location as one of yours) but checked into them quite thoroughly and they've consistently been the cheapest - I'm a staff member at a big bank and they're always amazed they can't beat EBM's rates even with the staff discount. Unfortunately, these things happen and any repairs can always be claimed at tax time. I had a tenant leave me with $1000 of damage and just had to suck it up and claim it all at tax (wasn't worth claiming with my excess for those particular events).

  • tunzafun001 on 20/10/2016 - 00:24
    +1

    I recently had a claim with Terry Sheer for $7.5k. The bond will always be used up first. The issue with Terry Sheer is every piece of damage is a separate claim and attracts an excess (with varying excesses depending if it was deliberate or accidental damage). For example, benchtop was carved up $450 excess, curtains pulled from wall $350 excess, front door kicked in $350 excess etc etc. In the end I received about $2k for 7.5k damage. Which covered the benchtop and that was about it. The rest I did myself after work, painted whole house, Re tiled floors, got a replacement oven, door etc from Gumtree (and I'm also a teacher). So I would say avoid Terry Sheer. Better than nothing, but a bit of a joke with their excesses. Not sure if others are any different?

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