Just Bought a House Now I Would Like to Arrange Building Insurance. Building 400k Value. QLD

dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 10:49
Last edited 17/05/2022 - 17:48

As per title I just bought a house now I would like to arrange building insurance but I've never gotten home insurance before so I have no idea who's a good option hoping ozbargin's community of experience may be able to offer some good suggestions or referrals.

Building 400k value. Located in QLD.
Don't care about content insurance.
Edit: Can comfortably afford to replace contents but can't afford to replace the building.

Thanks for any input!

Update: After using a few comparison sites and collecting quotes "Budget direct" seems to produce lowest price for type of coverage for my needs.

Find Me A Bargain Home Insurance Insurance

Comments

  • Hybroid on 17/05/2022 - 10:54
    +5

    Insurance is a highly personalised service based on far too many factors and differing risk profiles. You cannot really recommend one from one person to another. There's always going to be anecdotal good experience and not so good ones too.

    What's a good plan for one person might not be for you from same insurer depending on your personal circumstances. Try a few insurance comparison sites to get a feel for average costs for your specific address and case and read through the PDS carefully for each one to understand what's included, what's not included and decide what's important to be covered for you.

    Maybe you should care about contents insurance. It's generally a minimal to zero increase in premium but may prove very useful. Though hopefully will never need it.

    • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 11:40

      Very fair point. I imagine my requirements are very vanilla though. I will give a few comparisons sites a go. :)

      As for contents insurance, I will take it if it's a minimum increase in premiums however I usually don't pay to insure things I can comfortably afford to replace. I.e phone, cheap car, laptop ect ect

      • Quantumcat on 17/05/2022 - 13:11
        +2

        Contents includes carpets, curtains, fittings, appliances. Not just loose objects. It is worth having contents insurance.

        • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 14:04

          thanks for clarifying I had considered carpet, curtains and some fittings.

          I will still be weighting up if contents insurance is worth it for my personal circumstances after getting a few quotes.

  • cktftw on 17/05/2022 - 10:57
    -1

    Weird flex but okay

    • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 11:40
      +1

      Haha sorry mate, just stating the facts I thought would be relevant to finding a good deal.

  • [Deactivated] on 17/05/2022 - 10:58
    +4

    Insurance is one of those things you don't now how good it is till needed, I do, I've have had over $150k in house and car claims with no issues, so stick even though could easily get cheaper.
    Peace of mind.

    • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 11:41

      Agreed! Very glad to hear it's worked out well for you.

  • pharkurnell on 17/05/2022 - 11:02
    +2

    Ring around and see what quotes you get. Your situation and location will be different to everyone else.

    Cheapest isn't always the best with insurance, specially when you need it.

    • stueyh on 17/05/2022 - 13:16
      +1

      Ring around? Ain't nobody got time for that, all the good ones will give you an online quote and then you play them off against each other until you find a price that you like

  • AndyC1 on 17/05/2022 - 11:06
    +2

    Welcome to the google insurance review hotline. The internet has review sites and you will get allot more reviews on those sites than here, BUT if they only have 5 star reviews then the bad reviews are removed and as such move to another review site.

    • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 11:35

      Haha too many of the review sites seem to be bias so I'd rather reach out to the ozbargin community.

  • Ponsonby on 17/05/2022 - 11:30

    For the information of others in this situation - , you say you "just bought a house" - unclear whether this means you have signed a contract for purchase or that the purchase is now settled and you or your lender have paid all the purchase price? Either way, the solicitor or conveyancer should have advised that you need buildings insurance from the day you enter the contract, even though you don't actually own the property yet. The only exception is where the property is strata (unit title) and the body corporate or owners' corporation has taken out comprehensive buildings insurance. You need the insurance at the contract stage because you are at risk for building damage etc from that date.

    • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 11:43
      +1

      Signed a contract. I got the seller to cover insurance until settlement written into the contract. Trying to prearrange insurance now for settlement/handover.

  • Darayus on 17/05/2022 - 11:41
    +2

    Insure for building replacement only not land value;
    Add an additional 15% for value appreciation in this current time;
    If you are living in a townhouse or villa then strata will cover your building so no need to insure, check with your strata;
    Go for the cheapest building insurance available, don't go for fancy ones since nothing goes wrong to the building if ever it goes down by fire which it never happens but its a peace of mind since your mortgage wants the property to be insured;
    Go with the ones who cover your vehicle so that you can get multiple policy discounts;
    Check with insurance if they cover floods since now many policies don't cover floods.

    • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 11:43

      Thanks mate that's good advice

  • Muzeeb on 17/05/2022 - 11:55

    Don't care about content insurance.

    Lol. Next forum thread…..

    My house just burnt down and I need to replace everything in my house this week.

    Please support my go fund me. My aim is to raise $50k.

    • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 12:07
      +1

      Go find me not required. :P Can easily replace my contents. I don't usually pay for insurance on things I can comfortably afford to replace. Unless it's amazing deal or something like free screen insurance.

      • Muzeeb on 17/05/2022 - 12:07

        Ok. You do you.

      • onetwothreefour on 17/05/2022 - 12:46
        +1

        Can easily replace my contents

        How much stuff do you have? Beds, washing machine, clothes, fridge, TV's etc all this stuff adds up. As Hybroid said above it doesn't usually make a big difference to you premium so you might as well cover yourself and not have to pay out thousands on new stuff.

        • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 12:52

          About 5k worth. Single male no dependents.

          If it's not a large increase in premiums I will get it but my level of concern of having to replace small items is low.

  • 87percent on 17/05/2022 - 11:58
    +1

    why don't you want content insurance??
    I've been (slowly) going through the house and cataloguing everything, and it adds up a LOT quicker than you would think and i'm being conservative on my estimates

    • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 12:08

      Can easily replace my contents. I don't usually pay for insurance on things I can comfortably afford to replace. Unless it's amazing deal or something like free screen insurance. Which it seems like most providers bundle in contents anyway.

      • 87percent on 17/05/2022 - 12:21

        i see you've bought a house with 0 things in it… good luck

        • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 12:49

          Are you talking about the kitchen sink and toilet and stuff? Correct me if I'm wrong but I would have assumed in the rebuild of a home those items would have been included?

          That's why I'm here to ask dumb questions get payed out and learn about home insurance :D

          • Quantumcat on 17/05/2022 - 13:16
            +2

            @dylan345: It could be debated whether a toilet or kitchen sink comes under building or contents, but if you don't have contents you can bet your bottom dollar your insurance company will argue it comes under the category you're not insured for. Get both types.

          • 87percent on 17/05/2022 - 13:35
            +1

            @dylan345: no, like bed, couch, TV, fridge etc etc.. even down to like clothing, laptops, tablets

            • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 17:53

              @87percent: These things I just replace myself as needed. It's why I have a large emergency fund in a offset account.

              I don't see the need to pay someone else in case these items need to be replaced.

    • Muzeeb on 17/05/2022 - 12:09
      +1

      Don't worry. Op has a shit tonne of cash lying around doing nothing. Sounds like he only has a mobile phone in his house anyway.

      • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 12:14

        It's called a offset account with a emergency fund :P
        I have about 5k worth of contents.
        Not the end of the world if I have to buy everything new again.

        • Muzeeb on 17/05/2022 - 12:18
          +4

          $5k would even cover the contents of my young adult son's bedroom let alone a whole house. Are you sure only $5k? Either way, please review in a few years as you acquire nicer furniture and other goods around the house.

          • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 12:27

            @Muzeeb: Will do :) besides vehicles the most expensive thing I own is a laptop, TV, then a fridge, then a nice bed lol. I guess now I gotta take into account for this new home the oven and kitchen and other random additions.

  • Jason Genova on 17/05/2022 - 12:00

    how hard is it to go onto a comparison site, fill in the details and get a quote?

    if you could buy a house surely you can do this?

    • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 12:05
      -1

      Too many rip off comparison sites. I will give it a go though.

      Already gotten some valuable information by asking the ozbargin community. :)

  • Zeph101 on 17/05/2022 - 12:21

    Find out from your financier what the minimum value they want the property insured at and go from there.

    Recently went through a similar thing and was shocked that the financier wanted the building valued at just under $500k.. was a shock as its a basic 90's 4 bed house.

    • dylan345 on 17/05/2022 - 12:23

      Yep that's where I got the 400k value from the financier :)

    • saitaris on 17/05/2022 - 12:47
      +3

      It isn't about valuing your 90s basic 4 bed house at $500k, it's about saying if the house was a total loss in a fire/flood/etc and needed to be completely rebuilt it would cost $500k to build a similar sort of property today.

      • Zeph101 on 17/05/2022 - 13:15
        +1

        Oh i fully understand ;) i just didn't think it would cost that much to rebuild when i first put the property info in. But when you take into consideration the shortages if building materials and builders, it does make some sense.

        And the insurance also needs to cover demolishing the property and starting from scratch, not to mention finding us somewhere to stay while that was going on.

        And when i say shock, that was the initial thought, but once i thought about it, i understood the figure that was popped out :)

  • kmwa on 17/05/2022 - 15:46
    +1

    Literally anybody.
    Now.
    You're hoping to ozbargain this and get the insurance cheap, but you'll feel pretty sick if the empty property gets trashed or burns down before you've got insurance in place.
    Most insurance companies let you cancel without any penalty or payment in the first couple of weeks. That will give you breathing space to shop around and get a bargain, but in the meantime you need cover right now.

  • BigBirdy on 18/05/2022 - 08:10
    +1

    Look beyond the comparison sites, they only compare a limited set of policies (those that pay a kickback, or those from the same parent company). Check you’ve got cover to suit your risk location (flood, fire, cyclone, etc). Decide your excess level … a big excess will bring your premium down, but means you fund smaller claims.

  • Stevek1960 on 18/05/2022 - 09:25
    +1

    Try ING their rates are great. Usually though of only as a bank but when I was hunting the beat every one hands down for my needs with more inclusions.

  • Tigercjn on 18/05/2022 - 11:24

    I think Woolworths insurance may be the go as you get %10 off your shop I think once a month.

  • nswnotill on 18/05/2022 - 16:21
    +1

    You mention the house is valued at $400K. In the event of total loss, due to cyclone, fire or similar, then the cost of demolition and land cleanup before rebuilding has to be written into the value. Also , with current inflation of rebuild costs, the actual cost of a rebuild must be considered.
    There are plenty of sob stories around of owners who were under-insured when their house was destroyed in bushfires in recent years. They thought they were adequately covered, but had not included current rises in rebuild costs, as well as cleanup.
    Some policies also include alternate rental costs for 12 months while waiting for the rebuild.

  • Sensiekatie on 19/05/2022 - 01:45
    +1

    Most people don't realise Budget Direct is only cheap initially. We moved to them a few years ago and initially they were cheaper than the previous insurance premium. From there it went up each year at a rather steep rate. We have just gone back to our previous insurer and saved almost $600 from what Budget Direct wanted and there's a few more things in the policy (for example - flood and business items - now so many work from home). What also got me was you have to access everything online and I got in initially but could never get in again. When I told them we weren't renewing, they were very argumentative and kept dropping the premium rate. I said they were still dearer and she kept dropping further and repeat a few times. I had already paid the other premium plus they didn't get down to that rate anyway. However, interesting they could drop that price like that when i said i didn't want to renew

    If you look closely enough at the fine print, they actually tell you the price will rise - the first year is an introductory rate. I've also heard that they can quibble a lot over claims.

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