lords_insurance_services

Insurance Questions from Clients

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 23:05:31 GMT

Sean: If you don't mind we actually got some client questions. Some of our customers have sent through some questions and you can answer them for me?

Bradley: Absolutely.

Sean: All right, first question is what happens if my claim is greater than the insured amount on my policy?

Bradley: Well so you're covered for up to the insured amount, so if your sum in short is x hundred thousand dollars, that's that's the limit of your claim, but many of our benefits are in excess of that, so if in the unfortunate event you have to demolish the house well that amount for the demolition is covered in excess of up to a little in excess of that.

So you nominate, you should the advice we would give is, you should always put the right sum, in short on the amount that it would take to rebuild your home plus those costs, it's always good to have the right sum insured so there's no surprises. When a claim occurs it's very rare claims of that that size occurs, but when it does, it's critical you have the right insurance.

Sean: I think a lot of time there, our clients get mixed up with the difference between your replacement sum and your purchase price.

Bradley: Exactly right Sean. Now the purchase price of course, includes the value of the land, and nowadays you know land the price of land is quite a significant component, but nonetheless what we would advise people to do is, look at how much they pay talk to a builder, there are online some insured calculators that we can point people to, so go to our website and access a process and key in all your details and that will estimate the price that you should insure your house for.

It might take you 15 minutes or so to do it but it's time well spent to make sure that you're at short the right amount because as you increase your some insured the price to increase um is very very low compared to the the bottom end of something short, so as you increase it gets cheaper and cheaper to ensure that additional.

Sean: Yeah because this usually is a person's greatest investment and greatest purchase is their home.

Bradley: It is, I mean for all of us it's the biggest thing that we own um it's the thing we worry most about and the thing that if we lost it and we weren't fully insured it's it's heartbreaking. When that happens it's absolutely heartbreaking. We would much prefer to be putting people back where they were with full cover and making sure that they're fully covered at all times.

Sean: Yeah we have a client of ours who's most unfortunate. I mean the chances of having a total fire loss of your home is rare, having a two total losses is unheard of. We have a client who's had two total losses from the fire and he was big premiums but never complained about the price when it came to claim time.

Bradley: Absolutely and look it does happen, as we say you know it's probably a very small percentage, but it does happen to people, um and whether it be fire whether it be flood, or whether it be the cyclone situation. Yes it's rare, but you know we all want to be able to sleep well at night knowing whatever happens we're fully covered. I think that's what insurance should be providing is the ability to make sure you sleep at night knowing you're fully covered and your claims are going to be paid correctly and promptly.

Does Sure Insurance Offer Car Insurance?

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 22:51:10 GMT

Sean: Are we looking to move into motor vehicle insurance at all?

Bradley: Not at this stage. I think motor insurance is something that's a very well serviced market in regional Queensland it hasn't faced the same sort of cost pressures that we've seen on home and contents and strata and home unit insurance, so at this stage no we're not looking at it.

I mean, we get the odd inquiry but it's not something that people seem um seem keen for us to do at this particular stage. I wouldn't rule it out down the track, but at the moment we're concentrating on doing what we said we would do, and that's saving people significant amounts on their premium for home and contents and strata.

Rising Insurance Costs In North Queensland

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 10:28:22 GMT

Sean: Hi everyone, Sean from Lords Insurance thanks for tuning in. One of the hot topics in North Queensland the last few years have been the

increased premiums in home and contents and strata. T hey've been quite large and quite astronomical, but one of the insurers that's helping us reduce premiums is Sure insurance. I'm happy to say that we have the Manager Director of Sure Insurance here today, Mr Bradley Heath. Bradley thank you for being here.

Bradley: No problem, thank you Sean.

Sean: Now Brad a lot of people would know about Sure Insurance and what you do and but a lot of people in the community

wouldn't know what Sure is, would you mind telling us a little bit about Sure and how it started?

Bradley: Oh a bsolutely. So Sure is an organization we've set up to write insurance in regional Queensland, so home and contents and strata insurance. We

were formed around about four years ago and have been operating now for nearly two years. W e're an organization that does all the product

all the pricing all the claims so when you deal with Sure, you're dealing with the entirety of the process we're backed by a worldwide insurer called Liberty Insurance who's licensed in A ustralia and they're one of the world's biggest mutuals in one of the world, one of the biggest insurers in the US, so we've got the right backing, we've got the right processes, and we're an organisation that's dedicated to one thing, and that's doing North Queensland insurance.

Sean: S o you don't do Australia-wide do you?

Bradley: We don't do Australia-wide, we only do from Bundaberg north, all the way up to the Cape and out to the border, so that's our that's our specialty area, that's what we've been set up to do, and that's what we're very much focussed on. We want to specialize in that, we want to make sure that's the area we're providing the best service to and provide the best service to the people of regional Queensland.

Sean: Is that for any particular reason?

Bradley: I mean we know the people in regional Queensland have been hit very hard by premium increases over the last few years and we thought we could do something better for them and so far we've been able to do that on average we're saving people 35% off their premiums that's one home and contents

and sometimes more than that on the strata side of it as well, so this is about doing specialist work for the people of regional Queensland and providing them with a viable alternative.

Sean: A lot of questions I get asked from consumers and customers is that, "why are we paying so much in North Queensland compared to say people down in Brisbane, down in Melbourne you know further afield when they seem to be having a lot of natural disasters so they're having you know cyclones they're having

floods hail storms yet we seem to be getting hit with larger premiums up here any reason for that y ou think?

Bradley: Well I think that's been the mystery to so many people in North Queensland as to why they're paying when they're not the ones having events and I think it's a reasonable question t o ask. I mean i think people in in regional Q ueensland and North Queensland they know that they're in a cyclone area they they live that they breathe that so they understand that the premiums i think are going to be a little bit higher but what they don't understand and it's the correct question and quite rightly so, it's why it's so much higher than other areas. A nd that's what Sure was formed to address and and fix that problem and that's that's what we're very much dedicated to doing.

Sean: A nd I guess one of the questions I also get asked about Sure, is now they've come into the market, are you here to stay?

Bradley: Look, we're here to stay. We've got long-term backing from our from our backers, we've taken out long-term leases on our office

accommodation. We're here for the long term so this isn't a matter of when a cyclone happens we're going to cut and run we're here for the long term. W e know and our backers know, that eventually there will be there will be a large claim like a cyclone, like a flood that's what we're in the business of doing, that's what we're set up to manage and our backers and ourselves know very much that's the reality of insuring you, so we're here to stay, we're here for the long term and we've got plenty of capacity to continue to write this business and write more market share.

Sean: Well that's probably t he number one question I get asked is you know, they've come along into the market, now what are they like paying claims, are they going to pay out, are they going to cover things you think like bushfires - the catastrophes if they hit you're going to be here and you're going to be able to do

that for them?

Bradley: Look that's the question I would ask if i was a policy holder. That's great, it's a g ood premium but are they going to be here to pay? T he claims are they going to pay the claims are they going to be fair and that's something Sure set up and everyone might notice our logo is Sure I nsurance but fair. This is very much about doing the right things when it counts, and that's paying the claims. We're not afraid of paying claims we're experienced in this, we have the right builders

we have the right the right loss adjusters and we have the right people to handle it and, if people want to use their own builder in that situation, we're perfectly happy to look at that and if it's the right price we will definitely let people use their own builders, and in fact we encourage it.

S o yeah we're here to pay the claims, we've done it before, we know how to do it, and we know that this is the most important thing for people in North Queensland, will they pay the claims, then will they pay them fairly and that's the right question and I 'm here to say that's what we're set up to do.

Sean: G reat, okay another question too, around Strata. In strata complexes is the fact that mitigation is a big part of Sure's motto and mantra and that you

do say that with mitigation you can reduce your premium so what kind of mitigation factors are you looking at?

Bradley: There's lots of mitigation people can do. So basic maintenance is always a good one, so keeping the place maintained and really simple things like keeping your gutters clean, keeping the outside the trees trimmed to stop that sort of damage caused by that but other things that are really topical and burning

issues for many units is the issue of flexi hoses.

Sean: S o i understand that the number one damage of water damage claims is flexi hoses?

Bradley: L ook it's a big issue for the industry and it's a big issue for people when they let go. U nfortunately when flexi hoses let go and these

are the pipes underneath people's sinks, when they do let go they tend to silently flood the area and often it happens at night and when people are away. For various reasons so this is quite a distressing claim for people it causes widespread damage across carpet across cabinetry across skirting boards and you know it's a very invasive sort of claim, so what we encourage people to do is get those flexi hoses checked every 12 to 22 years and prevent that client happening. It'll

save you an excess and it'll save you money.

Sean: A nd your premiums on a whole across the board are quite competitive and I guess another question that people ask go well are they because they're

so cheap or competitive is that because they're not offering the same covers?

Bradley: So we we cover all the things that people you know genuinely need. S o we cover flood automatically, we cover storm surge, we cover cyclone, we cover all of those things that matter and we're constantly upgrading the product to make sure that it's meeting the needs of the people and meeting the needs when it's compared to our to our competitors as well, so it's something that we want to cover as much as we can, the common things people need and we don't think there's many things in there if at all that people wouldn't be covered for. In fact some of the things we've got are in excess of what our competitors cover as well this is a product designed specifically for regional Queensland it's not a national australian product that's been adapted to Queensland, this is a product that was designed for the people of regional Queensland.

Sean: G ood, and what about your future vision for for S ure, where do you be going the next few years?

Bradley: Y eah so we want to continue writing business we've still um you know we've still got a plenty of market market share available to us we want to continue to save more people more money and of course the more people we write insurance for the cheaper we'll get overall we're increasing the limits that we can write for our body corporate for our home unit insurance and we we want to write more of that business people there because we know it's a critical area where people are paying huge premiums and in many cases are completely unaffordable for people, so this is about doing more of the same and continuing to

do it better and better and better as we go along.

Sean: W ell thanks Bradley, that's been very helpful and thanks for your chat today and we're happy that Sure's in North Queensland it's been a very good

helpful insurance coverage for our clients and um will be so thank you for your time today.

Bradley: Thanks very much Sean thanks for all the great work that Lords do as well, you've been great supporters of us and hopefully we're doing the right thing by your clients as well and we'll continue to do so thank you yeah thank you.

Sean: Well that's all for now, thanks thanks for watching and we will bring you another insurance video shortly.

About White Goods Insurance

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 09:31:24 GMT

What's covered if a washing machine or dishwasher hose bursts? I think we talked about it with the flexi hoses so obviously things are covered like your carpets your skirting boards any other resultant damage.

That's right I mean the things we see when that sort of you know that sort of damage occurs is cabinetry, you know so your your laundry cupboards or kitchen cupboards you know we've all seen chipboard blow up when it gets wet yeah often we see water getting under tiles in that situation so in many cases we

might have to pull tiles up, but other things that you may not think about are covered are things like the process of drying the concrete layer before we relay carpet before we relay tiles we will want to make sure the slab is dry that it hasn't soaked all the water hasn't soaked in and will cause mold and things like that later. So the drying process the sanitization process to make sure there's no mold going to be formed.

That all that all those things are covered in and in some extreme cases people need to move out of the property while this repair work happens

so we pay for that alternative accommodation.

We had a lot of clients in Townsville many years ago when they had the floods down there they had to move out for those two reasons

obviously it was uninhabitable and two the mold was growing as well. Look I mean mold's something that we we pay serious attention to. It's a very significant issue with these sort of claims but also flood claims where you know some of the some of the dirty water that's got into houses we have to strip walls and

sanitize the inside of those walls and the frames to make sure that when it's all put back together.

It looks good for sure it needs to look new again but people need to be assured that there's no health issues arising out of those clothes down the track so there's things you see that are obvious and the things that you see that are less obvious but just as important.

Okay, a very good question here, do I get a discount on insurance if I have a safe security camera or other items to increase security at my home?

It depends on the item I mean we give a discount for back to base alarms because research has shown that one of the biggest issues with with theft claims or break and enters is if a person's going back to base along a back back to base alarm they have many multiples less chance of being broken into. It's a deterrent

so there's that but you know we like to see grills on windows and things like that as well and you know our advice for things like alarms is making sure if you've got an alarm set it when you leave.

You know it's a really important thing. I know it sounds obvious, but you know we all of us are the same we want to rush out of the house and get complacent,

but set it set the alarm because this is you know if a thief is going to come in and break into someone's house in the street t hey're going to do it to someone you need to make sure you're not the one they do it to.

Yeah you know so this is about making yourself the least obvious target.

Boudary Fences with Sure Insurance

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 22:45:43 GMT

Sean: Another question from clients - are boundary fences covered and who pays when they are damaged in cyclones?

Bradley: Yeah, so fences are often one of the big things that are affected by cyclones and storms, you know things are often blown down for obvious reasons, um so you're covered in your policy up to a kilometre of fencing, so that's a thousand meters of fencing for your property and that that's that's you know cover enough for the average person, particularly where there's not a farm involved.

So from our viewpoint that gives you plenty of cover for that situation.

About Reinsurance Pool

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 09:54:16 GMT

What is reinsurance pool and how does it affect my premiums?

So the federal government, Scott Morrison last week was in Cairns and announced the the beginnings of the reinsurance pool, and it's been talked about for a long time it's been the subject of various government enquiries and I think people in regional and North Queensland know that this has been going on for some years now.

So it's many years many many years probably ten plus I would imagine and so the pool it's a bit undefined at the moment. There are various types of pools so some pools cover everyone, some pools cover only the high risk individuals - so people in really significant flood zones, and some other pools are quite voluntary as well.

So over the next 12 months the government has put aside money to do some work to say, well, what should this pool look like? The Government's committed to bringing the price of insurance down and Sure was committed to bringing the price and insurance down, so we're all on the same page and hopefully we can get some involvement in that process, but we'll look at how we best design a pool.

It's a great idea. It's a great great thing to have, but like any great idea we've got to make it work now, and I think the people at regional Queensland deserve that and they demand that, and that's what you know we're going to do our best to try and help.

Will my premiums go up if I make a claim?

Mon, 06 Sep 2021 10:03:43 GMT

Will my premiums increase next year if i make a claim?

Now not in in the case of Sure, because we don't have a no claim bonus situation, so if you make a claim now, your premium won't increase because of that.

Your sum insured might increase next year and you know you might want to increase your some insurance that may increase the premium as well, but the renewal process we're going through right now for the vast majority of our policyholders, the renewals are reducing because we've reduced our prices in the last couple of years.

It's very rare, it is very rare in regional Queensland, in fact, we've had customers ring us and question whether the number was correct and in some cases have said is this the monthly price or the yearly price? But no, we you know at Sure was set up to provide people in regional Queensland and North Queensland with a better option.

That's what we're doing that's what we're committed to and that's what we're committed to on the long term

Halloween Horror Stories

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 06:49:34 GMT

Hi how you going? Sean from Lords Insurance Services. Today I want to speak about Halloween.

It's not a scary story, it's a day of the year that in Australia is becoming more and more like the Americas it's been celebrated now. I remember years ago we had uh some people come around, some little little people come around to our place, and wanted to have some lollies, what we had was carrots for them and they weren't very impressed and that's why we probably wake up the next day and found out they'd egged our house.

Anyway, we've learned since then. Today Halloween could be more scarier for your budget than anticipated. Homeowners and motor insurers claims tend to jump during this holiday. On average, Halloween has 17% more home claims for theft, vandalism and crimes than any other day of the year. That includes problems like doors being kicked in, mailboxes knocked down, rocks thrown at car windows. In some cases damage can run into thousands of dollars.

If you don't have the right chocolate you could be one of these people and even if you don't participate in the festivities, should a trick or treater or other visitors come on and hurt themselves on your property, if you don't have insurance and don't have a liability in place, you could be in trouble.

So if you need insurance for this time of year, or any time of the year give us a call at Lords Insurance we have a solution to solve your problems. Take care

Cyclone Insurance Cover

Sun, 22 Aug 2021 23:40:05 GMT

Hi how you going? Sean from Lords Insurance Services. Today I wanted to discuss cyclones.

Does anybody know when the cyclone season starts and finishes? No? Actually starts on the 1st of November runs through to the 30th April but as we all know, living in North Queensland, cyclones can form at any time. Now most insurers will cover cyclone storm and wind damages, but however, rather than ask what your insurer covers, be very mindful of what they don't cover. Unfortunately most people find out what they're not covered for when they go to make a claim.

For example, a cyclone can cause a king tide or a storm surge and there are only a couple insurers in North Queensland that will cover this and there's only one that I know that will cover automatically for business insurance. So if you're looking to have insurance coverage before the cyclone season starts this year, give us a call at lords we have access to these insurers that can cover you and give you peace of mind and help you sleep well during the windy times.

Take care see ya

Understanding Insurance Excess

Sun, 22 Aug 2021 09:46:57 GMT

Hi there, Sean from Lord's insurance, hope you're well. Today I want to talk about excess and how access applies to you in particular for a home invasion or for a carjacking, or for your home just being robbed basically.

I had a question from a client a few weeks ago, and they said we have someone break into our home, the home is unlocked, and they steal the cars, so what access applies? I said, it depends on your insurance, and a lot of the time it depends on you know, what kind of security you have. Some insurers will pay for that so if someone breaks into your home and it's unlocked there's no forced entry, some insurers will go yep, that's okay we'll cover whatever's stolen. Other ones, will need forced entry, or direct insurers in particular, will frown upon not having any forced entry, whereas some of the other insurers will be fine with that, so you'll have an excess if something's broken or stolen as they come in through the house that'll be under your home insurance.

And like so often here in Cairns, a lot of people are breaking into the homes and they're looking not so much for the items in the home, but looking for car keys or whatever they can grab. So they're breaking into your home, stealing the car keys and then stealing your car, so in that instance, it's not just the one excess if they've broken into the home, that's your first excess and if they steal the cars that's your second excess so there's two excesses there.

I do remember the story one of our clients down in Townsville she was broken into from the back door it wasn't actually locked, so they thought they locked up the house but the back door was open. Some people, intruders, came through the back door, they stole a phone car keys and a handbag, and before they could do anything else, our client woke up and scared them off and they ran off. Unfortunately for our client though, she didn't have a lock on her phone so they could easily read through there and she was going on holiday, Bali in about two or three days after the break-in, so she didn't even think about getting any locks changed, and the people who broke in went through a phone and saw oh this person's going away. So what happened was our client went away and it's the day after she went away, the people who'd stolen everything roll up in a removalist van, and the neighbours didn't know our client very well so they thought well must be moving, so they had the keys they had um they had the phone, so they got in there no problem in there cleared out the entire house including the other two cars that were in the park there and drove off and then she got home from holiday whole house was cleared out. Now luckily for her the insurance she had in place, did cover that but in a lot of circumstances, insurance wouldn't cover that depending on who she's with.

Another one we get a lot too is, who's responsible who pays the excess if the car has been hit when it's in a parking lot or a supermarket shopping centre what's there, you know is it someone else's responsibility? Unfortunately, if you don't have the name or the details of who hits you and a lot of times some people back out and they just drive off and it's the kind of world we live in, unfortunately, any damage done to the car is on yourself so yeah a lot of time if you have a high excess, it might be better off just to get it fixed yourself but unfortunately, the excess is for you.

Another one I get too as well is if two cars are backing at the same time if you back out and someone backs out and hits you who's responsible? Well that's what's called shared responsibility. Unfortunately again, if you're both backing at the same time you both have to pay your own access to get the cars fixed. It's the same if you're merging and relaying the traffic as well, so you're coming from right or left and someone's hitting and you hit the same time it's the same you have to share responsibility you pay your own excess there.

So I guess the the important thing is here to when there are accidents like that, or people have hit your car, or into your home before you go making a claim have a look see what your excess is sometimes it might be more affordable just to pay it out yourself than make a claim on the excess. But in all instances, if you're not sure, give someone a call or give a broker a call, especially if you're not sure about anything. In Cairns in particular, give us a call here at Lords we'll be happy to help you

Thank you

Notifiable Data Breach Scheme

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 07:24:55 GMT

What you need to know if your company has a data breach

Hi there Sean from Lords insurance, I hope you're all well today. I want to talk about data breaches, in particular access to things like your mobile phone, USB sticks, computers. As an example, I received one today. It's a fraudulent email. Here it's asking me to click on something there, and I mean it may not be do anything bad, but I don't know who these people and I've never spoken to them before, but it says here, please review the document you've got an overdue account. That's a clear sign, if you don't know who they are or what they're doing, don't click on it.

A lot of times you click on it and they lock you out of your system and they want to pay to ransom or something else to take it over. So if you ever receive things like that, I probably receive between a dozen to two dozen a week of people I've never had anything to do with, ask me to click on it. Don't click them if you don't know who it is. If you're not skeptical then maybe talk to your IT provider. What in particular today I wanted to talk about is the NDB, which is the Notifiable Data Breach Scheme. This came out last year and what it is means now is that it requires all organisations that are covered by the Australian Privacy Act (which is most businesses), to notify individuals whose personal information has been involved in an eligible data breach that's likely to cause some kind of serious harm. Serious harm being information stolen of the clients.

A data breach is more than just a hacking attack or someone of the obvious malicious behavior losing a laptop or USB stick as I said has a lot of personal data on there. Who's ever gone to a bar or a pub or and you've got into a taxi and their wallet's falling out, or it's got a usb stick in it, or you've lost your phone or your laptop left on a plane? There's a lot of information in there, and the same with your printers, a lot of people have printers now.

Do you know even printers got a little chip in there and it says every single time you scan something it goes on that little chip, so be careful if you ever have a printer, break that off before we get rid of it. So what does this mean? Basically if you're in breach of the Privacy Act to your clients, it must be made public and you can be fined. I know clients that have had a data breach in the last 12 months and I know for a fact if they made it public they would be bust now their business would be over.

Yeah, so ideally go and see an IT specialist make sure that's then covered there if they got all the firewalls up for you to protect you but also look at cyber insurance. Cyber insurance is so cheap these days, it stops things from phishing scams from fraudulent emails from your downtime. A lot of times these now they're just locking you out of your system it's not so much about holding for ransom but locking your system until you pay some money and then you may get your system back or you may not.

They may get out of system and then two to three months later back into the system but the most important thing is if you're locked out of the system and they have all your clients information, you have to tell your clients in the small town, small community that could be your business over, so remember that cyber insurance very important, very affordable depending on the type of occupation or business you run so keep that in mind and if you're not sure about it give us a call at Lords we'll be happy to talk you through it. Thanks

Choosing a Business Insurance Cover

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 06:35:30 GMT

Hi there, Sean from Lords Insurance hope you're well today. I want to talk about milk, now we've got two glasses of milk here you may they may look the same they may think they taste the same, but this one here on the left is actually two weeks out of date so if you drank it might have a bit of a funny taste in your mouth not very good at all.

And the same goes with business policies as well they may look the same on face value so you might think you're covered they might taste the same, but it's not until you actually got to make a claim you find out it's not covered correctly and there's that nasty tasty mouth again.

So it's always very important though to contact a broker someone like us at Lord's here we talk you through make sure you've got the right flavoured milk for your business policy. Take care.

General insurance away from home

Sun, 27 Jun 2021 02:53:02 GMT

G'day guys, Sean here from Lords Insurance, back here in beautiful Cairns, along the esplanade here, great place to be... some lovely hotels and skyscrapers here, some accommodation, but today I want to talk about general insurance, in particular general insurance general property.

Now this is things for items covered away from the home, so with your home and contents you'll have things covered at the home depending on the policy you have, but you want a policy that also covers things away from home, particularly if you've got high end or expensive items. So things like, say for instance, your mobile phone, or your sunglasses, they're covered at home, but do you want them covered away from home?

You need to get general property or have a policy that does. So there's a lot of things there to lose especially things like your watches ladies with the earrings diamond rings. I know a lady who lost a couple of diamond rocks out of the ring, so that can be very expensive.

So if there's general insurance or general property you need in particular give us a call at laws insurance we'll help you.

Sean's Sayings

Sat, 12 Jun 2021 01:25:17 GMT

Hi, how are we going? Sean from Lords Insurance Services, hope you're having a good day.

Today I wanted to talk about sayings - I love sayings, do you love sayings? I have some of my favourite sayings "you're as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike", "the elevator doesn't travel to the top floor", "you're a few fries short of a happy meal", "you're not the sharpest male on the deck", or "somewhere there's a village missing it's idiot."

But my favorite saying of course is, "you get what you pay for", and there's what's happening within cheap and direct insurers these days. I had a lady come to see me last week that said she had a renewal for a car through us and she had found cheaper insurance through a supermarket, and I said well that's a bit silly, I don't understand why would you buy insurance from someone who specializes in food and groceries. That's like me going to a solicitor about a toothache.

If you are getting cheap insurance there's probably a reason why. You need to go through and look clearly at the exclusions and the covers, and are they applicable and are they right for you.

Now if you're not sure, if or you've got friends who aren't sure, get a give and give me a call we can go through it and if your friends still want to go with these direct insurers we must assume there are a "few toppings short of supreme pizza."

Have a good day

Tax Audit Insurance

Mon, 10 May 2021 23:53:41 GMT

Hi, how are you going? Sean from Lords Insurance Services. Today I want to talk about tax audits and in particular tax audit insurance.

Now everybody knows what a tax audit is, some of us may be unfortunate to have a tax audit. It can be quite a huge cost, and we found out this year that the ATO in particular is targeting cash-based businesses, so construction people, those in the restaurant industry, and people in the hair and makeup industry, ones that use a lot of cash flow. They're being targeted now.

What people may not know, and that is, under a normal business policy, a tax audit can be added on. So this will cover the cost of income cost of working, it might cover your cost of your bookkeeper or accountant, it'll cover the cost of your staff having to work extra, and it's very very cheap. So you can have up to ten thousand or twenty thousand dollars in tax audit costs will be a hundred or two hundred dollars at maximum.

So I really implore you if you are in one of an industry that uses a lot of cash for its payments, that you have a look at tax audit insurance, because you may be targeted by the ATO. We have access to this through our providers, so if you're interested in that give us a call here at Lords we'll be happy to help you out.

Thanks very much

Subcontractors Insurance

Sat, 08 May 2021 06:13:52 GMT

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Airbnb Insurance Australia

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 00:12:02 GMT

Hi how are you going? Sean from Lords Insurance Services.

Today I want to talk about Airbnb. Now I assume most people would know what Airbnb is and a lot of people have probably stayed in the Airbnb, but you actually know what the insurance is covered on the Airbnb, like do you check insurance policy before you take out an Airbnb? I would say probably not.

Now it comes as a bit of a surprise to some, that Airbnb insurance is not covered by a normal home and contents policy. I would always recommend that if you are going to an Airbnb, check on the insurance policy to make sure you are covered for personal damage or personal property injury while you stay in Airbnb. An example in case, is the gentleman in Texas last year was killed when he hopped on the back of a backyard swing at Airbnb rental and the branch holding the swing snapped and fell on his head killing him instantly. Now the family tried to sue the owner - no insurance, they never checked before booking. A stay that's currently going through the courts.

So when it comes to Airbnb you need an insurer who specializes in an area. There's currently a couple in North Queensland and a couple around Australia will cover it, but not all will. Airbnb itself will cover up to a million dollars in protection for damages property, but the company states that this is not insurance okay, they do not replace an existing home owner's policy, nor does it cover cash, collectibles artworks, pets or any personal liability.

Now as was the case when the elderly couple, who stayed an Airbnb in Victoria earlier this year, the lady fell over coming down a steep driveway and suffered a compound fraction of a tibia, so the bone was sticking out of a leg. The owner put in a claim with Airbnb and it was not covered and has been paying the medical bills for this lady and she's still unable to walk.

So if you're considering starting up an Airbnb with your home or your investment property, I would check with your current insurer to see if they will cover it under the current policy, and if they do that's great but make sure you get that in writing, because if you're not covered correctly and your guest's life is ruined, then your life is going to be ruined as well. If you give us call here at Lords Insurance, we can point you in the right direction.

Take care

The Best 10 Car Insurance Claim Stories

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 10:41:57 GMT

Hi, how are you going? Sean from Lords Insurance Services.

Today I want to talk about some funny things that happen in car insurance, well I suppose not funny. It's car accidents and claims. Has anyone been involved in an accident? Chances are most of us have. I think statistics say one in four people have had an accident, so if you have an accident or had an accident, you probably know someone that has. If you're still young you may have an accident. Now these are actually true. These actually claim forms that have been submitted.

There's some of the answers some of these are really good... uh this one here.

"Coming home I drove to the wrong house and collided with a tree I haven't got."

"An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished."

"I bumped into a lamp post which was skewed by human beings."

"I collided with a stationary tree", (as opposed to a moving tree)

"I've been driving for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident." 40 years he must be very tired...

"I knocked over a man, he admitted it was his fault, he'd been run over before."

"I left for work this morning at 7 am as usual and I collided straight into a bus. The bus was five minutes early."

"The accident was caused by me waving to the man I hit last week."

One of my favourites..."Windscreen broken cause unknown, probably voodoo."

And the best one we've got...A claimant collided with a cow and the question answers on the claim form were...

Question - what warning was given by you? Claimant - my horn.

Question - what warning was given by the other party? Answer "Moo".

So if you're ever involved in an accident, most of the time they're not that funny but with our insurance company here, we actually do the claim for you, so if you have a claim we have actual claims specialists here in the office that can handle your claim from start to completion and all the way in between.

So it saves you time having to ring up and spending time handling the claim. So if that's something you want to do, give us a call here at Lords Insurance we can handle the claim for you

Liability Insurance for Christmas and Other Single Events

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 10:17:05 GMT

Hi there, Sean from Lords Insurance. Hope you're all well. Today I want to talk about Christmas and in particular Christmas parties. More and more in the Cairns community and the like, establishments are having requiring you get your own liability insurance to cover you for a Christmas party.

So that's very important before you go booking a Christmas party, or even a function for your uh your clients or for your staff, just check with the establishment that will cover the liability. There's been nothing worse than having a great time, and then something happens especially someone gets injured or hurt, and you go to claim and find there's no insurance coverage they can put a real dampener on it and accidents do happen.

For instance, we have here like the 12 days of Christmas the 12 most common accidents that have happened over the last few years.

So number one, hospitals have reported four broken arms each year from pulling crackers, number two, three people die each year from testing nine volt batteries on their tongue, number three, five people injured last year accidents involving out of control scale scalactic cars, number four, eight people crack their skulls in 2017 after falling asleep while throwing up on the toilet - it does happen.

Number five, 18 people have had serious burns trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth.

Number six, 19 people have died in the last three years believing the Christmas decorations were chocolate.

Number seven, 31 people have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while their fairy lights were still plugged in.

Number eight, 58 people were injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers.

Number nine, 101 people have died since 1997 having broken parts pulled out of their feet, soles of their feet or other parts of their body.

Number 10, 142 people injured last year by not removing pins from the new shirts number.

11, a massive 543 Australians were admitted to emergency in the last two years after opening bottles with a beer with their teeth - yep guilty, and

Number 12, more than a thousand people have injured themselves having some sort of adult cuddles at a Christmas party gone wrong. One man in particular, did some real damage when he uh, sat on a uh a photocopier and uh yeah did something badly.

But anyway, whatever you do during a Christmas party or an office or an office party take care of yourselves and if you need insurance for that that one party or even for the whole festival season give me a call at Lords Insurance

Thank you

Insurance Exclusions

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:10:25 GMT

Good morning, Sean from Lords Insurance Services. We're here today just to talk a little bit about insurance.

Today I want to touch on exclusions, and what that means to you and your insurance policy. A lot of insurance companies, particularly direct insurance brokers, will sprout on about the covers they provide and the insurance they can give you, but they never talk about what they can't give you. I know an insurance company that talks about a cash bonus if you get a hole in one, bowl a perfect game, well, have twins. Well that's great, but what are their exclusions, what don't they cover?

They may cover fire and flood but what if anything, are their limitations, if any at all? What you need to do is have a look at the exclusions and the covers not provided by insurance companies to find out what you really are covered for. I know of a direct insurer that covered million dollar homes down on the Brisbane River, and when the floods came in 2010, they thought they were covered, but in the fine print and kind of covered up to a maximum of five thousand dollars for flood. So basically you lost a whole home and had enough to buy a new plasma tv, so it's the old adage...buyer beware, you get what you pay for.

If you're not sure what you're covered for, what you need to be covered for, or an exclusion's a little bit foggy and you can't read the fine print, give us a call we are brokers at Lords Insurance we can talk you through it and find the right cover for you.

Why is Insurance so expensive?

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 10:20:00 GMT

Hi how are you going? Sean from Lords Insurance Services.

Today I just want to talk to you about a question I get asked quite a lot, and that is why are we paying so much for insurance premiums up here in North Queensland? It's probably a weekly question or sometimes even twice weekly and all the staff get asked the same question. We have clients that have policies up here, mostly investment policies or home contents policies. They might have another policy down south be it Sydney, Brisbane, Victoria, and the properties may be like for like, built around from the same construction, built around the same time - you know roof's the same, that kind of thing. And they might be paying a thousand dollars down south, but paying three thousand dollars up here and they can't work it out.

And we've asked insurers, and insurers come back and say well, it is what it is you know - you're in you're a danger zone and all the rest of it, but yeah really what it is it's populace, it's a numbers game. So let's just say as a scenario it's a million dollar storm claim here in Cairns from a cyclone or from whatever, so it's a million dollar claim here. And let's just say the same storm hits down in Brisbane it's a million dollar claim as well. So what happens when it comes to claim time is you might have say twenty thousand dollars paying a certain insurer for that million dollar claim, but down in Brisbane you might have say, a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand dollars paying back that insurer for the million dollar claim.

So if the insurance companies are getting to recpoup its money back, it's obviously going to get money back quicker from a huge a populace like a capital city like a Brisbane or a Melbourne or Sydney, where a rural area like Cairns or Far North, it's going to take a lot longer for them to recoup their money. So in ways of doing that, one of the things they do is increase the premium.

I know it's not always fair and we have clients that have never made a claim, and I do understand that is a problem for some people and I spoke to a gentleman a few weeks ago and he made a very clear point. He said he was talking to his neighbour - and I thought it was quite well how he did it...Now he's paying about three thousand dollars a year for his insurance and his neighbour was paying about the same three thousand dollars a year. And he said to him he said "are you still paying for insurance"? He said "yep I'm paying three thousand dollars a year, what about you"? "No I've let it go, I'm not paying that anymore, three thousand dollars is too much." And he said "but what about your house"? "No, I reckon if I don't pay for the next 10 years I've saved myself $30,000." And our client quite rightly said "well that's great you save $30,000 in the next 10 years. What about if you have a major claim on your home be it a storm claim, a fire claim and you lose your home? How is thirty thousand dollars gonna repay you your 500 or 600 thousand dollar home"? And he said "also I'll probably live longer!" He goes "what do you mean you'll live longer?" He said, "because I've got peace of mind that if I have a major loss I'm covered, whereas you won't be able to sleep at night knowing that you're not covered."

It's a pretty good adjective I thought, so that's pretty much why we're paying, that's one, well, it's not the only reason, but it's one of the main reasons we are paying so much for premiums in here in North Queensland. As an example, CGU, who's a major insurer here in North Queensland is still recouping funds it paid out from Cyclone Larry and Cyclone Yasi, so that's how long that's been going on and it will go on and continue to go on. And then to answer another one, will premiums ever drop? Unfortunately they won't.

All I can suggest is that you shop around the direct insurers or the major insurers because their risks are going to change every year, so one year they might be great another year that might be very expensive. Here at Lord's Insurance, we have access to many insurers, probably seven or eight insurers being business, a dozen insurers for home and contents and for cars. So I urge you if not every year every two years to have a shop around and give us a call, we can help you out.

Thanks have a good day

Why Use an Insurance Broker?

Wed, 05 Feb 2020 00:25:19 GMT

Hi there, how are you going? Sean from Lords Insurance Services.

Today I just want to ask you a question... if you have a problem with your motor vehicle where do you take it? To a mechanic right? Yeah what about a legal problem? Who would you go and see? You're going to see a solicitor. You've got a problem with your teeth, who do you want to see? Dentists well, you're supposed to.

So that's why I can't understand how some people go and see a greengrocer or a supermarket about their insurance. I mean their specialty is food, their specialty is not insurance. They don't know much, if anything about insurance. You might ask an insurance question and they go - we can't answer that, but we know there's a special on carrots in aisle three.

So I suggest that you go and speak to not only personal insurance but insurance broker. Insurance broker works with insurance every single day, and they know the exclusions. They can tell you what the covers are and they can find the right policy for you.

So if you're not sure about insurance or what cover you should have, be it for business, home and contents, or any type of insurance at all, give us a call here at Lords. Myself or some of the other staff can point in the right direction. Because insurance is quite complicated, we're here to help you, so if you'd like to help with insurance give us a call here at Lords Insurance.

Thanks bye

Building & Strata Building Insurances

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 00:50:45 GMT

Sean: G'day guys sean here from Lords Insurance Services here on the esplanade in beautiful Cairns, great place to be.

Today I want to talk to you about something right behind me here, we've got a little hotel, we've got a house, we've also got some big strata complex, so three insurances there already. So if you've got an Airbnb or a strata complex, there's insurance for that, but don't forget if you've got strata and building, it covers the building, but you've got to cover the contents inside, so anytime insurance like that give us a call at Lord's we're happy to help you out.

Public and Product Liability Insurance - Beware the Endorsements

Tue, 02 Jul 2019 23:27:00 GMT

A constant theme that we see in claims relates to endorsements on public and product liability insurance policies.

WHERE IS THE EXPOSURE?

One common area where endorsements on public and product liability is evident, relates to claims made against an insured by contractors and sub-contractors. Some policies will deal with the exposure by putting on a complete exclusion for claims by contractors and sub-contractors.

However, these kinds of endorsements significantly reduce the cover provided by the policy.

Other insurers provide the cover but put an excess of $25,000 on the exposure, such as in the following two examples:

• The schedule issued by one insurer simply had the words “Contractors/Sub-contractors $25,000.”

• The schedule issued by another had an endorsement which said: “$25,000 each and every occurrence caused by or arising out of one occurrence including costs and expenses in respect of Worker to Worker.”

WHAT YOU NEED TO BE AWARE OF

The issue arises when insurers take the position that the clause applies to all contractors and sub-contractors who are working on a building site, not just contractors or sub-contractors who are in a contractual relationship with the insured.

This is not made clear from the actual endorsement but appears to be a position consistently taken by insurers.

If in doubt about these clauses, talk to your Broker who will read these clauses carefully and ensure they are understood by you, the clients.

How to protect your investment property against illegal drug labs

Fri, 07 Jun 2019 00:39:31 GMT

Australia has one of the highest rates of illicit methamphetamine use in the world and the highest use among English-speaking countries.Australia has one of the highest rates of illicit methamphetamine use in the world and the highest use among English-speaking countries.

Since 2015, a drug lab bust has taken place almost every day in Australia, with estimates claiming as few as one in 10 labs are discovered by authorities.

The majority of laboratories detected produce methamphetamine (including 'ice' and 'speed'), the Illicit Drug Data report from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission claims.

Worse yet for landlords: meth contamination from manufacturing by a clandestine drug lab on a property can decrease its value by about 10 percent, according to Meth Screen.

The chemicals produced in the manufacture of the drug are absorbed into carpeting and furniture and deposit residue on walls, ceilings and floors. As a result, air quality within the contaminated premises is also affected.

In the worst cases, a property can be left uninhabitable. Long term exposure to such an environment can lead to chronic health problems.

Breaking bad landlord habits

Rest assured there are some simple mitigation steps you can take as a landlord to prevent your property from becoming a rented out drug lab.

First and foremost: complete a comprehensive reference check. Never hand over your keys to a tenant without first speaking to a number of their former property managers and listed references.

Also make sure the contact number you're provided with is properly listed online somewhere. It's not uncommon for tenants to list a fake reference if they have a poor rental history.

You can include a clause in your Tenancy Agreement that advises your tenant you will regularly conduct meth testing and they'll be liable for any clean up costs. At the very least, this will act as a deterrent.

If you include this clause, it's vital that you conduct a meth test before they move in to ensure the property is clean. You should also be testing at the end of the lease period.

Do-it-yourself methamphetamine residue testing kits are available online.

There are also devices, similar to smoke alarms, landlords can install that can detect the presence of chemicals used in the manufacture of illegal drugs.

It's also important to conduct regular checks. How frequently you are allowed to check the property, and how much notice you must give, depends on whether it is residential property and what state or territory you're in.

Suffice to say that you'll want to complete an initial check as soon as you can, and again regularly thereafter.

Short-term rentals are not safe from the dangers of illegal drug manufacture either. Hotel rooms and property rented via online sites such as Airbnb have also been used to ‘cook’ illegal drugs in.

Insurance measures

All this is why you'll also want to protect your asset and rental income stream with appropriate Landlord Insurance cover with the help of a trusted Steadfast broker.

As a landlord, you need to check if your Landlord Insurance provides specific coverage for the discovery of a meth lab or other illegal drug manufacturing operation on your premises.

Some Landlord Insurance policies include coverage for chemical contamination as a result of the manufacture, storage or distribution of any controlled drug.

As always, it is best to check with your Steadfast broker, as to what your policy covers.

They can arrange cover for you that will protect you from damage caused by chemical or drug contamination.

They'll also help ensure you're covered against a loss of rental income, in case you need to evict a tenant and then spend time decontaminating the property, and if the manufacture of illegal drugs has caused material damage to your property.

For more information on insurance solutions, talk to your Steadfast broker or find one here.

Important disclaimer - Steadfast Group Limited ABN 98 073 659 677, its subsidiaries and its associates.

The views expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of Steadfast.

This magazine provides information rather than financial product or other advice. The content of this magazine, including any information contained on it, has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider the appropriateness of the information, taking these matters into account, before you act on any information. In particular, you should review the
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Information is current as at the date articles are written as specified within them but is subject to change. Steadfast, its subsidiaries and its associates make no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the information. Various third parties, including Know Risk, have contributed to the production of this content. All information is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of Steadfast Group Limited.

Your Small Business Insurance Needs for 2019

Fri, 10 May 2019 00:00:00 GMT

New Year, new you, right?

Well, when it comes to your business, it's more a case of: New Year, new risks.

If you're looking for a New Year's resolution for your business, here are five trending risks where you should consider insurance cover to get your business insurance on track for the year ahead.

1. Legislation, regulation and the Federal Election
An Allianz survey recently identified changes in legislation and regulation as topping the list of business risks Australia business will be facing this year.

In fact, 36 per cent of respondents to the survey said they were most concerned about “increasing and more onerous regulation” - up 28 per cent from 2018.

This sentiment reflects a number of timely factors, including trade wars and tariffs (given the current tension between China and the USA), economic sanctions, protectionism, Brexit, and Euro-zone disintegration.

The next Federal Election must also be held on 18 May 2019, with many pundits predicting Labor will replace the Coalition in government.
A change in government could likely see a number of Coalition policies rolled back, as well as the implementation of Labor's own policies.
The policies and slated legislative changes that could affect your business will depend on what industry you're in, so speak to your local Steadfast broker, for a detailed summary of insurance implications.

2. Cyber risks
Over the last two years, almost half (43 per cent) of Australian organisations who responded to a survey conducted by PwC, said they had suffered a cyber attack. However PwC believes the actual figure is “probably much higher”.

PwC adds businesses still aren't doing enough to guard themselves against cyber threats.

The survey also showed, almost half (48 per cent) of businesses had not completed a cyber vulnerability assessment, while over one-third (36 per cent) didn’t have a cybersecurity plan in operation.

“Once solely the domain of large corporations, tech solutions that rely on Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning solutions are increasingly being taken up by small businesses”

3. Business Interruption
Allianz’s survey also showed that cyber incidents ranked as the most feared business interruption trigger for businesses.
However it's far from the only business interruption concern.

The results of the survey illustrated that businesses are also worrying about issues such as the impact that fire, explosion and natural catastrophes will have on business revenue.

The right Business Interruption Insurance policy can minimise some of these risks for your business. A business interruption policy can help ensure your business continues to run smoothly if the insured property is damaged or lost after a catastrophic event such as fire.
It can cover such things as ongoing costs, so your business can recover and rebuild.

4. Technological trends
Technology is a fluid beast to tame in the business world, and the pace of change is only accelerating.
Once solely the domain of large corporations, tech solutions that rely on Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning solutions are increasingly being taken up by small businesses.

Some are trialing new products to get the jump on their competitors, others are doing it on the fly because their rivals are, while others are using it to cut down costs and have chatbots act on their business's behalf.

Whatever your business' reasons, you need to make sure you correctly implement the technology and have the right Business Insurance, to help you cover off your risks.

5. The rise of the remote worker
Technology has changed the way employees work. It's no longer a nine-to-five world out there, with cloud computing technology enabling workers to access their emails and company files from anywhere in the world.

As such, employees are increasingly demanding more flexible hours and their employer's permission to work from home.
According to a global study by the International Workplace Group, 70 per cent of employees are working at least one day a week somewhere other than the office. More than half (53 per cent) work remotely for half the week or more.

This brings with it a whole set of Workplace Health and Safety risks, due to your duty of care as an employer to ensure employees are working in a safe environment.

In instances like this, it is crucial to have the most suitable Professional Indemnity Insurance, Management Liability Insurance and Workers’ Compensation Insurance to help ensure you are covered in the event of an accident or legal action.

However, if you decide to go the other route and harness the power of the “gig economy” by outsourcing to freelancers and contractors, that introduces a whole set of “grey area” risks on whether they can be deemed an employee of yours.

As such, this could open your business up to a potential lawsuit from the contractor around salaries, superannuation and working conditions down the track.

Speak to your local Steadfast broker for expert advice on the best insurance solutions for your business to help ensure your business is covered..