Policy: Owner Property Insurance Claims Management

Company Position:

Property Providers vision is to “Help People Live Better” through being Sydney’s most flexible residential rental company. This vision is driven by three core values; Passion, Performance and Partnership.

Document Purpose:

The purpose of this document is to clearly communicate the company’s policy as it relates to how we process insurance claims on behalf of owners for their rental properties.

Background:

Many landlords assume nothing untoward will ever happen to their rental property. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Unexpected events do occur with even the most well-meaning tenants defaulting on their rent or accidentally damaging the property. Therefore, we recommend that all property investors purchase Landlord Insurance as it can save you significant losses in the long run. Landlord Insurance is a type of insurance policy designed specifically to help financially protect landlords from some of the common risks associated with renting their investment property. Making claims can be complex and overwhelming which is why it is considered outside the scope of regular Property Management. We have found that many of our owners/investors do not live locally and hence, need assistance with these cases. Managing insurance claims is a process/function that Property Providers can diligently complete if requested, however, we want to make our owners aware that there is an additional cost to do so as these requests requires a considerable amount of time to complete.

Policy Objectives:

To be upfront, clear, concise and consistent regarding the facilitation and management of insurance claims.
To minimize costs (i.e. time, money and other resources) to all parties involved in the claim by leveraging our direct expertise.
To deliver results/decisions by the insurance company quickly to minimize the impact to both the owner (and tenants if they are living there).
To be commercial and to share accountability and responsibility in a balanced way

Agency Policy:

For Property Providers to engage in insurance claim cases, we require the claim to have a minimum value of $2500. Property Providers’ hourly rate for managing insurance claims is $110 per hour (+GST) with a minimum 4-hour charge. It is understood that there are at least four hours of work required to prepare and submit forms and applications. The minimum initial commitment is therefore four hours and is to be paid upfront prior to action being taken. Time will be charged thereafter in 30-minute intervals along with any hard costs. Importantly, travel time will also be charged at the same rate.

Operational Mechanics:

The policy owner must provide Property Providers with permission to submit their claim. We ask you, the landlord, to assist us by informing your insurance provider to allow us to contact them and act on your behalf. As soon as this is approved, we take the hard work off your hands.
We as the agent, gather all the information needed (tenant ledger, submission report, outgoing reports, receipts, invoices, photos, statutory declarations) to compile a thorough file to maximise the amount you receive in return for the damages.
The owners will be required to approve the claim paperwork/file prior to it being submitted by the agency to the Insurer. At this stage, we ask the owner for any other feedback or direction that they would like to add to substantiate their claim.
When the file is completed containing all aspects of your property claim, it is then sent to your insurance company for assessment.
The agent will be contacted if any further information is required from the claim officer to support your claim or to answer any further questions needed.
Your policy is reviewed and assessed, and the scope of work is approved to be rectified.
The insurance payout will be deposited into the agencies trust account and appropriated to the property ledger in order to keep consolidated financial accounting (making tax reporting much faster and easier).
All agency fees will be deducted from your rental disbursement. If there are not enough funds in the ledger, then Property Providers will raise an invoice for the amount or balance amount due prior to commencing work on the claim.

Rationale:

As we are sure our owners appreciate, we want to invest our time on where we can achieve the very most positive results (hence the minimum claim value).
Processing property insurance claims is far more than an administrative function and requires a senior member of staff to conduct thorough research and due diligence. These claims pivot these resources away from our core business which we need account for.
Submitting insurance claims can take twice as long as you think it does and often involves many stakeholders (i.e. agency, owner, trades, tenants, neighbours, strata etc).
The agency needs to charge for this service as we do not derive income from insurance payouts.
To be successful in attaining an insurance payout, resources are required to make sure that the claims themselves adhere to the insurance company’s policy wording and that it is presented in a clear, concise, consistent and professional manner.

Overview:

As stated above, our guiding principle is that all successful long-term partnerships have a foundation of mutual investment, respect, risk and commitment. We seek to pursue only win-win relationships and outcomes. As agents and property managers, we do our best to select quality tenants for your properties, however, sometimes circumstances and situation change. Landlord Insurance is a must to cover the incidentals of renting your property.

Effective Date: This policy is effective May 1^st, 2019.