Killer petrol prices, rising food prices and now a hike in home insurance premiums – something has to go and that’s the insurance. Image: Generated by AI.
It’s been coming for some time now, a quandary that has been niggling me for the past few years.
Will I or won’t I renew my house insurance after eye-watering price hikes?
I came close last year to bailing out, but at the last minute I relented.
However, if ever there was a year to clock out, it’s this one with killer petrol prices and rising food prices.
What tipped me over the edge this year to cancel home insurance was the $500 rise in annual premiums that jumped from $1296 to $1802, including stamp duty and goods and services tax.
And that policy does not cover home contents. Why bother with that when my excess could buy a small car.
For 35 years, like so many other homeowners, I’ve never made a claim. I know I should be grateful for the lack of domestic disasters. But wouldn’t you think insurance companies could reward us folk for our loyalty by at least keeping annual premium hikes to a minimum?
From what I can gather from friends, the large increases this year are industry-wide.
We are basically paying top dollar for a service that allows us to sleep peacefully at night. I started to doubt even that this year after closely examining the rules and regulations on what they would and wouldn’t pay out on.
There were plenty of “yeahs but no buts” on the list. For example, if something in the house explodes and causes a fire they would cover the fire damage but not the thing that exploded.
If your house is flattened they will kindly remove up to 20 per cent of the debris but the other 80 per cent is up to you.
However, you can take comfort in knowing they do cover damage from earthquakes, volcanic eruption and tsunamis.
And something else apart from rising costs that irks people I spoke to is that insurance companies demand transparency, while pumping out word salads to explain their rules and regulations.
A friend who turns a shade of purple even talking about the topic summed up his feelings on home insurance this way: “If you can work out the difference between overland flooding, riverine flooding, storm water, general water damage etc, let me know. Most likely, my insurance will cover whatever water damage I don’t have.
“And don’t get me started on fire and bushfire,” he said.
Another friend, who just renewed her home insurance, learned that her company had brought in a new rule on GST and how it is applied when replacing or rebuilding a home.
“They expect transparency from customers but it took me two phone calls to get an explanation on this and I’m still not 100 per cent sure on what it means.”
Admittedly, insurance companies have been godsends for millions of people over the years, but on the flip side they are not fairly treating the customers who have helped make that possible.
I’ve never forgotten an interview I had with a retired insurance executive at his luxurious country home.
His exact words were, “Insurance is money for jam”.
But now, with customers forensically checking their policies, that might not always be the case.
The decision for many householders will likely come down to a choice between maintaining health or home insurance.
For people like me, I’ve opted to keep health insurance because I figure the likelihood of a new hip in the future is far more on the cards than a volcano or tsunami.
And don’t worry, you won’t see me on Go Fund Me because I do have a contingency plan.
