How one phone call could wipe eight years off your mortgage
Locked into a mortgage with no end in sight? This simple hack could wipe almost a decade off your loan.
Outside mortgages, council rates and electricity bills the various insurance we pay are probably our next biggest expense as a combined cost.
Home, contents, car and health insurance take a massive chunk out of your pay every month.
While those insurance costs are a necessary evil and will always be there, they don’t necessarily need to account for such a huge slice of Aussie salaries as they currently do.
The solution? Simply picking up your phone.
The reality of the insurance landscape in Australia is the providers all want your business and they are willing to cut you a deal to get it – and keep it.
MORE: Sign RBA is creating ticking time bomb
MORE: Huge prediction for Aussie house prices
I recently received the renewal notice for our house’s building insurance through Youi.
After a few years of steady premium rises they were hitting my wallet again. The renewal notice stated my yearly premium was lifting from $1808 a year to $2308 a year.
That’s a hike of $500 on just one of the many insurance policies I need to have.
Incensed by the steep rise in my premium I called Youi and asked a simple question: Can you do anything about this hike or do I need to start shopping around for a new provider?
MORE: Home loan trap taking years to escape
MORE: Where the population has boomed most and why
I was instantly transferred to another department where a Youi representative ran some numbers that eventually spat out a new premium: $1572 per year.
That’s right, not only did I get a reduction in the premium they issued in my renewal notice but now I would be paying less than what I already was.
Instead of paying $500 more per year I would now be paying about $235 less – a turnaround of $735.
MORE: Countries that will pay Aussies $140k to move there
MORE: Aussie crypto millionaires’ secret money stash
We looked at my contents insurance while I was on the phone and that resulted in another $390 per year saving.
All because I picked up a phone and asked whether or not I was a valued customer.
Insurance companies love complacency. A person who can’t be bothered to phone and find out if there’s a better deal is easy money.
The money Aussies could save on some of their insurance policies is better off in their pockets than the insurance companies.
MORE: Aussie couple in 30s turn $60k into $153m
Better still, the money Aussies could save is better off on their mortgage instead.
For me, that saving across home and contents insurance equates to about $50 a month.
It might not sound like much when the number gets broken down like that but an extra $50 a month towards a typical $600,000, 30-year mortgage on a 5.85 per cent interest rate could pay a loan off 7-8 years earlier.
Mortgage free eight years earlier than scheduled? Not bad for one phone call.
Rumours swirl about buyer of $130m+ Toorak mansion
Melbourne billionaire Dennis Bastas has responded to rumours he purchased a Toorak estate that sold for a national house price record for as much as $150m.
Up Rent Assistance now: Retirees face homelessness
The federal government is being urged to boost Rent Assistance by up to 50 per cent to prevent a growing number of retirees from slipping below the poverty line and into homelessness.
$100m trump card in Kendrick v Drake feud
As Kendrick Lamar wowed crowds at the Superbowl and Drake gives away money to his fans at shows in Australia — their simmering feud continues to draw international attention.