Householders cop increased insurance bills

MACKAY residents have been slammed with hundreds of dollars extra on their house and contents insurance bills this year.

Insurance broker Jane Saron. . Picture: Peter Holt

MACKAY residents have been slammed with hundreds of dollars extra on their house and contents insurance bills this year as companies bump up rates in "high-risk" areas of north Queensland.

Phil Doring Insurance Brokers Mackay branch manager Jane Saron said there had been house and contents insurance rate increases throughout north Queensland almost every year for the last five years.

Ms Saron said insurance holders were also slugged an extra 5% to 7.5% in their bills each year as an automatic increase.

"Some people do renovations throughout the year or they buy a new TV or a washing machine or dryer," Ms Saron said

"They might not remember to ring up their company and increase their limit, so it's automatically increased every 12 months."

She suggested people looking to save on their insurance bills should walk through their home with a pen and paper, listing the items they own and then doing a tally of how much their content was worth.

"A lot of the time people are over-insured because insurance companies are doing that yearly increase.

"Start off by having a look at the insurance on your building and what it's worth and what excesses you're paying then do a walk through your home and calculate yourself what it's all worth."

Ms Saron said house and contents insurance cover should be judged on an individual basis.

"You've got your single man who has just bought a home and probably has the bare essentials," she said.

"He's going to need different cover to the family of four with bedrooms full of stuff in an established house.

"The average premium for a standard house and contents, depending on the type of cover, you'd have anywhere from $1500 to $3000."

What we claim

The most common things people claim on their house and contents insurance in Mackay are -

• Burst water pipes.
• Glass breakage.
• Motor burnouts.

Originally published as Householders cop increased insurance bills