Page 189 - Australian House & Garden (January 2020)
P. 189

Christma



              Property                                                                                                      cash giveaway!

              TA K E  COV ER


                                                                                                                                                   12 issues of
                                                                                                                                                 Australian House
              Home insurance can be expensive, so it pays to                                                                                    $ & Garden for
                                                                                                                                                   69.
                                                                                                                                                           99
              understand what you’re buying, writes Harvey Grennan.
                                                                                                                                                    via automatic
                                                                                                                                                      renewal

                   ive in NSW? You could be paying a          an address to discover the particular                                                       SAVE
                   lot more for home insurance than           risks your insurance company                                                                 31%
             Lthose in other states (assuming the             attributes to that property. And be
              risk factors are the same). Why?                aware that while many policies include
              Because more than half your bill is             flood cover, some treat it as an extra.                                                             IONS
              probably taxes – GST, stamp duty and,           Or sometimes you can opt out. So back
              increasingly, an ‘emergency services            to the key question: how to get the
              levy’. In other states, taxes make up           best premium? Campbell Fuller,
              about 20 per cent of the bill. For              spokesman for the Insurance Council

              homeowners in the ACT, GST is the only          of Australia, offers these tips:
              tax applied. It’s possible that this tax        ✚ Shop around each year when you
              slug is part of the reason 15-17 per cent         receive your renewal notice. Be sure                      Give
              of owner-occupiers in NSW don’t bother            to compare coverage too.                               someone
              to insure their home at all, compared to        ✚ Opt for a higher excess amount in the                you love the
                                                                                                                        perfect
              a figure of 5 per cent nationally.                event of a claim, which will reduce                    Christmas
                 In NSW, insurance companies are                the premium.                                              gift!
              legally obliged to remind you of the            ✚ Bundle home, car and any other
              previous year’s bill when the next one            policies with the same insurer to                                                      magazines
                                                                                                                                                       Over 300
              hits, so you at least know if you’re              obtain a discount.                                                                     to choose
              paying more or less. So how do you go           ✚ Consider home improvements that                                                           from!
              about payingaslittleaspossiblefor                 may reduce your premium. (For
              yourhomeinsurance policy? We’ll                   advice see the MyHazards app.)
              get to that, but first a few facts to             Non-insurance among tenants is
              demystify how the home-insurance                chronic issue, adds Fuller. “The landlord
              system works and the tools available            is reponsible for insuring the building,
              to help you navigate it.                        but two-thirds of tenants do not take
                 It is a common misconception that            out insurance for their contents.”                      Subscribe for your chance
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              that. Premiums are set by the degree of         cautions that there would be only                      Win a share of $50,000 cash just by ordering
                                                                                                                      a subscription to any of our magazines. We
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                                                               Council, up to 83 per cent of households
              individually facing each and every               under-insure because they underestimate                or call 136 116 and quote M19XHGN
              one of Australia’s 11 million properties.        replacement costs, do not update their

              As of June this year, you can access this        policy when making improvements or do not              Competition starts on 14/10/2019 and closes 27/01/2020 at 11:59pm.
              information yourself on the MyHazards            factor in higher rebuild standards if an area is       The competition is open to all residents of Australia aged 18 years
                                                                                                                      or over who subscribe or renew their subscription to one or more
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                                                                                                                      of  our  privacy  policy.  For  full  terms  and  conditions  of  entry,  visit
                                                                                                                      www.magshop.com.au/christmas-tc.  The  Promoter  is  Bauer  Media
                                                                                                                      Pty Ltd (ABN 18 053 273 546). Authorised under permit numbers:
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                                                                                                                      based  on  the  Australian  House  &  Garden  magazine  cover  price
                                                                                                                      $8.50. Automatic renewal: After the fi rst 12 issues the subscription
                                                                                                                      will  renew  and  be  billed  as  $69.99  every  12  issues  thereafter,  the
                                                                                                                                subscription renews unless cancelled.
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