Introducing the new Apia Village Style Residence Insurance Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for policies renewing on or after 23 March 2021. The PDS contains important information you need to know about your Apia insurance product, please ensure you read it carefully.
We’ve changed the layout of the PDS to help make it easier to understand. And we have also made other changes to the policy – we have added and changed covers and we have added and changed exclusions and conditions.
Below are some examples of things we have changed:
- Extra support (new section in your PDS)
- Your responsibilities
- When you need to contact us about changes (we have expanded the situations when you need to contact us)
- Excess (when and how to pay)
- What good condition of your home, unit or contents means
- Things we don’t cover
- Temporary accommodation cover after an insured event
- How we settle your claim
- Lifetime guarantee on authorised home repairs
- Joint policyholders
- Conduct of others (new section in your PDS)
For full details, please refer to your PDS.
Details of some of the changes to the PDS
Changes when there are joint policyholders
During the period of insurance, we might ask all joint policyholders first before we action a request or direction in relation to your policy (e.g. before we cancel your policy, reduce your cover or remove another policyholder). This way we can help protect the interests of all policyholders.
Contents stored at a residential complex (contents cover only)
We have changed the limit. The total amount we will pay for any one incident is $10,000. Limits for the maximum amount we will pay per individual item or theft claim remains unchanged.
Home office equipment
There is no longer a fixed limit on home office equipment.
Temporary accommodation for tenants or strata title owners
The limit of cover has been revised and the most we will pay for any one incident is 10% of your contents sum insured. Previously the limit was up to 20% of the contents sum insured for a maximum of 52 weeks.
Personal valuables cover
The types of contents that you can cover under these optional covers have been updated. Such as for clarity hearing aids have been added as an example of personal valuables.
Please read the PDS carefully.
When you need to contact us
We have expanded the list of situations in which you need to contact us. For example, you need to contact us if you have had another insurer cancel or decline an insurance policy, impose specific conditions on a policy or refuse a claim during the period of insurance.
You need to tell us if you:
- start manufacture, farming or repair work or if there are changes to a business activity at the insured address; or
- lease or rent 2 or more rooms to tenants or paying guests.
Conduct of others
When we consider a claim, we will have regard to any prejudice you have suffered due to the conduct of others and we may meet the claim when we are not legally required to do so.
Excess
We have clarified that there is no requirement to pay the excess upfront when you first lodge your claim.
Summary of cover table
New ‘Summary of cover’ table including insured events, additional covers and optional covers to assist you with navigating the new format.
Temporary accommodation when you have home cover
The limit has been revised and the most we will pay for any one incident is 10% of your home sum insured. Previously the limit was up to 20% of the home sum insured for a maximum of 52 weeks.
To boost transparency we have added the types of utility connection costs we will pay reasonable and necessary costs for at the temporary accommodation residence, such as water, electricity or gas.
The reference to ‘cannot live there’ has been removed and replaced with the defined term ‘cannot be lived in’.
What we do not cover as the home
We have updated the PDS to state we do not cover any part of the home used for farming of any description (including buildings used for hobby farms) such as, but not limited to, a barn, dairy, shearing shed, silo or stable. This limitation does not include any building which could be used for farming but is not used for that purpose.
Your responsibilities
Several changes have been made to the ‘Your responsibilities’ section, including the below.
The reference to ‘take reasonable care’ to prevent theft, loss, damage or legal liability has been replaced with ‘take steps’. Ensuring there are working smoke detectors in the building is given as an example of a step you can take.
The obligation to keep the home compliant with building regulations and laws has been changed to apply ‘when construction, alterations or repairs are undertaken’. An example has been inserted for transparency.
Details of some of the changes to the Claims Section
How we settle your claim
Apia has included updates around how we settle both home and contents claims.
For home claims, how we settle broadly depends on whether a member of our supplier network can complete the repair or rebuild or alternatively, if a member of our supplier network is unable to complete the repair or rebuild.
For contents claims, how we settle will depend on whether the contents need to be repaired or replaced, the applicable limits under your policy and the type of settlement you request.
Please read the PDS carefully.
Lifetime guarantee on home repairs
If we pay you for the repair or rebuild, the lifetime guarantee on home repairs does not apply. When the lifetime guarantee does apply, we will guarantee the standard of the workmanship to be free of defects. We no longer guarantee the quality of materials.
Our right to recover from those who are responsible
We have added examples of the assistance that may be required from you if we take action against a party for the recovery of your loss.
How we settle home claims
There have been some key changes to how we settle home claims.
We will always aim to repair or rebuild the damage to the home using a member of our supplier network.
If you do not accept our offer to repair or rebuild, your claim will be cash settled. This amount will be based on the assessed quote amount for a member of our builder supplier network to repair or rebuild on a ‘new for old’ basis (and your sum insured). This cash settlement amount may be less than what it would cost you to arrange a repair or rebuild in the open market (due to the supplier discounts available to Apia).
Alternatively, if for whatever reason, a member of our supplier network is unable to complete the repair or rebuild, we will ask you to engage a builder to provide a scope of works and provide a quote on the cost to repair or rebuild on a ‘new for old’ basis. Following an assessment process, if that quote is appropriate and reasonable, we will pay you the assessed amount.
Matching undamaged parts
We now have a limit of $1,000 per incident when repairing, replacing, or rebuilding undamaged parts of the home or contents in order to achieve a uniform appearance where the loss or damage occurred.
