Partnering with EBM RentCover: FAQs for agents

05 Mar 2024 7 mins read

From fire and flood to loss of rent and tenant damage, landlord insurance is a great safety net when the unexpected happens… for both landlords and property managers!

While there is no legal requirement for investors to take out landlord insurance, it is evolving as best practice for property managers to have a fully-insured rent roll. Plus, if a property manager doesn’t advise a landlord about the value of insurance, and damage or loss occurs, the PM could end up in legal hot water. The moral of the story – insurance not only saves time and money for all involved, but also protects agents against public liability (cover which is often undervalued).

Choosing the right landlord insurance provider can mean the difference between managing an investment dream or nightmare. Below, find the answers to common questions asked by property managers when thinking of partnering with EBM RentCover…

Looking for common questions specific to landlord insurance, click here.

Why partner with a specialist landlord insurance provider?

Insurance is complicated. It is an industry bound by complex laws and regulations and appears to only offer coverage in very specific circumstances, which can be quickly undone by technicalities.

That is why it is important to align with a specialist landlord insurance partner to help you understand how to best protect the interest of your clients.

Can’t I just offer insurance on my own?

All companies or individuals who provide financial advice or deliver a financial service must be licensed under the Corporations Act. The Act – regulated by ASIC – is hundreds of pages long, but when it comes to insurance, it states that anyone who deals in a wide range of actives (including discussing insurance and arranging cover), must to do so under an Australian Financial Services Licence.

Many property managers do not hold their own licence, so they should have an agreement with a business that holds one (such as EBM RentCover). If they do not partner correctly with the right business, they risk running into legal trouble as they are ultimately not doing as the Act states, and will not be educated properly on legislative requirements associated with arranging cover for rentals.

What is EBM RentCover’s point of difference?

At EBM RentCover, we educate property professionals and work closely with the real estate industry to highlight the value of landlord insurance. We aim to simplify the complexities of the industry by offering support and guidance in times of need, and by keeping clients updated on the ever-changing property market.

Did you now??... EBM RentCover currently works with more than 1,800 property professionals across Australia.

Some key differentiators:

We aim to confirm the submission of a claim and start working on it within 24 hours
We paid out more than $47 million in claims in 2023
We are trusted by our underwriter to manage the majority of claims in-house, including for major losses for insured events like fire, storm and flood
Our team aims to settle most claims within five working days, assuming we have all the information we need from you.
Claims are usually assigned a dedicated claims specialist to work on it from start to finish (so you don’t bounce from one staff member to another)
We make it easy for you by having an online portal where clients can simply submit, review and process claims online

What options are there for aligning with EBM RentCover?

You can partner as a Distributor, Corporate Authorised Representative or Referrer. The different type of authorisation gives you different levels of responsibility.

In a nutshell:

Referrers are not authorised to provide a financial service or arrange insurance, but they can supply brochures, flyers and marketing material to clients so they can determine the most suitable cover for their investment. In some situations, referrers can pay premiums if they are not doing any other insurance related activity (check with your insurer).

Distributors must be appointed under an Australian Financial Services Licence and can do everything from arranging cover for a client to handing out information and paying premiums. What they can’t do is offer any advice.

Corporate Authorised Representatives must be appointed under an Australian Financial Services Licence and registered with ASIC. They are able to do everything a distributor can, in addition to providing certain advice. However, at EBM RentCover, we prefer our CARs do not offer any advice about our products. This is because there is greater risk for an agent to get into trouble if they say or do the wrong thing. Instead, what we like to do, is provide training and support to property managers and have their landlord contact us for detailed information.

How can EBM RentCover support my Property Management Team?

When you partner with EBM RentCover, you are assigned a dedicated Relationship Manager who aims to be an extension of your business, and ensures you are informed of the legal requirements that come with dealing in the insurance and financial services industry.

EBM RentCover also provides protection under its Professional Indemnity insurance for appointed distributors and Corporate Authorised Representatives. This means, if something goes wrong, when you were dealing with our products and services, our PI insurance may cover the cost of a legal defence and any damages you may have to pay. This gives extra peace of mind in case something goes wrong.

We have in-house legal counsel providing education and training to teams on how to minimise risk, and is available to assist clients faced with legal challenges regarding insurance (e.g. public liability).

And, we give Distributors and Corporate Authorised Representatives access to our unique agent portal – RCPLive. This site allows you to simply apply for cover, and guides you through a checklist of required documentation needed for a claim, compiling all relevant information in one place.

What about support for our landlords?

While we understand the property manager is the one typically applying for insurance and submitting claims on behalf of the landlord, the property owner obviously has a big interest in the day-to-day running of the property. If they ever have questions about cover, claims or their insurance requirements, we are happy to chat to them directly.

In addition, we are really passionate about educating landlords so they make the most informed decision about insurance. We can supply brochures and flyers which simply explain the type of cover they are receiving and have an online Info Centre where they can be navigated through the maze of insurance jargon.

Let’s not forget about our product offering. Our landlord insurance policies offer extra protection not typically covered in standard contents policies! Our policies include cover for insured events (fire, storm and flood), loss of rent, liability and tenant-related damage – this is a big tick for the landlord. For a full list of cover, check out our insurance page.

Lastly… do you have an investor night coming up? Your Relationship Manager may be able to attend and chat to your landlords about all things insurance.

Do you only offer landlord insurance?

EBM RentCover is part of the broader EBM Group. EBM Group’s broking division allows clients to access tailored insurance covering varying risks specific to the real estate industry, including professional indemnity, cyber cover and scalable business insurance.

Specialised brokers work alongside real estate businesses to recognise risk, develop complete insurance programs, and implement solutions to ensure peace of mind.

While EBM RentCover operates as an underwriting agency, the connection with EBM Group allows clients to access a range of expert brokers who are skilled at exploring possible risks and providing solutions.