Changes to EBM RentCover's PDS in 2021

Earlier in the year, new laws protecting consumers from unfair terms in contracts for financial products and services were applied. What does this mean for you? Keep reading to find out how this new legislation impacts landlords and their investment properties…

In April 2021, legislation was extended to make sure all insurers considered the impact the wording of their policies had on consumers and claims. With the consumer in mind, many insurers removed or qualified any potential ‘unfair’ terms or wording in their policies.

At EBM RentCover, we enjoyed the process of working with our Underwriter to update our Product Disclosure Statements (PDS). What we did was ultimately make our policy wordings clearer and we achieved this by:

• making it easier for clients to understand what is and isnt covered
• qualifying overly broad terms so that they only apply in specific situations
• amending policies to provide greater transparency and clarity.

Below are a few examples of updates made to our PDS to better support landlords who have cover through EBM RentCover:

• Faulty workmanship/defects – this definition was expanded to cover situations where the insured person could not reasonably have known of the faulty workmanship or defects.
• Subtenancy – it is now clearer that our policies will respond to subtenancy in certain circumstances where the policyholder was unaware it was occurring.
• Insured events – there were several changes made to the wording in the PDS about insured events, including simplifying fire-related claims so clients can now simply claim for charring, melting, or scorching without the presence of a flame.
• Cancellation fees – we no longer charge a cancellation fee on our policies.

In addition, EBM RentCover has expanded the definition of several events including Acts of terrorism, Acts of the sea, and Damage or damaged. Please read the PDS for complete definitions and to better understand what is and isn’t covered.

The new laws protecting consumers from unfair terms in contracts is just one example of change. There are sure to be further implications to the insurance industry on the back of the recent Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (Royal Commission) – which ultimately was established on the back of poor and unjust consumer experience.

For insurance providers, many of the implications of the Royal Commission are set to be realised later in the year. We will update landlords and agents as new legislation is introduced. In the meantime, if you have any questions about cover and claims, please contact the EBM RentCover team on 1800 661 662.

*While we have taken care to ensure the information above is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances and legislation after the displayed date may impact the accuracy of this article. If you need us we are here, contact 1800 661 662 if you have any questions.