Statement of Conditions

Home Buildings

Insurance Policy

and information

Customer information

About this insurance..................................................................................................................................................................................

1

General Insurance Code of Practice.....................................................................................................................................................

1

About your policy......................................................................................................................................................................................

2

Understanding your policy..................................................................................................................................................................

2

“You” and “us” and other defined words............................................................................................................................................

2

The insurance contract.............................................................................................................................................................................

3

Your premium.......................................................................................................................................................................................

3

When your insurance starts.................................................................................................................................................................

4

Terms of the contract...........................................................................................................................................................................

4

14 day money back guarantee..........................................................................................................................................................

4

Others you want this insurance to protect...........................................................................................................................................

5

Your sum insured.......................................................................................................................................................................................

5

How claims affect your sum insured................................................................................................................................................

6

The protection we offer............................................................................................................................................................................

6

Claims...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

7

Making a claim.....................................................................................................................................................................................

7

If we agree you have a claim.............................................................................................................................................................

8

When we may refuse a claim..................................................................................................................................................................

9

Cancelling your insurance......................................................................................................................................................................

11

Duty of disclosure......................................................................................................................................................................................

11

Your duty...............................................................................................................................................................................................

12

If you fail in your duty........................................................................................................................................................................

12

Information you do not have to give us...........................................................................................................................................

12

Disputes........................................................................................................................................................................................................

13

Policy wording

Part 1 Loss or damage to your home.....................................................................................................................................................

14

The events we insure you for......................................................................................................................................................................

14

1

Fire...................................................................................................................................................................................................................

14

2

Explosion........................................................................................................................................................................................................

14

3

Lightning.........................................................................................................................................................................................................

15

4

Earthquake.....................................................................................................................................................................................................

15

5

Flood or action of the sea............................................................................................................................................................................

15

6

Storm, snow or hail.......................................................................................................................................................................................

16

7

Rain.................................................................................................................................................................................................................

16

8

Act intended to cause loss or damage.......................................................................................................................................................

17

9

Theft or attempted theft..............................................................................................................................................................................

17

10

Escape of liquid.............................................................................................................................................................................................

18

11

Riot or civil disorder......................................................................................................................................................................................

19

12

Impact.............................................................................................................................................................................................................

19

13

Falling tree or branch....................................................................................................................................................................................

20

What we pay

20

A

Repairing or rebuilding your home.............................................................................................................................................................

20

B

Additional expenses we pay for.................................................................................................................................................................

22

Limits on what we pay

25

Part 2 Glass - accidental breakage..........................................................................................................................................................

27

What we insure you for................................................................................................................................................................................

27

What we do not insure you for...................................................................................................................................................................

28

What we pay..................................................................................................................................................................................................

28

Limits on what we pay.................................................................................................................................................................................

28

Part 3 Fusion of electrical motors.........................................................................................................................................................

29

What we insure you for..............................................................................................................................................................................

29

What we do not insure you for.................................................................................................................................................................

29

What we pay................................................................................................................................................................................................

30

Limits on what we pay...............................................................................................................................................................................

31

Part 4 Owner’s or occupier’s legal liability........................................................................................................................................

32

What we insure you for..............................................................................................................................................................................

32

What we do not insure you for.................................................................................................................................................................

33

What we pay................................................................................................................................................................................................

34

Limits on what we pay...............................................................................................................................................................................

35

Part 5 Strata title homes..........................................................................................................................................................................

36

What we insure you for..............................................................................................................................................................................

36

What we pay................................................................................................................................................................................................

36

What we do not pay...................................................................................................................................................................................

36

Limits on what we pay...............................................................................................................................................................................

36

Part 6 General exclusions........................................................................................................................................................................

37

Part 7 Definitions.......................................................................................................................................................................................

38

Customer information

About this insurance

Thank you for insuring your home with Defence Service Homes Insurance. Your home is probably worth more than any of your other possessions, so it is important that you insure it effectively. We have designed this policy to provide you with exactly that kind of security. Not only do we offer to effectively protect you against loss and damage to your home, we also offer to protect you against related expenses, broken glass, fusion of electric motors, and owner’s or occupier’s legal liability.

This insurance is available as a benefit for people who qualify under the Defence Services Homes Act or the Home Loans Assistance Act.

General Insurance Code of Practice

The Defence Service Homes Insurance Scheme has voluntarily adopted the General Insurance Code of Practice.

The Code sets out standards of good practice and service. It provides guidelines for claims handling, dispute resolution, agent and employee training, and for writing policies and other insurance documents. In doing this, the aim of the Code is to promote both an improved standard of insurance, and good relations between insurers, insurance agents, and consumers.

If you want further information about the Code, please contact your local state office.

(Phone numbers for all state offices are listed on the back of this policy.)

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

1

2

About your policy

This booklet is your insurance policy. It tells you the types of loss or damage we will and will not pay for. It also tells you your rights and obligations and what may happen if you fail in your obligations.

Understanding your policy

We have written your policy in Plain English to make it easier for you to understand.

If you have any questions about the policy or if you need us to explain any part of it to you, please contact your local state office. (Phone numbers for all state offices are listed on the back of this policy.)

Make sure you read all of it carefully, and keep it in a safe place with your certificate.

“You” and “us” and other defined words

In your policy and certificate:

“you” or “your” means any person named as “the insured” on your certificate.

“we” or “our” or “us” means Defence Service Homes Insurance Scheme.

Some other words used in your policy and certificate have special defined meanings. We either explain the word’s meaning in the place it appears, or, if the word is in bold, we explain its meaning in the Definitions section on pages 38 – 40.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

The insurance contract

When you buy this policy, you are making a contract of insurance with us.

In this contract:

■ you agree to pay us a premium, and in return

■ we agree to provide you with the insurance described in this policy and which is shown on your certificate.

Your premium

Your premium is the amount you must pay us for the insurance we provide. You must pay a premium when you first buy the policy and each year that you renew the policy. When you renew your policy, we adjust your premium so that it takes account of any changes in building costs we insure you for.

The premium you must pay is shown on your certificate. You must pay this amount by the date shown on your certificate as the starting date for the policy. (The starting date is the first date that appears after “Period:” in the certificate.)

If you do not pay your premium by the starting date for the policy, then:

■ if a financial institution is named under “Other interested parties” on your certificate, we may ask it to pay your premium, or

■ if you have not mortgaged your home or used it to get a loan, we may cancel your insurance.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

3

4

When your insurance starts

Your insurance only starts when you pay us the “Amount Due” shown on your certificate. This is the amount of your premium and government charges. If you are renewing your policy, the amount due also includes money you still owe us, or credits we owe you. Remember, if you do not pay us, you have no insurance.

Terms of the contract

Your policy and certificate are the terms of the contract. These are the terms that apply if you make a claim, so it is important that you:

■ read both of these documents fully and carefully, and

■ make sure that all information on your certificate is accurate and up to date.

14 day money back guarantee

If you are not totally satisfied, you may cancel the insurance contract up to 14 days after you receive it by:

■ telling us in writing that you want to cancel it, and

■ returning the policy and certificate to your local state office. (You will find the address on the back of this policy.)

If you cancel the contract in this time, we will:

■ return to you all of the premium you have paid us, and

■ treat your contract with us as though it never existed.

To cancel at other times, please see “Cancelling your insurance” on page 11.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

Others you want this insurance to protect

If someone other than you has an interest in your home (for example, a bank that is mortgagee of your home), and if you want this policy to protect their interest, then:

■ you must tell us in writing who they are and what interest they have in your home, and

■ we must consent to insuring them with this policy, and

■ their names must be shown under “Other interested parties” on your certificate.

Unless all of these things happen, this policy may not protect them.

Your sum insured

Your sum insured is the total amount that you insure your home for using this policy. We work out this amount and show it on your certificate.

Your sum insured is made up of:

■ the amount we estimate that it would cost to totally rebuild your home, plus

■ an amount to cover these additional expenses (see pages 22–25):

– temporary accommodation

– lost rent

– extra costs related to building

– landlord’s fixtures and fittings

– legal costs for discharge of mortgage.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

5

6

When it is time to renew your policy, we adjust your sum insured so that it takes account of any changes in building costs.

If you think that the sum insured shown on your certificate is not enough to properly insure your home, please contact your local state office as soon as possible. (Phone numbers for all state offices are listed on the back of this policy.)

How claims affect your sum insured

If we pay you a claim that is less than the sum insured, the amount of the sum insured automatically returns to what it was just before you made the claim. This means that the next claim you make will be against the restored amount of the sum insured.

You do not have to pay us any extra premium for restoring your sum insured in this way.

If we pay you any claim that is equal to the sum insured, your insurance contract with us ends.

The protection we offer

This policy tells you the types of loss or damage we will and will not pay for. It is important that you read all of the policy to make sure you understand the protection we offer.

It is also important that you are aware of the limits on the amounts we pay you in this policy. You can find these limits in the policy in the “Limits on what we pay” sections.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

Claims

Making a claim

Please note, if more than one person is insured with this policy, we will treat a claim by any one of those people as a claim by all of those people.

As soon as possible after the event that causes loss or damage, you must:

■ report the event to the Police if it involves loss or damage to your property caused by:

– acts intended to cause loss or damage

– theft or attempted theft

– a vehicle colliding with your home

(You must cooperate with the Police in their investigations.)

■ contact us and tell us the details of what has happened

■ give us reasonable time to inspect the loss or damage before you let anyone fix or interfere with it

■ give us any information about the claim that we ask you for

■ tell us about any other insurance you have for the type of loss or damage that you are claiming for with this policy

■ protect the home and site against further loss or damage

■ complete our claim form, if we ask for one, and take or mail it to your local state office. (You will find the address on the back of this policy.)

Where possible, you should keep evidence of the value of insured property and also of the costs of loss or damage (for

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

7

8

example valuation certificates and receipts). This will help to minimise delay in processing your claim.

If we agree you have a claim

It is important to note these rights we have if we agree you have a claim:

■ We may give information about your insurance to solicitors, loss adjusters or any other people who act for us in assessing, investigating, settling or defending the claim.

■ Only we have the right to:

– settle or defend the claim, or

– make or accept any offer or payment, or in any other way admit you are liable.

■ If the loss or damage you claim for was caused by someone else, we can use any of the legal rights you have against that person to try and recover the amount of your claim. This means that we can take that person to court and sue them for the loss or damage using your name. Only we have the right to take the matter to court. If we go to court, we decide how we will argue or settle your case.

If we recover money from the person who caused the loss or damage, we keep an amount equal to the amount we paid you for the claim. If we recover more than that amount, you are entitled to the extra money.

You must cooperate with us in our attempts to legally recover the amount of the claim

■ Once we pay your claim, we may take possession of the

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

damaged property. If we do, we decide what we will do with it.

When we may refuse a claim

1. You must tell us in writing if:

■ your home is going to be unoccupied for more than 60 days straight, or

■ you, your family, or anyone who lives in your home, is going to start using the home or part of it, for business purposes, or

■ you, or someone with your consent, is going to improve, modify or add to the home.

If you do not tell us about these things in writing before they happen, we may refuse your claim.

2. We may refuse a claim if you:

■ fail in your duty of disclosure (see pages 11 – 12)

■ fail to send to us as soon as possible after you receive them, any:

– letters,

– notices, or

– court documents,

relating to any incident or event that resulted or could result in a claim.

■ unreasonably refuse to give us the information and help we ask you for.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

9

10

3. We may refuse a claim or reduce the amount we pay you for your claim if:

■ you make a fraudulent claim, or

■ the loss or damage you claim for is intentionally caused by you or by a person acting with your consent.

4. We may refuse a claim if you fail to take reasonable care to:

■ protect and maintain the home and site,

■ prevent death, bodily injury, or illness to other people, or loss or damage to their property, or

■ comply with all laws and regulations for protecting people or their property.

5. We may refuse a claim if you do any of the following without us first agreeing to it:

■ make or accept any offer or payment, or in any other way admit you are liable for the loss or damage,

■ settle or defend a claim, or

■ sue a person who causes the loss or damage.

6. We may refuse a claim if you do not cooperate with us in our attempts to:

■ assess a claim,

■ settle or defend a claim, or

■ recover the amount we pay for a claim from whoever caused the loss or damage.

We may also refuse a claim if you do not cooperate with our solicitors, loss adjusters, investigators or any other

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

people who act for us in any of these matters.

Please note, cooperating with us includes going to court to give evidence if we need you to.

Cancelling your insurance

You may cancel your insurance contract at any time by telling us in writing that you want to cancel it.

We may only cancel your insurance contract when the law says we can. We must either send or give you a written notice telling you that we are cancelling it.

In either case, we subtract from any premium you pay us:

– an amount to cover the period that we have already insured you for, and

– administrative fees for issuing and cancelling the contract,

then return the balance of the premium to you.

If you cancel the insurance contract within 14 days of receiving it, we will return all the premium you have paid us. Please see “14 day money back guarantee” on page 4.

Duty of disclosure

We rely on the information you give us in your application to decide if we should insure you or not. Because this information is so important to us, the law says there are certain matters that you must tell us about when you apply for this insurance. The law calls this your duty of disclosure.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

11

12

Your duty

Before you enter into the insurance contract you must tell us everything that you:

■ know, or

■ could reasonably be expected to know,

is relevant to us deciding if and on what terms we will insure you.

You must also do this every time you renew, extend, or make changes to your policy, but only for matters you have not told us about before.

If you fail in your duty

If you do not tell us about these matters at the proper time, we may do any of the following:

■ decrease the amount we pay you for a claim

■ refuse to pay you a claim

■ treat your contract with us as though it never existed (if you fraudulently kept information from us)

■ cancel your policy.

It is important to note that if more than one person is insured with this policy, we will treat an act, omission, or a statement or claim by any one of those people as an act, omission, or a statement or claim by all of those people.

Information you do not have to give us

You do not have to tell us anything:

■ that we say or indicate we do not want to know, or

■ that we know or, as insurers, we should know, or

■ that decreases the risk we are insuring you for, or

■ that is common knowledge.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

Disputes

If you disagree with our decision, please discuss it with us so we can try to resolve the matter. If we cannot resolve the matter, you can ask to have it dealt with by our Internal Disputes Handling procedure. If you still disagree with our final decision on your claim, you can use external procedures to try to resolve the dispute. These external procedures include:

■ having the matter reviewed by the General Insurance Claims Review Panel (This service is free but is for claim matters only.)

■ taking the matter to court

■ having the matter mediated or arbitrated

■ having the matter reviewed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

If you want further information about disputes, please contact your local state office. (The address and phone numbers for all state offices are listed on the back of this policy.)

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

13

14

Policy wording

Part 1        Loss or damage to your home

The events we insure you for

We only insure you if the loss or damage to the home:

■ is caused by one or more of the 13 events we list below, and

■ happens in the period of insurance, and

■ is not excluded either by the specific exclusions we list in this section under “What we do not insure you for”, or the General exclusions we list on page 37.

1 Fire

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to your home caused by fire.

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you for loss or damage to your home that is caused by burning or heat, if that happens without flames.

2 Explosion

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to your home caused by explosion.

3 Lightning or thunderbolt

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to your home caused by lightning or thunderbolt.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you for loss or damage to your home that is caused by a surge of electrical power, unless that power surge is directly caused by a lightning strike.

4 Earthquake

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to your home caused by earthquake.

You must pay the first $200 of each claim we agree to pay for loss or damage caused in an earthquake event. An earthquake event begins with the first earthquake and ends 48 hours after that. If there is another earthquake outside this 48 hour period, it begins a new earthquake event. You must pay another $200 if we agree to pay your claim for loss or damage that happens in a new earthquake event.

5 Flood or action of the sea

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to your home caused by:

■ the action of the sea

(By “action of the sea” we mean the rise or fall of the sea over a short period of time.)

■ a tidal wave

■ flood.

(By “flood” we mean the covering of normally dry land

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

15

16

by water escaping or released from the normal boundaries of any:

– watercourse or lake, whether or not modified, or

– reservoir, canal or dam.)

6 Storm, snow or hail

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to your home caused by storm, snow or hail.

By “storm” we mean a violent wind that may occur with thunder or heavy rain.

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you for loss or damage caused by wind, rain, snow or hail entering your home unless it enters because of structural damage to your home that is directly caused by the storm, snow or hail.

7 Rain

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to your home caused by rain. Rain includes that part of the rainfall that is not absorbed by the soil but runs off as surface water.

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you for loss or damage caused by rain seeping into or entering the home because of:

■ defects in the structure or design of the home

■ defects in building work done on the home

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

■ an opening made in the home so that it could be added to, renovated, repaired or modified

■ failing to properly maintain the home.

We also do not insure you for loss or damage to the external paint work or other external coatings on the home.

8 Act intended to cause loss or damage

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to your home caused by any act that is intended to cause loss or damage.

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you if the act that causes the loss or damage is by someone who:

■ lives in your home, or

■ is at the home or site with your consent or the consent of the person who lives in your home.

9 Theft or attempted theft

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to your home caused by theft or attempted theft.

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you if the theft or attempted theft was by someone who:

■ lives in the home, or

■ is at the site or home with your consent or the consent of the person who lives in your home.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

17

18

10 Escape of liquid

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to your home caused by the sudden bursting, leaking, discharging or overflowing of liquid from any:

■ shower base or shower walls

■ fixed tank

■ fixed pipe

■ gutters

■ drain

■ other equipment that is fixed to your home and used mainly to hold or carry liquid.

If we agree to pay your claim for loss or damage caused by this event, we will also pay the reasonable cost of finding the source of the escaped liquid.

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you for loss or damage that is caused by liquid splashing or gradually escaping because of something other than a sudden burst, leak, discharge or overflow.

We do not insure you for the costs of repairing or replacing:

■ the defective item, or a defective part of the item, that causes the loss or damage, or

■ any leaking shower base or shower walls.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

11 Riot or violent civil disorder

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to the home caused by riot or violent civil disorder.

12 Impact

What we insure you for

By “impact” we mean sudden and violent collision.

We insure you for loss or damage to the home caused by the impact of any:

■ animal that is not kept at the home or site

■ vehicle, watercraft, aircraft, sonic boom from an aircraft

■ space debris, debris from any aircraft, rocket or satellite

■ television aerial or radio aerial or its mast.

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you for loss or damage to the home caused by:

■ any animal kept at the home or site

■ any animal or bird biting, chewing, pecking or scratching

■ insects or vermin.

We also do not insure you for loss or damage to a television aerial or a radio aerial or its mast unless that loss or damage is caused by an event we insure in this policy.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

19

20

13 Falling tree or branch

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to the home caused by a falling tree or branch.

If we agree to pay your claim, we also pay the reasonable costs of removing the fallen tree or branch to the nearest dumping ground.

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you for loss or damage to the home caused by lopping or felling a tree if that is done by you or with your consent.

What we pay

A. Repairing or rebuilding your home

If we agree to pay a claim for loss or damage to the home, we may choose to:

■ pay you a cash amount for what we think are the reasonable costs of repairing or rebuilding the home, or

■ pay the reasonable costs you actually incur in repairing the home if it is damaged (but if it costs less to rebuild the damaged part of the home than to repair it, we will pay the reasonable costs of rebuilding it instead), or

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

■ pay the reasonable costs you actually incur in rebuilding the home if it is destroyed.

Please note, if we agree with you that it would be inappropriate to rebuild the home, we will pay you the market value of the home before it was destroyed less the amount it costs us to pay off any mortgage on the home.

We will pay the reasonable costs of repairing or rebuilding the home so that, as far as possible, it is in the same condition as it was in immediately before the loss or damage occurred.

Where possible, we will pay the reasonable costs of matching materials used in repairing or rebuilding with those originally used. But we do not promise to repair or rebuild the home to exactly as it was before the loss or damage occurred.

We only pay the costs of repairing or rebuilding those parts of the home that are directly destroyed or damaged by an event. We may not pay to repair or rebuild any other part of the home just so that it matches the part that is repaired or rebuilt.

If you have to rebuild the home, you may build it on another site but if changing the site increases the costs of rebuilding the home, you must pay the amount of this increase.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

21

22

Please note, we will only pay the reasonable costs of repairing or rebuilding the home if:

■ the home has been kept in good repair and condition. This means it must be structurally sound, secure, and well maintained. If it is not, we have to reassess the value of the home before we work out the costs we will pay you. We do this by decreasing the value of the home, taking into account its age and the extent it has deteriorated.

■ you start repairing or rebuilding the home within 6 months from when the loss or damage happens. If you do not, and the delay increases the costs of repair or rebuilding, you must pay the amount of that increase.

Please also note, we will only pay your costs in getting quotes or inspection reports if we agree to do so before you get them.

B. Additional expenses we pay for

As part of your sum insured, we insure you for these additional expenses:

■ temporary accommodation (page 23)

■ lost rent (page 23)

■ landlord’s fixtures and fittings (page 24)

■ extra costs related to building (page 24)

■ legal costs for discharge of mortgage (page 25).

Please note, the most we will pay in total for all of these additional expenses that you claim for in each period of insurance is 20% of the sum insured.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

❖ Temporary accommodation

We will pay you the reasonable costs of temporary accommodation (including temporary accommodation for your household pets) if:

■ we agree to pay your claim for loss or damage to the home, and

■ the loss or damage makes the home unfit to live in.

We will only pay you the reasonable costs of temporary accommodation that you are actually responsible for paying.

We will pay these costs:

■ for the reasonable time it takes to repair or rebuild the home, or

■ for up to 12 months from the date of the loss or damage, whichever is less.

❖ Lost rent

We will pay you for lost rent if:

■ we agree to pay your claim for loss or damage to the home, and

■ the loss or damage makes the home unfit to live in, and

■ at the time of the loss or damage you are leasing out the home.

We will pay you lost rent:

■ for the reasonable time it takes to repair or rebuild the home, or

■ for up to 12 months from the date of the loss or damage, whichever is less.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

23

24

❖ Landlord’s fixtures and fittings

We will pay you for loss or damage to landlord’s fixtures and fittings if:

■ the loss or damage is caused by one of the events we insure, and

■ you are not living in the home at the time of the loss or damage, but someone else is living there with your consent.

By “landlord’s fixtures and fittings” we mean any of these items that are in the home for the person living there to use:

■ items that are permanently fixed to the home

■ internal blinds and curtains

■ carpets.

In each period of insurance, the most we will pay for landlord’s fixtures and fittings is:

■ $10,000, or

■ 5% of the sum insured,

whichever is less.

❖ Extra costs related to building

If we agree to pay your claim for loss or damage to the home, we will also pay the reasonable costs of:

■ employing an architect, engineer or surveyor

■ demolishing

■ removing debris from the site

■ complying with the requirements of any Statutory Authority that are served on you after the loss or damage happens.

We will pay these costs only if we agree they are necessary to repair or rebuild the home. If you have to rebuild the

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

home, you may build it on another site but if changing the site increases your building costs, you must pay the amount of this increase.

❖ Legal costs for discharge of mortgage

If the home is destroyed and either:

■ you choose to rebuild it on another site, or

■ we agree to pay you the market value of the home, then we will also pay the legal costs to discharge any mortgage on the home.

In each period of insurance, the most we will pay for legal costs to discharge mortgages is $1,000.

Limits on what we pay

For any claim you make using this policy (including any part of that claim that is for additional expenses), the most we will pay is the sum insured.

The most we will pay in each period of insurance for all of these additional expenses is 20% of the sum insured:

– temporary accommodation

– lost rent

– extra costs related to building

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

25

26

– landlord’s fixtures and fittings

(Please note, the most we will pay for landlord’s fixtures and fittings is 5% of the sum insured or $10,000 whichever is less.)

– legal costs for discharge of mortgage.

(Please note, the most we will pay for legal costs to discharge mortgages on the home is $1,000.)

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

Part 2        Glass - accidental breakage

In addition to insuring you for glass that is broken by an event, we also insure you for glass and like items (listed below) that are accidentally broken in some other way. We automatically provide you with this insurance when you buy this policy. It is part of your sum insured.

What we insure you for

We only insure you for these items that are fixed to or form part of the home:

■ glass that is fixed to the home

■ mirrors that are fixed to the home

■ glass cooking tops

■ baths or wash basins or sinks that are fixed to the home

■ toilets or toilet cisterns.

We only insure you if:

■ the item accidentally breaks during the period of insurance, and

■ the item breaks through its entire thickness, and

■ your claim is not excluded by the specific exclusions listed below in the “What we do not insure you for” section, or any of the General exclusions on page 37.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

27

28

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you if the item:

■ breaks because of its age or condition, or

■ is broken by a contractor while modifying, adding to, repairing, or decorating the home.

We also do not insure you for any glass forming part of a swimming pool, glass house or conservatory.

If any part of the home is used for business purposes, we do not insure you for any glass fixed to that part of the home.

What we pay

If we agree you have a claim, we may choose to either:

■ repair the item, or

■ replace the item, or

■ pay the reasonable cost of repairing or replacing the item.

Where it is not possible to replace the original item with a matching item, we will replace it or pay to replace it with a similar item.

We only pay the costs of repairing or replacing the item that is accidentally broken. We may not pay to repair or replace any other part of the home just so that it matches the repaired or replaced item.

Please note, we will only pay your costs in getting quotes or inspection reports if we agree to do so before you get them.

Limits on what we pay

The most we will pay for an item that accidentally breaks is the reasonable cost of replacing the item.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

Part 3           Fusion of electrical motors

This policy insures domestic electrical motors that form part of the home (for example, a built-in air conditioner, or the fan motor of a built-in heater). In addition to insuring you for loss or damage to electrical motors that is caused by an event, we also insure you for loss or damage to electrical motors caused by fusion. We automatically provide you with this insurance when you buy this policy. It is part of your sum insured.

What we insure you for

We insure you for loss or damage to any domestic electric motor that forms part of the home.

We only insure you if the loss or damage to the motor:

■ is directly caused by an electric current, and

■ happens during the period of insurance, and

■ is not excluded by the specific exclusions listed below in the “What we do not insure you for” section, or any of the General exclusions on page 37.

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you for:

■ the cost of hiring a replacement motor

■ the cost of flushing or recharging with refrigerant

■ the cost of replacing worn or broken bearings or switches

■ lighting elements (for example light bulbs or fluorescent tubes) or heating elements, solenoids, fuses or protective devices (for example a fuse, or circuit breaker)

■ electrical contact points where sparking or arcing occurs during their ordinary use

■ the cost of removing or replacing motors forming part of a submersible pump.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

29

What we pay

If we agree you have a claim, we may choose to pay the reasonable cost of either repairing or replacing the motor.

This is how we work out the reasonable cost to pay:

■ If the motor is less than a year old, we pay the total amount it costs to repair or replace the motor. You do not have to contribute any amount to your claim.

■ If the motor is a year or more old, we have to take into account its age and condition in deciding what are the reasonable cost to pay. This is how we do it:

30

the total reasonable cost of repairing or replacing the motor

−

5% of the total reasonable cost for each year of the age of the motor (this is the amount you must contribute to your claim)

=

the reasonable cost we pay

Although you must contribute 5% of the total cost for each year of the age of the motor, we will never ask you to contribute more than 75% of the total cost of repairing or replacing the motor.

Please note, we will only pay your costs in getting quotes or inspection reports if we agree to do so before you get them.

Limits on what we pay

The most we will pay for loss or damage to a motor is the reasonable cost of replacing it, as described in the What we pay section.

31

32

Part 4    Owner’s or occupier’s legal liability

We automatically provide you with this insurance when you buy this policy.

What we insure you for

We insure you for the costs of your or your family’s legal liability as owner or occupier of the home. By “legal liability” we mean your or your family’s legal responsibility to pay compensation for causing:

■ bodily injury or death to someone other than you or your family, or

■ loss or damage to property owned or controlled by someone other than you or your family.

We only insure you if:

■ the accident happens at the home or site during the period of insurance, and

■ you or your family are legally liable as owners or occupiers of the home or site, and

■ your claim for the costs of legal liability is not excluded by the specific exclusions listed below in the “What we do not insure you for” section, or any of the General exclusions on page 37.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

What we do not insure you for

We do not insure you or your family for legal liability where the liability is or should have been covered by compulsory workers’ compensation insurance.

We do not insure you for legal liability that arises:

■ from bodily injury to, or the illness or death of:

– you or your employee, or

– your family or their employee

■ only because you or your family have agreed that you are liable

■ from acts or omissions by you or your family or by someone with your or your family’s consent, if:

– the results of those acts or omissions were intended, or could reasonably be expected, or

– the acts or omissions by you or your family were done with reckless disregard for their consequences

■ from the transmission of any disease by you or your family

■ from you or your family owning or occupying any land or building, other than the site or home

■ from any registered or registrable vehicle you or your family own or control (other than a motorised wheelchair)

■ from any watercraft or aircraft you or your family own (other than a remote controlled model aircraft, or an unmotorised watercraft less than 3 metres long)

■ from any business, profession or occupation carried on by you, your family or any person who normally lives with you in the home

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

33

34

■ from lopping or felling of trees by you or with your consent

■ from asbestos that is, or has been, in the home or on the site

■ from any equipment containing liquid petroleum gas that is used on, or is in the home or on the site, and that does not comply with relevant safety laws

■ because building work is being carried out on the home or site that costs $30,000 or more

■ from vibrating, or removing or weakening the support of any land, building or property

■ because a swimming pool at the home or site:

– is not fenced in,

– is not fenced in to legal standards, or

– has fencing that is not properly repaired or maintained.

What we pay

We will pay:

■ the amount of compensation you or your family are legally responsible for paying, and

■ your or your family’s reasonable fees and expenses for legal services, but only if we agree in writing to you using those services before you use them, and

■ the legal fees and expenses of the person claiming against you or your family, if a court orders you or your family to pay them.

Please note, we will only pay your costs in getting quotes or inspection reports if we agree to do so before you get them.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

Limits on what we pay

The most we will pay for all claims that arise directly or indirectly from one accident, is the amount of the “Limit of indemnity” shown on your certificate.

There is no limit on the amount we may pay for the legal fees and expenses of:

■ you or your family, or

■ the person claiming against you or your family, if a court orders you or your family to pay them.

35

36

Part 5    Strata title homes

What we insure you for

If the home is strata title, this Part of the policy provides you and your mortgagee (if the home is mortgaged) with limited protection against loss or damage to the home.

We will only pay for loss or damage to the home if:

■ we say we insure that loss or damage in Part 1, 2 or 3 of this policy, and

■ this policy does not exclude that loss or damage, and

■ the Body Corporate has not, or has not sufficiently, insured the loss or damage, and

■ you try and recover the amount of your claim from any other insurer who may have insured the loss or damage, before you claim from us.

What we pay

We will pay the lower of:

■ the sum insured, or

■ the amount we say we will pay for that loss or damage in Part 1, 2 or 3 of this policy minus any amount you can recover from the Body Corporate’s insurer or any other insurer.

What we do not pay

We do not pay any excess that applies to the Body Corporate’s insurance policy or to claims you may make using any other insurance policy.

Limits on what we pay

The most we will pay for a claim using this section is the amount of the sum insured.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

Part 6       General exclusions

We do not insure you for loss or damage that is not directly caused by an event that we insure you for, unless we say that we do in this policy.

We do not insure you for loss or damage or legal liability that is intentionally caused by you or your family or a person acting with the consent of you or your family.

We do not insure you for loss or damage or legal liability caused by:

■ failing to keep the home or site in good repair and condition

■ the home or site settling or shrinking or expanding

■ hydrostatic pressure, or the earth moving (other than from earthquake), erosion

■ defects in structure, design, work done or materials used on the home or at the site

■ wear and tear

■ rust, corrosion, rot, mildew, seepage, rising damp, any gradual deterioration or process

■ atmospheric or climatic conditions (other than those we say we will insure in the events section), condensation, evaporation

■ any substance at the home or site that is dangerous to health or property (for example, explosives, or asbestos)

■ any process that involves you or someone with your consent applying heat to any property insured by this policy

■ the use, existence, or escape of any nuclear fuel, nuclear material or nuclear waste

■ any war, or war like or terrorist activities

■ any person or organisation legally destroying or taking away your ownership or control of, any property insured by this policy.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

37

38

Part 7        Definitions

“certificate”

means your most recent Certificate of Insurance. We give you a certificate when:

■ you first buy your policy,

■ we update information on the certificate, or

■ you renew your policy.

“employee”

means any person who has a contract of service with you or your family.

“event” or “events”

means events we insure you for and that we list on pages 14 - 20 of this policy.

“excess”

means the amount you must pay towards a claim. We deduct the amount of your excess from a claim before we pay it.

“family”

means any of these people who normally live with you at the home:

■ spouse, de facto spouse

■ parents, grandparents, parents-in-law

■ children, grandchildren, sons or daughters-in-law

■ brothers, sisters.

“home”

means:

■ all residential buildings on the site (including any part of the building used for residential tenancy, or any part you use for surgery or office purposes, but excluding any part used for business, manufacturing or trade purposes), and

■ any of these items that are permanently fixed to or form part of those residential buildings:

– domestic appliances including their motors

– glass, mirrors, baths, wash basins, sinks, glass cooking tops, toilets, toilet cisterns

– floor coverings (but excluding carpets), and

■ any of these items that are fixed to the site:

– in-ground swimming pools and spas,

– above ground swimming pools and spas that are permanently landscaped into position or have a decking structure fixed around them,

– domestic improvements of a structural nature (for example garages, carports, garden sheds, underground services, walls, gates and fences), and

■ building materials up to a value of $1,000 that are being kept at the site to use on the home, and that are owned by you.

“market value”

means the value of the home and site immediately before the home was destroyed minus the value of the home and site immediately after that event.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

39

40

“period of insurance”

means the period we insure you for in this policy. The dates next to “Period:” on the certificate show how long the period of insurance is.

“premium’’

means the amount you must pay for the insurance we provide in this policy including any relevant State government charges.

“site”

means the land at the insured address shown on the certificate that:

■ the home is built on, and

■ surrounds the home, and

■ is used only for domestic purposes (either by you or someone living at the home with your consent), or for the purposes of your surgery or office.

“sum insured”

means the total amount you have insured your property for using this policy. The certificate shows the amount of the sum insured.

“vehicle”

means a motorised machine, and anything attached to it, that is designed to travel on wheels or on self-laid tracks.

Defence Service Homes Building Insurance Policy

NSW/ACT

GPO Box 1504, Sydney 2001.

Centennial Plaza,

280 Elizabeth Street, Sydney

Phone: (02) 213 7777 or 008 800330

VIC

GPO Box 1987R, Melbourne 3001

Argus Center

300 La Trobe Street, Melbourne

Phone: (03) 384 6000 or 008 113304

QLD

GPO Box 498, Brisbane 4001

AMP Place,

10 Eagle Street, Brisbane.

Phone: (07) 223 8777 or 008 113304

SA/NT

GPO Box 319, Adelaide 5001.

Blackburn House,

199 Grenfell Street, Adelaide

Phone: (08) 213 2611 or 008 888121

WA

GPO Box L885, Perth 6001

12th Floor AMP Building

140 St Georges Terrace, Perth

Phone: (09) 425 8222 or 008 001211

TAS

GPO Box 772H, Hobart

21 Kirksway Place, Battery Point

Phone: (002) 21 6666 or 008 001211