Home and Contents Insurance is a common way to guard against financial loss caused by theft or damage to your home and contents. In return for the premium that you pay us (which is paid to the insurance company), the insurance company promises to pay you a certain sum of money to cover certain losses or damage to your home and contents (the sum insured). The amount of money paid to you, and the circumstances under which it is paid, is subject to the terms and conditions of your contract or "policy".

Home and Contents Insurance also automatically covers your legal responsibility to pay compensation for death or bodily injury to other people, or damage to their property caused in/at your home. This "liability" cover applies only when you have been negligent and are at fault and if you are being sued for same.

Home Insurance is designed to cover a particular building, normally your home. Contents Insurance is designed to cover the building's contents, normally your valuables. If you're a homeowner, you should consider both Home Insurance and Contents Insurance (in fact, you may be contractually obligated to have your home insured if you have a mortgage).

The amount of Insurance cover you select is known as your "sum insured". For Contents cover, you should choose a sum insured that equals the amount it would cost you to replace your insured contents at today's prices. For your Home cover, you should choose a sum insured that equals the amount it would cost you at today's prices to clear the site and rebuild your home. This is known as your home's 'replacement value', and should not be confused with market value, which includes the cost of the land. We can provide you with a guide to help you determine the replacement value of your home. And through La Trobe Financial you can arrange to have a valuer provide you with a more definite valuation.

Your premium will depend on the value and location of your Home and Contents, the level of cover you require, and the excess you choose.

You can receive a 10% discount by simply combining your Home and Contents cover. You can also benefit from up to a maximimum combined 30% discount by advising us of details of extra security at your home, by having No Claims in the last 12 months to three years, and being aged over 55 years

First, improve security and safety. Items such as dead-bolt locks, monitored burglar alarms, key window locks and smoke detectors can usually bring discounts. Second, raise your excess. The excess is the amount of money you have to pay towards a loss before the insurance kicks in.

Protect your investment - and your cash flow - with a Landlord's Cover policy.

Landlord's Cover policy offers cover for loss due to fire, flood and other similar perils, including theft and malicious damage caused by your tenants, plus we will cover you for loss of rent following an insured event.

You can also choose optional Rent and Legal Expenses cover for protection against interruptions to your rental income.

Special features include:

• Cover for furniture, carpets and blinds (contents cover)
• Cover for landlord's fixtures and fittings (home cover)
• Cover for accidental breakage of glass
• Legal liability up to $20 million
• Accidental loss or damage
• Landlords contents
  $10,000 cover provided in building sum insured for curtains, carpets, internal blinds and light fittings if leased on an unfurnished basis

Rent and Legal Expenses option covers you for:

• Loss of rent if your tenant defaults
• Loss of rent if your tenant fails to surrender possession
• Loss of rent if your tenant vacates without notice
• Legal expenses incurred to minimise loss of rent

Cover includes a number of standard benefits which are either not included by other insurance companies, or which they charge extra. For example;

• Flood cover
• Cover for Fusion of electrical motors
• Accidental Damage cover (applies to the Elite Care & Landlord policy only)
• Higher claims limits for Special Limit items, etc.

In addition:

• The claims turnaround time is also generally faster than most other insurers
• Premiums can be paid monthly, with no additional charge
• No cancellation fees are charged.

At La Trobe Financial we try to make filing a claim as easy for you as possible. If you follow the instructions below, you will make it easier to finalise your claim.

• Notify the police immediately of any theft or damage by housebreakers.
• Notify us as soon as possible.
• Prevent additional losses. If your home is burgled, secure any points of entry after the police have gone . If it is damaged by fire, storm or flood, try to seal off any points where rainwater might be able to get in. Make sure you tell us about all permanent repairs before they are carried out.
• Help our insurance department to help you. A loss adjuster may need to check the extent of the loss or damage. The adjuster may need any information or documents you have that relate to the claim.
• Have your receipts or valuations of special items available for our insurance department.

Contact us if you want to change your cover. Changes include:

• Changing your address
• Increasing or decreasing your cover
• Noting or adding Specified contents or Special limit items
• Taking out Personal Property cover
• Changing your payment details
• Cancelling your policy, etc.

You must also contact us if anything changes which might affect the risk you are insuring.

Your policy is designed to provide you with cover for loss or damage as a result of various incidents known as Insured Events. It also comes with a number of additional features and benefits, which are automatically included.

You can also choose from a range of optional covers (for an extra premium) so that you can tailor your Home and Contents Insurance policy to meet your individual needs.

Yes, if they are rented under a signed rental agreement which makes you legally responsible for these items, then a Contents policy will insure these items for loss or damage.

Damage to carpets is covered under our Contents Insurance policy.

Yes, your home is covered for up to 60* consecutive days. If you are going on holidays for more than 60* days and leaving your home unoccupied, you must notify us and obtain our consent for continuation of cover beyond 60 days.

If your home is going to be unoccupied for more than 60* days, we may:

• Ask for extra security
• Ask that someone visit your home weekly while you're away to collect mail and maintain lawns
• Impose a larger excess or charge an additional premium
• Discontinue cover

When a home is unoccupied, it becomes more exposed to the risk of loss or damage. According to our claims data, the most likely causes of loss or damage while the home is unoccupied are:

• Theft and damage caused by thieves
• Malicious damage
• Fire

Because of the increased risk associated with you leaving your Home unoccupied, we will only provide cover for up to 60* days, unless otherwise agreed.

When your contents are insured, we will cover them for loss or damage caused by an "Insured Event" for up to 90* days if they are in:

• A motel or hotel room
• A holiday apartment
• Another home
• A hospital or nursing home
• A bank safety deposit
• The fully enclosed living quarters of an educational institution

When your contents are temporarily removed to anywhere else in Australia, we will cover them for fire damage for up to 90* days.

The relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for your policy contains detailed information regarding what is not covered for each insured event, additional feature and optional cover. You should consider the PDS carefully before you make an insurance decision.

The most payable for Home Insurance claims is detailed in table below:

	Home Claims	The most we will pay for any one insured event, or Optional "Accidental Damage" cover
	Additional features or options	Please refer to the PDS for limits on additional features and optional covers
	For all other Insured Events or other parts of the Home	Up to the sum insured for your Home shown on the Certificate of Insurance

There are limits* to the amount that can be claimed on the Contents Insurance policy. These limits* are as follows:

Contents limits that cannot be increased by listing items on your policy

	Contents Claims	The most we will pay for any one insured event, or optional "Accidental Damage" cover
	Home office equipment	up to $15,000 in total
	Tools of trade	up to $5,000 in total
	Refrigerated or frozen food	up to $750 in total
	Uncut and unset gems, gold or silver nuggets and ingots (not jewellery)	up to $1,500 in total (no more than 25% sum insured)
	Cash, smart cards, phone cards, and documents able to be cashed	up to $750 in total

You can insure the Contents items below for more by listing each for its replacement value on your Certificate of Insurance**

	Contents Claims	The most we will pay for any one insured event, or optional "Accidental Damage" cover
	Jewellery and watches	$1,500 for each item or up to $1,000 for each item or set, but not more than a total of $5,000
	CDs, DVDs, audio and video tapes, records, computer discs, computer software, game cartridges and consoles	up to $5,000 in total
	Antique Carpets or rugs that are hand-woven	up to $5,000 each carpet or rug
	Stamps, stamp collections, collector's pins, medals and collector's non-negotiable currency	up to $5,000 in total
	Listed Contents items in the Home	up to the sum insured for each listed Contents item shown on the Certificate of Insurance
	Additional features or options other than "Accidental Damage"	up to the limit shown for that Additional feature or option Personal Property Insurance
	For all other Insured Events or all Contents (including any of the above)	up to the sum insured for the total value of your Contents shown on the Certificate of Insurance

* These limits do not apply to Landlord Contents Insurance policies. Please see the next question for the limits to the amounts that you may claim on Landlords Contents Insurance.

** You can insure these Contents items for more by listing each item for its full replacement value on your Certificate of Insurance. You can do this if you:

• ask us for this to occur and we agree
• give us a full description and Australian valuation (if we ask for this and accept the valuation) and
• pay any extra premium due.

We will tell you if extra home security is needed in the Home before we will accept cover for any item.

There are limits to the amount that can be claimed on a Landlords Contents policy. These limits are as follows:

	Investor Contents Claims	The most we will pay for any one insured event, or optional "Flood Damage" or "Accidental Damage" cover
	Oriental or Persian carpets and rugs	up to $500 each carpet or rug
	Additional features or options other than "Flood Damage" and "Accidental Damage"	up to the limit shown for that Additional feature or option
	For all other Insured Events or all Contents (including any of the above)	up to the sum insured for the total value of your Contents shown on the Certificate of Insurance

If your home is damaged beyond repair or your belongings are damaged beyond repair or stolen, the policy will replace your home and contents new for old, regardless of their age.

You will receive up to $5000 cover on your visitor's belongings in the event of loss or damage.
This additional feature is not available on Landlords Insurance policies.

Contents Insurance provides cover for home office equipment and tools of trade up to specified limits. In the event of a claim:

• Up to $5,000 for tools of trade
• Up to $15,000 for home office equipment.

This feature is not available on Landlords Contents Insurance policies.

There are several ways you could save money on your premium:

• Combine your Home and Contents Insurance - you will save 10% off your premium if you combine your home and its contents onto one policy. This discount also applies to Landlord Home & Contents Insurance customers.
• Flexible excess options - we have a range off excesses options for you to choose from to make your premiums more affordable. The higher the excess you choose, the lower your premium will be.
• Secure your home and save - having good security around your property, like alarms and security locks on your doors and windows, not only deters intruders but may save you money on your Contents premium.
• Savings for customers 55 and up - you will receive a 10% discount off your premium for being 55 and over.
• No Claims Bonus

Legal Liability covers death or bodily injury to other people, or loss or damage to their property resulting from an incident which happens at the insured address. For instance, if a person was to come onto your property and injure themselves tripping whilst climbing the stairs, the legal liability component of your policy could cover you if they seek the payment of damages.

Legal Liability on Contents also covers compensation for an incident, which causes death or bodily injury to other people anywhere in Australia. So if you were playing golf and your ball was to strike another player causing injury, we will cover your legal liability.

Your policy provides you with up to $20 million legal liability cover.

This is an Optional Cover* available only in NSW. It provides cover for domestic employees, such as an ironing lady or housekeeper working for you, for an incident or accident at the Home causing injury.

If you take up this optional cover, we will insure your legal liability to pay workers compensation to your domestic employee if he or she is injured while working for you.

* This optional cover is not available on Landlords Insurance polices.

The purpose of your Home & Contents Insurance is to return you to the position that you were in prior to a claim.

You are responsible for deciding the amount of your sum insured.

Homes
To avoid being underinsured, your Home sum insured should reflect what it would cost to rebuild your house today using the same materials and the same style of fittings and fixtures.

It is always worthwhile to consider whether you need a professional valuation by contacting an architect, builder or other valuation experts.

Contents
The new for old replacement cost of your content depends on the furnishings, personal items, valuables, appliances and other household goods you have in your home or unit. One way that might help you calculate the new for old replacement cost of all contents is to walk around the home, room by room, make a list of all the items and place a new for old value against each of them. The total new for old replacement value of all contents items should be your sum insured.

Each year, it's worthwhile noting new Contents items purchased during the period of your Insurance, and call us to update the sum insured accordingly. Unless you are downsizing your home, the sum insured usually needs increasing.

Up to the sum insured will be paid for most Contents items, however for certain items there are limits. You can insure the contents items below for a higher amount by listing each for its full replacement value on your Certificate of Insurance.

Contents Insurance limits the following*:

• $2,500 for each item or set of jewellery and watches and no more than 25% of sum insured in total for all jewellery and watches
• $5,000 in total for CDs, DVDs, audio and video tapes, records, computer discs, computer software, game cartridges and consoles
• $5,000 in total for stamps, stamp collections, collector's pins, medals and collector's non-negotiable currency

If you own items worth more than these limits, you can ask us to list these items on your policy and cover them for their full replacement value for an additional premium.

* Different limits apply to Landlord Insurance. For more information, please refer to the questions "Are there limits to the amount I can claim on my Home & Contents Insurance policies?" or read the Product Disclosure Statement.

You have two options when insuring your jewellery:

In the Home
The most popular and least costly way is to ask us to list each item or piece of jewellery over $1,000 (per item or set) for its full replacement value under the Contents policy. By doing this, your jewellery will be covered in the home for insured events such as theft, fire and storm. You will need to have a jewellery valuation before asking us to list jewellery, and this will be needed again if a claim is made.

Anywhere in Australia
A second option for covering jewellery inside and away from home is to add the Personal Effects optional cover to your Contents policy. While this costs more than simply listing jewellery under the Contents policy, your jewellery is covered for accidental loss or damage anywhere in Australia. Furthermore, the jewellery is automatically covered anywhere in the world for up to 30 days after leaving Australia when you travel overseas.

* Cover for jewellery is not available with Landlord Insurance policies.

By calling 1800 707 707, between 8:00am and 6pm Monday to Friday, or 10am to 3pm Saturdays

We have convenient payment options to suit everyone:

• Deduction from your La Trobe account
• By phone
• BPAY
• Pay by the month - monthly payments can be charged to your savings/cheque account or deducted from your loan or investment account
• Credit card

You will receive a renewal notice approximately four weeks prior to your renewal date. The renewal notice outlines the amount payable, the payment options and the next steps.

You also receive your Certificate of Insurance, which outlines your policy details including type of cover, sum insured, excess amounts and any optional covers you have chosen.

Please ensure the information on your Certificate of Insurance is correct, and that you have an adequate level of cover for your home and contents. If you need to make any changes, please contact us on 1800 707 707.

When renewing your policy, you have a Duty of Disclosure to tell us everything you know or should know that is relevant to the decision to insure anyone under the policy.

This includes matters we specifically ask about when renewing your Home Insurance policy, or any other matters that you know or could reasonably be expected to know that may affect the decision to insure you.

Please read your renewal documentation carefully for information about your Duty of Disclosure obligations.

Also, let us know if there has been a change in your circumstances, which may have an impact on your Home and/or Contents Insurance. For instance, if you have renovated your home or if you have purchased new furniture/appliances, this may have an impact on your home and contents sums insured.

Our chosen Insurance provider's premiums reflect a number of factors, including the cost of current and future claims and business expenses.

Each time you renew your insurance, your premium may change, even if your personal circumstances have not changed. This is because premiums are affected by:

• The cost of claims paid to our customers
• The cost of claims expected to pay in the future
• Changes in government taxes or charges
• Expenses of doing business

There are factors outside our control, and they can affect costs of settling claims, so we need to analyse them on an ongoing basis.

The premium you pay is calculated using a wide range of factors called rating factors, including:

• Postcode, suburb or location of the home
• What the home is constructed from
• Age of the home
• How is the home secured against burglars
• The excess you choose to pay in the event of a claim
• The optional covers your choose

These rating factors may cause an increase or decrease to your premium.

We understand that no one wants their premium to rise.

Sometimes when you renew your insurance your premium will change even if your personal circumstances have not changed.

This is because premiums are affected by:

• The cost of claims paid to other customers
• The cost of claims we expect to pay in the future
• Any changes in government taxes or charges
• Our expenses of doing business.
• Sum insured automatically increases 5% to cover CPI

We will ask you for proof of purchase or evidence of value and ownership at the time of claim. This could be a store or credit card receipt, user manuals for recently purchased electrical items, or even a receipt of repair to the item.

We suggest that you store all of your receipts or valuations in a fireproof area or container.

When settling claims, the policies provide new for old replacement regardless of age, with no allowance for depreciation. We can:

• Replace or repair damaged items with new items or new materials available from Australian suppliers, or
• Pay you what it would cost us to repair or replace your Home and or Contents new for old.

However our insurer will not:

• Pay extra to repair or replace an item to a better standard, specification or quality than it was before the loss or damage occurred
• Fix a fault that existed before the loss or damage occurred.
• Pay to replace undamaged parts of your Home and or Contents to create a uniform appearance.

If you make a claim, the excess is the amount you have to pay for each incident. The amount and type of excesses that apply to your policy are shown on your Certificate of Insurance. Our insurer will deduct the excess from the amount of cover on your policy and then pay you, or it will ask you to pay the excess to a supplier, repairer or us.

Depending on the circumstances of your claim, you may be required to pay more than one excess.

It's wise to maintain a detailed list of electrical and electronic equipment, which should include makes, models, serial numbers, etc. This will come in handy if you ever need to make a claim.

You should also keep a list of other valuable items that are likely targets for burglars, for instance jewellery, CDs, art works, collections, memorabilia and hand woven rugs.

This list should include full descriptions, valuation certificates and receipts. Photographs will also help us with replacement, and help the police following a burglary.

Having security on your home can act as a precautionary measure to protect you against burglary and theft. Installing a minimum level of security can make all the difference to help prevent an intruder coming into your home when unattended. Measures that may help maintain a minimum level of security include:

• Key-operated two-cylinder deadlocks fitted to all external hinged doors
• Key-operated locks or patio bolts fitted to all external sliding doors
• Key-operated single cylinder window locks fitted to all accessible windows
• Security grills or security screens fitted to all accessible windows
• Local or back to base burglar alarm system installed in the home

Find out more about home security with our full list of home safety tips.

Serious house fires can cause extensive property damage and loss of life. Although the number of deaths from house fires is relatively small, all accidental deaths are generally regarded as preventable. Our fire safety tips can help protect you, your family and your home

Bushfires are frequent in Australia with several hundred of various sizes per year. A report published by Emergency Management Australia in 2004 indicated that there were 20 bushfires between 2000 and 2003 in which 2,958 houses were damaged and 830 homes destroyed.

If bushfire threatens your home, our bushfire safety tips can help you be prepared.

Our home safety tips section has detailed information on what you can do in the event of a flood, earthquake or cyclone.

From broken pipes to leaking appliances, water damage is one of the most common causes of damage to a home. However, in many cases water damage can be avoided with routine maintenance. Here are some precautionary measures as recommended by Emergency Management Australia

Kitchen, bathroom, and laundry rooms

• Periodically, check under the sink for signs of leaks from water supply lines or drain pipes.
• If your refrigerator has an icemaker, check the hose connection to make sure it is securely attached to the water supply line.
• Inspect washing machine hoses regularly for wetness around hose ends and signs of bulging, cracking, or fraying.
• Don't flush foreign objects down the toilet.
• Consider having a professional plumber to inspect and repair pipes.
• At the start of the cooling season, have the A/C system serviced by a qualified contractor. Periodically change the air filters on a regular basis.

Outside your home

• Keep roof, valleys, gutters, and downspouts free from buildup of leaves, twigs, and other litter preventing proper drainage. Leaves, debris, and dirt near roof edges or outside the gutters may impair drainage and lead to deterioration.
• Avoid walking on a roof to limit wear and tear. Only necessary repairs or inspections should warrant walking on the roof.
• Keep trees trimmed to prevent them from rubbing against the roof or from providing excessive shade.
• Clean debris from your gutters and inspect them regularly.
• Consider purchasing gutter shields if your gutters frequently fill with debris.

In case of water damage here are some things you can do to protect your home:

• If possible stop the source of the leak.
• Remove as much water as possible by mopping and sponging.
• Move paintings, art objects and other valuable items to a safe dry place. Use fans or air conditioning to circulate air.
• If a room is covered in water, don't enter if electricity supply is still on.
• Don't use a vacuum cleaner to extract water from carpet. Remove rugs for drying and cleaning.
• Make sure you take all the necessary steps to speed up the drying process (open cupboard doors and drawers, lift curtains and drapes off wet carpet etc.).