Something happened
Lodge it now and sort the paperwork later. Emergency make-safe work and temporary accommodation both start before the claim is decided, not after.
- Make people safe first. Triple zero, then us. Nothing on this page matters more than that.
- Claims, 24 hours 1300 928 854, every day of the year.
- Photograph before you clean up. Do not risk yourself to get the picture.
What actually happens after you lodge
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You lodge it
Online in about four minutes, or on 1300 928 854 at any hour. We need the address or the registration, roughly what happened, roughly when, and whether the place is safe to be in. That is enough to start.
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Make-safe is booked
Tarping, board-up, water extraction, a tow. Booked immediately, paid by us, and carried out before anyone assesses anything. If we cannot get a trade to you inside the window, you can engage one and we reimburse.
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You get somewhere to sleep
If the home is not liveable, temporary accommodation for you, your household and your pets starts the same day. It runs for up to twelve months or your certificate limit, whichever comes first. You do not wait for a decision to get a bed.
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An assessor is named
Within one business day you get a name, a mobile number and a window. In a declared catastrophe that window widens, but the name still arrives inside twenty four hours, and it is a person rather than a queue.
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We decide, in writing
The Code of Practice gives us ten business days from having everything we need. Most motor and contents claims land in under four. If we need longer, we tell you why, in writing, and we keep telling you every twenty business days.
What makes a claim go fast
None of this is required to lodge. All of it shortens the middle part, which is the part people find exhausting.
Property claims
- Wide photographs of each damaged room, then close ones
- A photograph of the roof from ground level, if it is safe
- Receipts or model numbers for anything over $1,000
- The make-safe invoice, if you arranged it yourself
Motor claims
- Registration, and the other driver name, rego and insurer
- Photographs of both vehicles and the position on the road
- The police event number, where one was issued
- Your preferred repairer, if you are nominating one
Landlord and tenant claims
- The tenancy agreement and the entry condition report
- The rent ledger and any arrears notices issued
- Bond details and the lodgement reference
- Exit report photographs, dated
When it is a catastrophe, not a claim
After a declared event, thousands of claims arrive in a week and every insurer in the country runs out of assessors at once. Here is what we do differently, and what we cannot fix.
- Fast lane
- Claims from a declared catastrophe are separated from the ordinary queue and staffed separately, so a burst flexi hose in Coburg does not sit behind two thousand roofs in Lismore.
- Cash settlement offered early
- Where the damage is straightforward and you would rather manage the repair yourself, we will offer a cash settlement in the first week rather than the fourth.
- Financial hardship
- Under the Code we must consider hardship, and we can fast-track a payment or waive an excess up front where the excess is the thing stopping you from starting.
- What we cannot fix
- Trade availability. After a large event the queue for a licensed roofer in a region is measured in months and no insurer controls that. We will tell you the real timeline rather than a comfortable one.
Claims and complaints
How fast can I expect a decision?
Under the General Insurance Code of Practice we must decide a straightforward claim within ten business days of getting everything we need. In practice, most motor and contents claims are decided in under four. If your claim comes from a declared catastrophe, we run it through a separate fast lane, and we will tell you within one business day who your assessor is.
What happens if my home is not liveable?
Temporary accommodation starts before the claim is decided, not after. Ring the claims line, tell us the place is not safe to live in, and we arrange and pay for somewhere for you, your household and your pets. On home policies this runs up to twelve months, or up to the temporary accommodation limit on your certificate, whichever comes first.
Can I choose my own repairer?
On motor, yes. You can nominate your own repairer and we will work with them on price and parts, or you can use one of our authorised repairers and take the lifetime workmanship guarantee that comes with it. On property, we will normally appoint a builder from our panel because that is how we control both the price and the timeline, but you may put forward your own and we will assess their quote.
What do I do if I am unhappy with a decision?
Tell us first. Our internal dispute resolution team is separate from the people who made the original decision and has thirty calendar days to give you a written answer. If you are still unhappy, or if we take longer than thirty days, you can take it to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. AFCA is free to you, independent of us, and its determinations bind us. Full contact details are on our contact page.
What is the General Insurance Code of Practice?
It is the industry standard that sets out how we must behave: timeframes for decisions, standards for how we deal with people in financial hardship or experiencing family violence, and rules for how we appoint and supervise investigators and repairers. It is monitored by an independent body. We subscribe to it and you can hold us to it.
If you are not happy with a decision. Tell our internal dispute resolution team, which is separate from the people who made the original call and has thirty calendar days to answer you in writing. If you are still unhappy, or we take longer than that, take it to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. AFCA is free to you, independent of us, and its determinations bind us. Full details are on the contact page.
Lodging takes about four minutes
You need the address or the registration, roughly what happened, and whether the place is safe. Everything else can follow.