AAMI Fire and Theft Insurance Policy

Important General Information for you

Important General Information for you

You can contact us

By phone: Call 13 22 44 (24 hours a day every day of the year)

Via the internet: www.aami.com.au

By mail: PO Box 14180, Melbourne City Mail Centre, Victoria 8001

In person: Call 13 22 44 for the address of the closest AAMI branch or customer service centre.

Cover your contents for their current replacement cost

This policy provides for replacing or repairing your damaged or stolen contents at current cost up to a total of $25,000 including GST.

If the replacement value of your contents is higher than this amount, you should consider insuring them under the AAMI Home Contents Insurance Policy.

To help you value your contents, AAMI provides a home contents value calculator. You can access it at the AAMI website www.aami.com.au or by calling AAMI on 13 22 44.

To help you decide if the cover this policy provides meets or continues to meet your needs, you should value your contents:

at the commencement of your insurance,

at each renewal, and

when you make any substantial additions to your contents.

When you are a tenant or the owner-occupier of a strata-titled property, you should include the value of any fixtures and fittings you are responsible for and/or you own.
 

When we quote you a premium

When we quote a premium for AAMI Fire and Theft Contents Insurance, the factors we take into account include:

the set limit the policy places on the amount covered,

our experience of the incidence and cost of contents fire and theft claims,

the insured address (the address where your contents are located),

the cost of providing legal liability cover,

our costs of providing and administering this policy,

whether you pay your premium in instalments.

Government taxes and charges are included in the premium we quote.

Paying your premium

You can pay your premium annually by cheque, credit card, BPAY, online through AAMI e-PAY, or in cash at AAMI Branches or Australia Post Offices. Further details are provided on the payment notice we issue at the commencement of your policy and at each renewal.

Paying by instalments

You may also be eligible to pay in regular instalments by direct debit.

When you pay this way, the total premium is higher than we charge for one annual payment, reflecting the higher costs we experience. Any premium discounts we may provide are applied before these additional costs are calculated.

Your responsibilities when paying by instalments

When paying by instalments:

you must be an authorised signatory on the account nominated for your direct debit payments,

you must ensure that your nominated account can accept direct debits and has sufficient funds to meet each payment at each due date,

your financial institution may also apply its own fees (including dishonour fees). Those fees are your responsibility.

What happens if your instalment remains unpaid?

AAMI may cancel your policy without notice if an instalment payment remains unpaid for one month or more.

Any claims arising after the due date may be refused.

Changing your instalment payments

If you wish to change or cancel your direct debit arrangements, you need to contact us at least seven days before the debit day.

If you cancel the debit completely, you will need to arrange for another way to pay us your premium, to ensure you remain covered.

Important things to remember when paying by instalments

When you first commence your direct debit payments, or when you change your account details, it may take up to 14 days for us to first debit your account.

If you believe that we may have incorrectly debited your account, please contact us on 13 22 44.

Government taxes and charges

AAMI shows on receipts any government taxes and charges such as GST, Stamp Duty and Fire Services Levy included in insurance premiums.

GST

The amounts covered for your contents and legal liability include GST.

Renewing your policy

When we offer to renew your policy:

we will send you a notice before the policy expiry date,

we will tell you in writing if there are any changes to the policy. Changes that benefit you apply from their introduction. Changes introducing limitations apply from the policy's renewal.

Cooling off period and cancellation

Federal law provides that you can cancel this policy within 14 days of its purchase. AAMI allows you to cancel your policy at any time.

In both cases, we will refund you the unexpired portion of the premium less any cancellation processing charge to cover the reasonable administrative and transactions costs incurred by AAMI.

To cancel your policy, please call us on 13 22 44.

We can only cancel your policy by giving you written notice in accordance with the Insurance Contracts Act 1984.

The privacy of your personal information

We are committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. That commitment is reflected in the AAMI Customer Charter and in our compliance with the National Privacy Principles. For further information, please visit our website www.aami.com.au or call us on 13 22 44 for a copy of our 'AAMI and Your Personal Information' brochure.

AAMI's Customer Charter

We are committed to always provide you with the highest standard of service. The AAMI Customer Charter is a written document containing service and reporting promises which we are bound to deliver. In fact, we impose a penalty on ourselves if we fail to do so.

This unique Charter, which is reviewed annually, was drawn up through consultation with our staff, our customers and industry regulators. Compliance with our promises is independently audited every year and the results are reported publicly.

The AAMI Customer Charter, introduced in 1996, was Australia's first general insurance customer charter, and indeed, first retail customer charter. The Charter is your guarantee that we're always striving to deliver the best in customer service.

The AAMI Consumer Appeals Service

If you are unhappy with anything we have told you or done for you, we want you to tell us about it. If we cannot resolve the matter to your satisfaction, other appeal services are available to you. See page 33.

The General Insurance Code of Practice

The General Insurance Code of Practice is a commitment by the general insurance industry to aim for the best standards of service possible, and to promote better relations between customers and insurers.

The Code describes standards in the areas of buying insurance, claims handling and dispute resolution. Introduced in 1995 with the backing of consumer groups, the federal government, insurers and the Insurance Council of Australia, it was revised in 2005.

More information on the Code, or a copy of the Code, can be obtained from the Insurance Council of Australia. You can contact the ICA on 02 9253 5100 or you can access the Code at www.codeofpractice.com.au.