Our commitment to you
If your car has been damaged or stolen, or someone is claiming against you, please phone us immediately so that we can take away the stress and hassle by
taking care of everything for you. Call 13 22 44. We are here to help you 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Please retain this policy booklet so you can refer to it if required.
Important general information
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.
When we quote you a premium
When we quote you a premium for insuring your car, the factors we take into account include:
the insurance, driving history and age of the people who will be driving your car,
the value, age, make and model of your car,
our experience of claims frequency and repair costs for cars of that age, make and model,
the insured address (the address where your car is normally left overnight),
the type of any finance arrangement affecting your car,
the frequency of your instalments,
whether you use your car for private or business purposes. See page 14 for further details.
You can choose to pay a lower premium by selecting an extra excess. The higher the excess you choose, the lower your premium. Please call 13 22 44 for full details.
Government taxes and charges are included in the premium we quote.
An excess may be payable on any claim you make on this policy. See page 24 for further details.
Paying your premium
The notices we issue at the commencement and each renewal of your policy show the
various payment methods available to you.
A change to your policy details (for example change of address, change of car or
modifications) may affect the premium you need to pay for the remainder of your
period of cover. If a refund is payable we will send you a cheque or credit your
account, less our reasonable charge for administrative and processing costs. Any
extra premium needs to be paid by you within 14 days.
If you do not pay the additional premium, we may reduce your period of cover to correspond with the amount you have already paid.
Paying by instalments
You may also be eligible to pay in regular instalments by direct debit. The total premium we charge is higher when you pay in instalments than when you pay one sum annually.
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. AAMI will not accept any claims if an instalment payment has remained unpaid for a period of 14 days or more.
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.
If we decide to make a write-off payment or replace your car under your policy, we will require you to first pay us the total unpaid balance of your premium. In the case of a write-off payment, we will deduct the unpaid amount from the payment we make.
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,
we may require an additional premium if you make a claim in the short period between the time we calculated the renewal premium and the expiry of your policy, or if you tell us about changes to your policy details in that period and we will tell you they will increase your renewal premium. If the additional premium is not paid, we may reduce the period of insurance to match the amount you have paid.
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.
Changing your address details
If you change the insured address (the address where your car is normally left overnight), please call us and we will:
update your details and tell you if there is any difference in the terms and conditions of your policy as it applies at your new address,
refund or charge you any difference between the premium you paid and the premium we charge for the remainder of your period of cover for cars insured at your new address. Any refund we make will be less our reasonable charge for administrative and processing costs.
If you do not tell us of a change of insured address and you make a claim, we will ask you to pay any increased premium or reduce the claim by that amount.
GST
The amounts covered for your car and legal liability include GST. Any amounts we pay under ‘The benefits’ include GST.
Cooling off period
Federal law provides that you can cancel your policy within 14 days of its purchase date. To cancel this policy, please call AAMI on 13 22 44.
…and cancelling this policy
AAMI also 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 transaction costs incurred by AAMI. To cancel your policy, please call AAMI on 13 22 44.
We can only cancel your policy by giving you written notice in accordance with the Insurance Contracts Act 1984.
Joint policyholders
If more than one person takes out this insurance, each is a joint policyholder. Each joint policyholder gives authority to each other joint policyholder to make any changes to this policy including cancelling this policy or removing a joint policyholder. AAMI may agree to any change without notice to any person other than the joint policyholder requesting the change.
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 was drawn up through consultation with our staff, our customers and industry regulators, and is reviewed annually. 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 General Insurance Code of Practice
AAMI is a signatory to the General Insurance Code of Practice, which sets out a commitment by the general insurance industry to raise standards of service, and to promote better relations between customers and insurers.
The Code describes standards in areas such as buying insurance, claims handling, responding to catastrophes and disasters, information and education and dispute resolution. The Code was introduced in 1995 with the backing of consumer groups, the federal government, insurers and the Insurance Council of Australia.
More information on the Code, or a copy of the Code, can be obtained from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You can contact the FOS on 1300 780 808, toll free, or you can access the Code at www.codeofpractice.com.au.