At AAMI, we are always looking for ways to improve. So, we’ve updated the AAMI Fire and Theft Contents Insurance Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) to incorporate more plain English principles (like more descriptive headings).
We’ve also made changes to the coverage in the policy. This involved altering covers, conditions and exclusions. We have listed some changes below.
Given the below is just a summary and is not a list of all changes, we strongly encourage you to read the PDS to understand more about your cover.
A PDS is an important legal document that covers the details of the cover you’ve purchased. As it’s a legal document, it’s important you read it carefully. Know these changes relate to policies starting or renewing on or after 24 January 2025.
Using our products for financial abuse is unacceptable
AAMI is committed to ensuring its products are not used for any form of financial abuse. You’ll see we have made clear our position that the use of our products for financial abuse is unacceptable.
We know sometimes your circumstances might mean you need additional support or assistance in dealing with us. If you’re comfortable, you can tell us about your situation, and we’ll work with you to arrange support.
Things to know upfront
This section has changed. We’ll let you know when and how you need to pay your excess.
Rest assured knowing we’ll always communicate when you need to pay any excess(es) to us.
Alternatively, we’ll deduct the amount of any excess(es) from any cash payment we make.
What and where we cover
We’ve updated the coverage for when contents are insured in a unit to include your household items permanently attached to the unit, like an air conditioner unless the item(s) is covered under an insurance policy taken out by any owners corporation or similar body and/or is required to be insured by any owners corporation or similar body under the strata or community title laws applicable to that state or territory.
Make sure that your contents sum insured meets your needs by checking with your body corporate, owners corporation, or similar body what is and isn’t covered by the policy taken out by them.
This doesn’t include items located in common property. Common property is any land or building at the insured address that is on a strata or community title which is required to be insured by the owners corporations or similar body under the relevant strata laws and/or is insured under an insurance policy taken out by them.
For example, if you have a washing machine within a communal laundry, it will not be covered for loss or damage under this policy.
General exclusions
We want to be upfront about additional things we don’t cover for loss or damage under your policy. There are some new and updated exclusions in the ‘General exclusions’ section of the PDS, such as:
- building works (this used to be called building extensions, alterations or renovations)
- hacking, cyber-attack, or cyber incident (this used to be called computer virus or computer hacking), and
- rust or corrosion (this used to be part of wear, tear and deterioration exclusion).
Please make sure to read the General Exclusions section of your PDS.
General exclusions also apply to legal liability, but this isn’t always the case. Your PDS will outline when a general exclusion also applies to legal liability.
Making a claim
We have removed the lifetime guarantee on authorised repairs from the PDS, and now follow the General Insurance (GI) Code of Practice.
This code, which commenced on 1 July 2021, provides universal benchmarks to adhere by. For example, if we have selected and directly authorised a repairer to repair your damaged property, then we will accept responsibility for the quality of their work and the materials they use, based on the standards outlined in this code.
Terms and words with special meanings (definitions)
Some terms and words in the policy have a special meaning (definition) which applies to them.
It’s important to read this section of the PDS because it gives the meaning which applies to those terms and words, which can impact how your policy is interpreted.
There are new definitions in your PDS, including changes to existing ones such as: