Frequently asked questions

That depends on the cover options you have selected under your landlord’s insurance policy. Building insurance typically covers residential buildings that are occupied by the owner. Landlord’s insurance can cover residential buildings that you, as the owner, have tenants living in. If you have an investment property, you can choose to take out our landlord’s insurance policy, as it can cover your building, or your building and landlord’s fixtures and fittings. You should always check the PDS & TMD to see if this product is right for you.

Landlord’s insurance is the only type of cover offered by RAC that protects against loss of rent where a tenant defaults on rent (after 4 weeks, for up to 12 weeks to a maximum of $3,000) and malicious damage caused by your tenant. You should weigh up how important these events are to you and ask yourself:

• Can I afford to not receive rent in this property should my tenant stop paying?
• Can I afford to lose rent should my property become uninhabitable?
• What would I do if the tenant damages the property?

You should always check the PDS & TMD to see if this product is right for you.

Only our landlord’s insurance policy will cover malicious damage to your property caused by a tenant or a guest of your tenant up to the combined maximum of $10,000 ^, during that tenant’s rental period. Malicious damage does not cover accidental loss or damage, wear and tear or damage from carelessness or neglect. This also excludes damage caused by pets or animals.

Certain types of dwellings are not covered under our landlord’s insurance policy, this includes hotels, motels or boarding houses, caravans (you may be eligible for caravan insurance instead) or mobile homes, display homes or more than one home building under the same strata plan. Check the PDS to find out the full list of exclusions.

Landlord’s insurance, like our home & contents insurance, covers you for damage caused by storm, floods, fire and theft up to the sum insured. In addition, landlord’s insurance covers malicious damage caused by your tenant, loss of rent when your tenant defaults on their payment (after 4 weeks, for up to 12 weeks rent to a maximum of $3,000) and loss of rent for up to 12 months if the building becomes uninhabitable because of an insured event.

Landlord’s insurance does not cover the contents owned by your tenants, your tenants may wish to take out their own insurance, such as our basic contents insurance to cover to their personal belongings.

Should you need to lodge a claim under your Landlord’s Insurance policy you can either lodge a claim online or call our friendly claims team on 13 17 03. You should do this as soon as possible after the damage or loss has occurred. Make sure you have all the information required to make your claim such as your policy details, details of the event which caused the loss or damage, details of your building or contents which were lost or damaged.

We provide cover for loss of rent where a tenant defaults, after 4 weeks, for up to 12 weeks rent to a maximum of $3000.

To claim under this insured event, you must also have a current valid written rental agreement that states:

• The term of the rental period;
• The amount of rent payable by the tenant; and
• The amount of bond payable by the tenant.

Check the PDS for full details.

Loss of rent is covered for up to twelve months if the building becomes uninhabitable as a result of an insured event. All of the following conditions apply:

• Your building is tenanted pursuant to a current rental agreement at the time of the insured event;
• The building is being repaired or rebuilt and is uninhabitable, as a result of an insured event; and
• We believe the time to repair or rebuild the building is reasonable.

We do not cover loss of rent under this additional benefit, if at the time of the insured event there was no tenant living in the building under a current rental agreement.

We will calculate the loss of rent by reference to the rent amount under the rental agreement that was in place at the time of the insured event.

Check the PDS for full details.

Once your claim has been reviewed by our claims team, we’ll let you know if you need to supply substantiation or proof of ownership before we settle your claim. If we’ve requested substantiation or proof of ownership for your claim, you can forward a copy with your claim number to:

Email claims@rac.com.au 
Mail RAC Claims, GPO Box C140, Perth WA 6839

Once received, we’ll review the documentation and let you know the next steps for your claim.

If you have any other queries or require more information in relation to your claim, you can:

• View your policy online
• Email us on claims@rac.com.au with your claim number
• Call us on 13 17 03
  Monday - Friday 7am - 8:30pm
  Saturday & Sunday 8:30am - 5pm
  Public holidays (except Christmas day and Boxing day) 8:30am - 5pm
• Track it on myRAC - available for car and home insurance

To track your claim you can:

If you have a leaking or burst pipe that causes damage to your property, your policy provides cover for the costs to locate the leak and any resulting damage caused by it. Your policy does not cover the cost to repair the leaking/burst pipe. 

You can read our Escape of Liquid fact sheet for more information.

To settle your home contents or personal valuables claim, we may require documentation to prove that you own the claimed item. Types of substantiation or proof of ownership include photographs, receipts or invoices of the items being claimed.

Before repairs can begin, we’ll need to receive and review a repair quote. Following this, one of our claims specialists or our service provider will contact you to explain the repair process.

If you need to lodge your claim, you can make a claim online or call us on 13 17 03.

Once your claim has been reviewed by our claims team, we’ll advise if you need to get a repair quote. In most cases, we’ll arrange for our service provider to assess and quote on repairing the damage.

If you’re asked to get a repair quote, please ensure it includes the following:

• Business name, contact details and ABN.
• The cause of the damage.
• Detailed repair cost.
• If applicable, a description of the old and new items repaired or replaced.

If you’ve obtained a repair quote, you can forward a copy with your claim number to:

Email claims@rac.com.au
Mail RAC Claims, GPO Box C140, Perth WA 6839

Once received, we’ll review your quote and let you know the next steps for your claim.

If you’ve obtained a repair quote, you can forward a copy with your claim number to:

Email claims@rac.com.au 
Mail RAC Claims, GPO Box C140, Perth WA 6839

Once received, we’ll review your quote and let you know the next steps for your claim.

You can track your claim online for more status information.

Your claim will be processed as soon as possible once we’ve received all the supporting documents we’ve requested.

Please forward supporting documents with your claim number to:

Email claims@rac.com.au
Mail RAC Claims, GPO Box C140, Perth WA 6839

We’ll contact you with the next steps regarding the settlement of your claim