act of God?

You make sure you do not have an insurance policy that excludes such disasters. The Government is not obliged to help although they most likely will.

In any case, whether ‘God’ exists or not is always debateable and you could probably get compensated unless the specific disaster is excluded in the policy.

Robert Bou-Hamdan
Mortgage Adviser

http://www.mortgagepackaging.com.au

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Comments made are of a general nature and should not be construed as individual advice.
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Hi Jess,

First of all a tsunami won’t burn your house down to the ground, a fire will though, in which case as long as you have adequate insurance to cover rebuilding the construction, you’ll be fine.

A definition of “natural disasters” as defined by HLG (refer to weblink below)

A natural disaster is a serious disruption to a community or region caused by the impact of a naturally occurring rapid onset event that threatens or causes death, injury or damage to property or the environment and which requires significant and coordinated multi-agency and community response. Such serious disruption can be caused by any one, or a combination, of the following natural hazards: bushfire; earthquake; flood; storm; cyclone; storm surge; landslide; tsunami; meteorite strike; or tornado.

I have underlined a very significant part of this definition, because the chances of your property being the ONLY one to be struck by a “natural disaster” (Act of God) is as probable as your chances in winning lotto.

Noneless, the cold hard truth remains that in Australia (as in many other countries) although most insurance companies cover SOME damage caused by such events, in general, there is nothing set in place to provide TOTAL coverage. For a few years now, with the increase in natural disasters in Australia alone, insurance council and governments have been discussing a review of insurance coverage offered to communities hit by such tragedies.

http://www.dotars.gov.au/ndr/nat_disaster_report/exec_summary.htm

Finally, in the event of a “natural disaster” (Act of God) you are not totally forgotten; true the government is not obliged to assist, but I daresay they will. Furthermore, there are a few organisations that can help with natural disaster claims; here is one of them:

http://www.idro.com.au/about/default.asp

At the end of the day Jess, please remember, you’re not alone!!!

Cheers,[biggrin]

Jo

Ah yes, insurance policies are forever changing!

I have just found that our policy does not cover the fence falling down due to wind or storm damage! Fences don’t often fall down for amny other reasons so they have certainly reduced the number of claims they will pay out.

Never mind, we found out on an affordable item, thankfully. CommSec has just lost all our building insurance policies though becasue I can’t see any sense in having the fence covered if it doesn’t include damage by wind or storms.

PK
PK

I reckon if you are worrying about remote eventualities like this then perhaps property investing might not be your cup of tea.

Just Do It.

Cheers,

Simon Macks
Mortgage Broker
http://www.mortgagehunter.com.au
0425 228 985

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Comments may not be relevant to individual circumstances. If you intend making any investment, financial or taxation decision you should consult a professional adviser.

Those are covered by insurance Rob, I was describingthe remote calamities such as Earthquakes, Tsunami’s and the like.

I suggest that one should calculate the odds and then run with it.

Wind and Bushfire can be decided by looking at history for an area to some extent.

Cheers,

Simon Macks
Mortgage Broker
http://www.mortgagehunter.com.au
0425 228 985

Todays Hot Rate
***3 year fixed – 6.49%***

Comments may not be relevant to individual circumstances. If you intend making any investment, financial or taxation decision you should consult a professional adviser.