Here we provide a comparison between short-term and longer-term rental property options and some of the things to consider before deciding on how to rent out your property. We also look at insurance comparisons and issues raised by some local councils. Short-term rental accommodation, also known as STRA or holiday letting is where a house, apartment or unit is used to provide residential accommodation on a commercial basis for a temporary or short-term period. Insurance for Holiday Homes Do not get caught out unable to legally rent your property for Short-Term Holiday Rentals Before you decide how to rent out your property its worthwhile contacting us for a free Landlords or Short-term Holiday Home insurance quote. You should also contact the local council where the property is located to enquire about the local rules and regulations, you need to find out if there are any restrictions on renting out your home or apartment property for short-term rentals in the council area where your rental property is located. The Problem with Short Term Holiday Rentals Did you know! Councils such as Byron Shire have had rules and regulations introduced by the NSW Governement which commenced In November 2021, for short-term rental accommodation . Other councils such as Hobart have proposed higher council rates on short stay properties. City of Melbourne considering introduction of an annual fee for property owners of short-term holiday rentals to help address housing shortage. Some councils are trying to discourage owners from short-term rentals. Recently our own local Midcoast Council included a letter with rates notices urging property owners to consider making short-term rental properties available for long-term rental over the next 2 years to ease pressure on local families looking for accommodation. This would give time for more homes to be built. New families moving into our local Forster, Tuncurry, Taree & Gloucester area for work are finding the lack of rental accommodation causing them real concern and stress. Some employers have advised council they cannot obtain staff for job vacancies due to the lack of suitable long-term property rentals. For a link to the Midcoast council covering the issue click here . For a link to article on Hobart Council proposed changes click here . For a link to Byron Shire short-term rental accomodation click here . For a link to NSW Governement short term rental accomodation regulations click here . In NSW some properties must be registered on the Short Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) register . To visit NSW registry page click here. for a link to article on City of Melboune proposed changes click here . Insurance and Short-term holiday stays versus Long-Term rentals We specilise in Landlords rental property insurance and can usually help with all types of rental insurance for short-term holiday accommodation or insurance for longer term leased homes or apartments. However, we are finding that some insurance companies are now declining to insure or provide insurance for short term rental properties. Some insurance companies only want to insure long-term leased properties. Reasons for this could be lower claims when homes or apartments are permantely occupied, for example, there may be less theft or burglary claims as a permanet rental property is not usually vacant. Whereas a short-term rental property has periods of vacancy from a few days to perhaps 1 month between bookings. Pros and Cons of Short-Term Holiday Rental Homes or Apartments Renting you property for short-term holiday accommodation may provide benefits such as:- Advantages Higher rental income. Allows Owner to visit and stay if it is a holiday property when vacant. Can be used by family and friends when vacant. Helps with the regions holiday accommodation. You can list on sites such as Airbnb, Wotif and others and perhaps receive a higher income. You can rent out for just 1 night. You can block out periods for your own use. Some councils and local business encourage short-term rentals as it boosts local tourism and brings income to towns. Disadvantages You are not helping ease the long-term rental accommodation crisis. Higher Insurance costs. Ethical considerations such as if the area your property is located in has been in a recent flood or bushfire zone you are not helping ease the burden on the local community by providing accommodation for long term rental accommodation for families that have lost homes. Proposed higher land rates in some council’s areas for short-term rentals. You may have to register the property on a state govement portal for holiday accomodation. Some councils and booking sites limit the number of short stay nights with yearly caps.. Unforseen changes to goverment or local council regulations that impact your return. Higher insurance premiums than a long term leased Landlords property. Victorian State Governement considering introduction of a 7.5% Short Term Holiday Rental Tax. More Councils looking at introducing Caps on number of nights available for short-term stays to encourage more long term rentals due to the shortage of housing in some areas. City of Melbourne considering a annaul fee. Not everyone is aware of these issues. We recommend before buying a home property or apartment that you are considering renting out on a short-term basis, that you assess the impact on your rental properties return. It can have unexpected consequences on you or the property owner’s finances which could be severe. The Final Score on Short-Term Rental Insurance Firstly, we have years of experience is in providing Landlords rental property insurance. We can help you with insurance advice. We can also provide examples of some of the pros and cons of renting a property out from an insurance perspective. So don’t hesitate to give us a call on 02 6555 5022 if you have any Landlords insurance or Short-term rental insurance questions. We have been in business since 1985. Initially, you may have thought you could rent out the property just as much as you like, right? Well as you may now be aware, that is not always the case, so look into it to avoid costly mistakes. It could be the difference between meeting a mortgage repayment on your short-term rental property or the difference between a profit or loss on the rental earnings of the home or apartment. You may soon find out, just because you own the property, it does not mean you can rent it anyhow you like. Does not seem quite right, does it, but thats the way it is. You could end up breaking local council rules and perhaps facing fines. Worse still complaints from neighbours? Who wants to recevie a letter from the council advising the property owner that a neighbour has lodged a complaint and reported the property as being used for short-term holiday stays against local regulations or for more than the set number of days. Many neigbours know the local council rules and will report breaches. Did you know some Councils have a maximum short-term rental period in a year? Did you know booking sites are required to monitor the number of short-term night stays in some areas or states? That once booking days are over that yearly limit for short-term stays they won’t accept bookings unless they are for longer terms of say three months or more. Don’t buy a property and get caught out. Find out the details from the booking site or real estate agent beforehand. Do your own research before commiting. Do not rely on what people think, find out the facts in your properties area. Do not rely on information in this blog as it is just based on things we have come across and may not apply in your case. The fact is we have lots of clients who are very happy owners of short-term holiday properties all over Australia. We really do love to provide competetive short-term stay insurance for them. We really enjoy working in this area of the insurance market. Call or complete one of our online forms to receive a free quote on your home or apartment insurance for short-term holiday stays if that is the way you wish to rent out your holiday home or investment property. We hope this article has enlightened you, so you are more fully informed of the issues before you decide which path you wish to take. You may choose the flexibility of short term holiday rentals or the security of a long term lease. Whichever way you decide to go we would love to give you a free comparison insurance quote. To get a short-term rental or holiday home insurance quote click on this link:- Rental insurance quote to find out more.

If you own a Serviced Apartment, then you need insurance for your unit or apartment which covers short term holiday rentals or stays. Have you decided to rent it out and you are using an onsite manager to take bookings and care for your unit as a serviced apartment? Then you need a landlords insurance policy which covers you for short term rental stays and your insurance company needs to be aware that it is a serviced apartment. What does Serviced Apartment mean? Serviced Apartments are usually furnished apartments or units rented out for short-term stays where the owner pays a manager to clean the apartment and manage the bookings for the holiday rentals. Serviced apartments will be fully furnished with linen and cooking utensils supplied. Holiday makers do not have to supply linen and have all the benefits of services like cleaning, booking office or reception, included in the cost of the Serviced apartment booking. Similar to a motel room except you have the benefits of an apartment and can do your own cooking and you have more room. They are great for families. Serviced apartments may be serviced weekly or daily and there would usually be a cost to this included in the booking. You may have the option to have the unit cleaned for the duration of your stay or at the end of your booking. As an owner of the service apartment you have the benefit of regular cleaning and the manager taking away the stress or time involved in managing the apartment bookings, cleaning and even mamaging the maintentance depending on what you have agreed with the manager. Why won’t my insurance company insure Serviced Apartments? Many insurance companies will not insure serviced apartments. This may because they are concerned by the extra risk imposed by having a third party clean your apartment or other reasons. The insurer may or may not be happy to insure your property for short term holidays, but once you mention that it is a serviced apartment, they may decline to insure you. If you have run into this problem, we may be able to help you with insurance for your serviced apartment or unit with a specialist landlords’ policy which caters for serviced apartments. You can generally insure your Contents, Loss of rent and Landlords Public liability which protects you if a tenant is injured and you are found legally liable for some unexpected reason. Do you want to know if your Insurance covers your Serviced Apartment for short-term holiday tenants? Then, 1. At the very least you must inform your insurance company and get confirmation that they will cover your Service apartment for the short term holiday rentals. 2. Check that they will cover periods when your property is unoccupied between holiday rentals. 3. Will they cover you if you manage it yourself or do you have to use an agent. 4. When it is unoccupied what cover will they provide. Will it be full cover or restricted cover or no cover at all? 5. Do not just assume you are covered you must check! 6. Do you really want to take the risk of being uninsured because you did not check with your current insurer? Or not be insured because you did not advise your new insurer when taking out the policy that it was going to be let as a Serviced Apartment for short term rentals. So, call you insurance company or insurance broker to check today! How can we help with your Serviced Apartment Insurance? We can assist you with a wide range of holiday apartment & serviced apartment Insurance with cover for damage to your contents and owner’s fixtures and fittings caused by fire, storm, and other listed perils. You can include policy options such as accidental damage, landlord’s public liability, landlords’ contents, loss of rent, malicious damage, and tenant damage for instance. Please note we generally cannot help if the Apartment or Unit is sub-let or on a multi-lease agreement. Generally, the building is covered by the Strata policy or Apartment insurance. However, if your lender requires mortgagee building insurance then we can assist here as well. Conditions apply to all policies. Please view the Landlords Product Disclosure Statement which we will send with your quote. Alternatively call Insure More @ on 02 6555 5022 and we will help explain the options or you can complete one of our online forms here to request a Serviced Apartment Insurance quote or visit our Serviced Apartment & Unit Insurance page to find out more.

Scenarios we can help you with: - 1. You are the Building Property Owner only, and you lease out the whole building to tenants. 2. You Occupy the Building and run your business from a portion of it, you then lease out other bays or sections of the building. 3. You Own & Occupy 100% of the building and run your business from it. 4. You Own the building and its vacant, however, you are currently trying to get tenants. (This can be more difficult to insure but let us try to help you.) Choose Our Trusted Insurance Brokers in Forster Tuncurry We insure and protect a wide range of Property Buildings all over Australia. Helping you obtain Building & Public Liability insurance coverage for your Commercial, Industrial, Factory, Shed, Warehouse, Strata, Retail, Arcade or Office Properties is what we love to do. This is why we have many happy insurance customers Australia Wide. We use a range of insurers, not just one. This helps us tailor your insurance package to what suits your needs and budget. We started our business in 1985 in general insurance in Muswellbrook NSW, later moving to Forster Tuncurry in 1987. We are an Authorised Broker of Community Broker Network Pty Ltd which is a member of the Steadfast Group. ​ We use a range of insurers, not just one. You can include insurance options such as Loss of Rent, Glass and Business Interruption insurance. Property insurance includes cover for events such as Fire, Storm, Malicious Damage, Earthquake, Impact by vehicles and other listed events. How do I get Building Insurance for my Retail, Industrial Property, Shed or Warehouse? ​ To get a Property Owners Insurance Quote and find out the value of your insurance premium, submit an insurance quote form today. We will provide and email you back insurance quote options, information and insurance costs to help you decide what suits your needs. Then, after receiving your insurance quotes, if you wish to make alterations to the insured amounts, or cover, it is just a matter of letting us know and we will adjust your quote. ​ There is no obligation to proceed after requesting a Building & Property Owners Insurance Quote request. To obtain a quote visit our Commercial & Industrial Building Insurance page and click here to find out more. To go straight to a quote request form, click the Start a Property Owners Quote button below. No cover is in place until we provide you with confirmation and a policy number. ​ If you decide to proceed with a policy, there is a 14 day free look period.

Taree Office We are locally owned by Matt Fawcett & Paul Stack, many of our staff members having a long history with the local community, This flows through to the caring way that we do business. We provide Insurance & Risk services to clients Australia wide, however the majority of our clients come from East Coast of Australia. Our History The business was started in 1988 by Roger & Ros Edwards after 32 years in business Roger sold the business to Matt Fawcett. Matt has expanded the business to now employ 8 staff across Taree and Tuncurry. Supporting almost 1400 people through their yearly insurance journey. Our Clients Our clients vary from small to medium business operators to large businesses, manufacturers, commercial property owners and trades people. We also provide insurance to individuals and their families for their homes and motor vehicles. Matt will provide you with the support you deserve. Please don't hesitate to give our friendly staff a call on (02) 65913467 for all your insurance needs. Insure More @ is an Authorised Representative of Community Broker Network, which is part of Australasia’s largest general insurance broker network, the Steadfast Group. We leverage Steadfast’s scale to ensure our clients have access to a wide range of insurance companies, a broad range of products, exclusive policy options, and of course, competitive pricing. And when the time comes and you need to make a claim, you will have the backing of Steadfast behind you. https://www.steadfast.com.au/about-us Address Suite 201 1 Pulteney Street Taree NSW 2430 Phone 02 6591 3467 Email Work@insuremore.com.au First Name Last Name Email Message Send Thanks for submitting!

Start A Quote Call us 02 6555 5022 Home & Contents Insurance On this page you can obtain request a quote or cover for your Home & Contents insurance along with Public Liability Insurance for your residential property. Options such as accidental damage and fusion can be included along with temporary accomodation insurance. Home insurance covers things such as storm damage, fire, flood, and earthquake. Theft or burglary of home contents. Conditions apply to all policies. Please view the Home Insurance Product Disclosure Statement we supply with your quote. Your Building Insurance covers the home you live in, plus any other buildings on your property – like sheds and garages. We really want to help you get the insurance cover you need so don't hesitate to contact us to discuss. We have a wide range of insurers on our recomended list and can cover many properties after obtaining your details and referring to insurance underwriters. If you feel the quote you receive is to high we do use a wide range of insurance companies. Just ask us for an alternative quote for comparison. We can assist you with a wide range of Home, Contents & Weekender Insurance. Please call for a quote on 02 6555 5022 to discuss your needs. Alternatively send us an email

Your Duty of Disclosure Before you enter into an insurance contract, you have a duty to tell the insurer anything that you know, or could reasonably be expected to know, that may affect the insurer’s decision to insure you and on what terms. You have this duty until they agree to insure you. You have the same duty before you renew, extend, vary, or reinstate an insurance contract. You do not need to tell the insurer anything that: • reduces the risk they insure you for; or • is common knowledge; or • the insurer knows, or should know: or • the insurer waives your duty to tell them about. If you do not tell the insurer something If you do not tell the insurer anything you are required to, they may cancel your insurance contract or reduce the amount they will pay you if you make a claim, or both. If your failure to tell them is fraudulent, they may refuse to pay a claim and treat the insurance contract as if it never existed. ADDITIONAL DUTY NOT TO MAKE A MISREPRESENTATION - (Applies to consumer insurance contracts only) A consumer insurance contract (CIC) is a contract that is purchased for personal, domestic or household purposes. You have a duty under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (ICA) to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer (your duty). Your duty applies only in respect of a policy that is a consumer insurance contract, which is a term defined in the ICA. Your duty applies before you enter into the policy and also before you renew, extend, vary or reinstate the policy. Before you do any of these things, you may be required to answer questions and the insurer will use the answers you provide in deciding whether to insure you, and anyone else to be insured under the policy, and on what terms. To ensure you meet your duty, your answers to the questions must be truthful, accurate and complete. If you fail to meet your duty, the insurer may be able to cancel your contract, or reduce the amount it will pay if you make a claim, or both. If your failure is fraudulent, the insurer may be able to refuse to pay a claim and treat the contract as if it never existed. DUTY OF GOOD FAITH Both parties to an insurance contract, the insurer and the insured, must act towards each other with the utmost good faith. If you fail to do so, the insurer can cancel your insurance. If the insurer fails to do so, you may be able to sue the insurer. Non-Disclosure – What happens if you don’t tell us The insurer may be entitled to: • Cancel your policy • Treat your policy as if it never operated • Reduce or refuse to pay a claim. The duty applies to each person named in the policy as the insured. If your non-disclosure is fraudulent, the Insurer may also have the option of avoiding the contract from the beginning. Please note: if you haven’t told the truth you might not be covered. Target Market Determinations (TMDs) - Applies to Retail consumer insurance Insurers have created Target Market Determinations (TMDs) which set out the type of customer and risk the product is designed for. We will provide links for each product that falls within these criteria for this financial product when yo apply or renew insurance. If you would like a copy of the TMD, please advise us so that we can make this available to you. Before you make any decision about whether the policy is right for you, you should obtain and read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the policy. ESSENTIAL READING OF POLICY WORDING The policy wordings for your insurances are essential reading to understand what is protected by each policy. Read them carefully as soon as possible and contact us if you have any concerns about the extent of your cover. For all the types of insurance advice we are able to provide such as commercial property insurance, short term rental insurance or helping to compare holiday home insurance for your short term rental property, you always need to be open and honest with us.