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.