Suburb surcharge

ScotInExile · 2022-09-01T06:31:15+00:00

My house sits right on the border between 2 suburbs, as in, the front door is in Suburb A and the back door is in Suburb B. We are under the local council for Suburb A and pay our rates to them, but Suburb B is under a different local council despite having the same postcode. (It was quite funny during lockdown as Suburb B was under a very strict, not allowed to leave your house, restriction while Suburb A could move around freely so we joked that we couldn't go into our back garden at all but we could head out the front quite freely.) Both suburbs having the same postcode means that sometimes when I order online I get asked if its '123 Streetname, Suburb A or 123 Streetname, Suburb B. It's the exact same location, same house, just listed differently in some places. So here is my issue - we have recently changed insurers and when we provided our address as Suburb A (as that is where we pay rates) they said they couldn't accept that as the deeds for the house listed it as being in Suburb B so we had to change the address to Suburb B on the insurance documents. Since changing the suburb the insurance have come back and said that our payments will be $10 per month more than originally quoted as we are now living in Suburb B. We haven't moved, the house is where it has always been. Would you challenge the insurer on this and request they honour their original price?

SavoirFlair · 01/09/2022 07:32

YABU.

DashboardConfessional · 01/09/2022 07:35

No, I wouldn't. Their risk assessment says you are in suburb B with all the associated figures for possible insurance events, and that is where you physically are.

Crumblierthanfeta · 01/09/2022 07:40

I wouldn’t risk trying to change it as it could cause issues should you need to make a claim. Insurance companies will always use the highest risk information from which to base their quotes. There are entire departments relating to statistical analysis for insurance premiums.

Xiaoxiong · 01/09/2022 07:41

You can certainly try but I don't think they'll honour it because the original price will have been based on the (from their perspective, incorrect) address you gave them that doesn't match the deeds. They don't really think about your actual house location, they will have a big database with loads of data in there crunching how risky suburb A is as a whole vs suburb B as a whole. Your home insurance could go up because a few miles away there was a rash of burglaries or something and just because you're barely in that suburb your insurance goes up, that kind of thing. Or that suburb has a river that floods, you're nowhere near it but they think if you're in that suburb you'll be closer and therefore more at risk.

Generally, insurance you just have to shop around - individual companies just give you what their database spits out, and it's a bit "computer says no" if you try to ask for reasons or challenge it (in my experience anyway). Go to one of the online comparison websites and you'll be able to get an idea of the range of prices - they seldom vary by much as often they use the same datasets so it's more about what is covered, for how much and what excess that makes the difference in prices.

Original poster

ScotInExile · 01/09/2022 07:51

DashboardConfessional · 01/09/2022 07:35

No, I wouldn't. Their risk assessment says you are in suburb B with all the associated figures for possible insurance events, and that is where you physically are.

Well yes, but I am also physically in Suburb A and pay rates to that council. I understand the difference in risk between suburbs but the location hasn't physically changed since their original quote. Maybe I could ask them to split the difference as only half of my house is physically in Suburb B 😂

OP posts:

Augend23 · 01/09/2022 07:53

I would at least ask them to honour allowing you to cancel the insurance without a fee, paying for only the time used, and then try other insurers.

Testina · 01/09/2022 07:56

Are you in the U.K.? The dollars and the use of suburb in that way don’t sound it… if you are, house insurance simply isn’t a negotiation point. Their systems won’t allow an over ride. It’s an interesting quirk, but nothing you can do with the insurance company. Maybe long term with the Post Office, as I guess they’re the starting point of correct addresses.

Original poster

ScotInExile · 01/09/2022 07:56

Xiaoxiong · 01/09/2022 07:41

You can certainly try but I don't think they'll honour it because the original price will have been based on the (from their perspective, incorrect) address you gave them that doesn't match the deeds. They don't really think about your actual house location, they will have a big database with loads of data in there crunching how risky suburb A is as a whole vs suburb B as a whole. Your home insurance could go up because a few miles away there was a rash of burglaries or something and just because you're barely in that suburb your insurance goes up, that kind of thing. Or that suburb has a river that floods, you're nowhere near it but they think if you're in that suburb you'll be closer and therefore more at risk.

Generally, insurance you just have to shop around - individual companies just give you what their database spits out, and it's a bit "computer says no" if you try to ask for reasons or challenge it (in my experience anyway). Go to one of the online comparison websites and you'll be able to get an idea of the range of prices - they seldom vary by much as often they use the same datasets so it's more about what is covered, for how much and what excess that makes the difference in prices.

Thank you for your very informative and detailed response. Of course it makes total sense to an insurance company, but when my house is half in each suburb and I'm paying rates to the council in Suburb A it seems a little crazy to me!

OP posts:

Original poster

ScotInExile · 01/09/2022 07:58

Testina · 01/09/2022 07:56

Are you in the U.K.? The dollars and the use of suburb in that way don’t sound it… if you are, house insurance simply isn’t a negotiation point. Their systems won’t allow an over ride. It’s an interesting quirk, but nothing you can do with the insurance company. Maybe long term with the Post Office, as I guess they’re the starting point of correct addresses.

No, in Australia, so the postcodes are just for suburbs, not individual streets like in the UK. Our postcode covers 2 suburbs but, unusually, the 2 suburbs have different local councils so it makes my house a bit weird.

OP posts:

sorrynotathome · 01/09/2022 07:59

Rates? Are you in the UK? We don’t pay rates. And there was never a lockdown where you were not allowed to leave your house.

YippieKayakOtherBuckets · 01/09/2022 08:07

For whatever reason they have changed their risk calculation. You can try to fight it and you can shop around but to be honest you might have to accept that the extra $10 / month is the new price. It is preferable to finding that you are significantly underinsured in the event that you need to make a claim.

ThanksItHasPockets · 01/09/2022 08:15

We haven't moved, the house is where it has always been.

No, but something may have changed in the risk profile. Maybe Suburb B has seen a recent spate of thefts, or is at increased risk from a natural threat like flooding or fires.

sorrynotathome · 01/09/2022 08:18

ScotInExile · 01/09/2022 07:58

No, in Australia, so the postcodes are just for suburbs, not individual streets like in the UK. Our postcode covers 2 suburbs but, unusually, the 2 suburbs have different local councils so it makes my house a bit weird.

Show quote history

Oops cross-post. That makes sense now OP.

Testina · 01/09/2022 08:40

I think on a predominantly U.K. forum it’s important to know you’re in Australia. Here, the insurance company would tell you, “computer says no” so your question makes no sense!

HiVisAndWellies · 01/09/2022 08:47

Insurers are always going to take the worst case scenario.

MRex · 01/09/2022 08:51

Your property is actually suburb B if that's the deeds, and all insurers will have the same slightly higher risk code accordingly because it will be based on theft, fire, flood and other risks in that suburb. The address should have defaulted to the correct suburb or been reviewed by an underwriter before giving you a price. For questions or challenges, you can ask for an underwriter to look specifically at your case. For home insurance and a difference of only $10, it's quite likely that the insurer would refuse your request, and the call centre would be accountable for the decision on whether to give you a one-off goodwill discount if they think there were service errors on their side when they gave you the initial quote. If they don't, then it's equally likely that an actual underwriter would say "fair enough, I'll give you a $10 goodwill discount this year, but just know for future years that you'll be on suburb B." So, try contacting them if you can be bothered, but don't expect any more than a one-off discount.