Smoke and Mirrors, Insurance & Termites

There is a lot of confusion when it comes to termites and the risk they pose to your property. The statistics show that if you live on mainland Australia you have a 1 in 3 chance that termites are already busy in your garden doing what they do best, disposing of leaf litter and decaying wood. But the scary thing is you have a 1 in 5 chance that they will make it into your home where they can stay undetected for months causing costly damage before you come across them. It’s terrifying to think that termites alone cause more than $1 billion a year in damages to Australian homes. Most people believe it won’t happen to them but the statistics don’t back that up. The facts are the only part of Australia unaffected by termites is Tasmania. With the chances of termite damage to your home being so high how can you protect your home and your pocket? The first question would be, is termite damage covered by household insurance? Insurance companies are well aware of these statistics and most policies will have a clause stating ‘loss or damage arising from insect or vermin are not covered by our insurance policy’. Often this will only be discovered when you try and claim for losses suffered by termites and your insurer denies the claim. Let’s be honest, when you are arranging insurance and the insurance consultant presents you with a 100 page document of T&C’s and says “Just sign here”, most people feel that they don’t have the time to read every clause and just sign the document. You then take your copy home with the good intentions of reading and scrutinising every page and paragraph before the cooling off period ends, but what normally happens is life gets in the way and we end up filing it away for when we might need it. So if your insurance policy doesn’t cover termite damage what can you do? There’s an old adage “prevention is better than the cure”. Simply put, setting up a termite protection regime before you have a problem could save you huge amounts in repairs bills. Termite protection like liquid chemical barriers or monitor and baiting systems aren’t the latest must have gadget and we know that people would rather be spending their money on a holiday or big TV, but when you weigh up the risk and likelihood of getting termites it is better to be safe than sorry.  It’s a funny thing when you watch people grapple with spending not even 1% of the homes value on protecting it. We understand that termite protection isn’t as sexy as a big TV and it is something that you can’t show off to your friends but it is an essential part of protecting your family and your home. Most companies will offer some form of warranty once a treatment is put in place, but as with all insurance policies there will be an ongoing yearly premium but unlike insurance cover you actually get something more than just the cover. Reputable Pest Control Companies will offer either three, six or twelve monthly visual termite inspections depending on the risk to your home. This is a huge benefit to the home owner, having a professional pest controller, who understands termite behaviour and ecology, inspect your property to minimise the risk. One of the key things a good pest controller will do, is educate the client and make them aware of things around the home that have the potential to attract termites. With the majority of termite warranties, it will either be a timber replacement guarantee with a baiting system or a re-treatment guarantee to the area of concern with a liquid treatment. Click for more information