Australia’s largest strata underwriting agency, CHU, has made significant alterations to its residential policy to reflect changing requirements.

“We believe insurance should evolve with the needs of our customers,” CEO Kimberley Jonsson said. “This upgrade to our residential offering is about removing complexity, bridging gaps in coverage and ensuring strata residents are better protected.”  

The changes include an optional lot owners’ cover to bridge a gap between strata insurance and traditional contents policies. It includes fixtures and fittings such as home appliances, curtains and carpets, but not personal items such as clothing or jewellery.

CHU says the cover allows owners to liaise with one insurer instead of two when common property and certain contents are affected, streamlining the claims process.

Office bearers’ liability will be included on all policies, providing safeguards for committee members should they become legally liable while carrying out their duties.

“There will always be residents who disagree with decisions and may bring action against individual committee members, regardless of the legitimacy of their case,” Ms Jonsson said. 

“By including office bearers’ liability as a standard, we’re providing an additional layer of protection for both the individuals and the committee as a whole.”  

The policy wording has been restructured to improve clarity, with all building-related covers including insured property, machinery breakdown, catastrophe cover and lot owners’ fixtures and fittings in one section.

CHU says it has increased some sublimits to special benefits under the building insurance section and raised sum insured defaults to better reflect replacement costs and reduce underinsurance risks.

The changes apply from this month to all new and renewal policies.