The strata insurance market saw another five policies being withdrawn from sale in 2020 which leaves products available for purchase down 25% from just two years ago.

We have seen a healthy number of 36% of Residential policies and 25% of Commercial policies getting an update in 2020. For the most part these updates were minor in nature with several insurers updating the cover they provide around disease now that Covid-19 is upon us.

Methodology

Our Rating methodology has remained the same since inception and considered the following:

1. Who is the insurer?

2. Is the policy an Insured Events policy or a Broadform Accidental Loss/Damage policy?

3. Is the product freely available to purchase?

4. How comprehensive is the wording?

Full detail of our methodology can be found here.

What Ratings Changed?

On the Residential policy front, Expert Strata Insurance and Longitude Strata Insurance returned to a Gold Rating, since dropping to Silver in 2020. Whilst these policies were updated in 2020, the move was more related with the need to keep a bell-curve distribution of the Ratings, rather than increased policy cover.

Sure Insurance were a new entrant to the market in 2020 however only achieved a Silver Rating due to a poor cover holder.

Moving to Commercial policies and again we saw Expert Strata Insurance and Longitude Strata Insurance return to a Gold Rating due to a reduction in the policies available to the market.

To offer poor cover or not at all?

As we see a quarter of the market remove their policies for sale in just two years, it is troubling to consider what this means for consumers in terms of competitiveness.

On the positive side, policies that are withdrawn from the market tend to have poor or unstable insurers. This means that if decision making is more determined by price than anything else, there may be a lower chance of losing out come claim time.

Market leaders in the space have strong and secure underwriters. In addition to this strong base, they build comprehensive products that suit the customer and distribute these fairly.

So, there you have it – the StrataRatings awards for 2021!

Come and check out which Rating your policy achieved here.