The strata insurance market saw two more policies being withdrawn from sale in 2021. A whopping 13 product offerings have come and gone since StrataRatings commenced just four years ago.

We have seen a healthy number of 82% of Residential policies and 83% of Commercial policies getting an update in 2021. Many of these updates have been in line with regulatory requirements however there have been some tweaks to policy benefits, monetary limits and definitions.

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, a change in cover holder meant that the Resilium policy made its way to a Gold rating from the previous year having being awarded Silver.

Notable offerings that left the market in 2021 were Expert and QUS, although QUS promise that a new product is on the way with a change in underwriter.

Moving to Commercial policies and little has changed other than the removal of two product offerings.

The strong stay strong.

Whilst it is always concerning to see products leave the market due to the implicit reduction in competitive options for consumers, it is important to recognise that that the leaders in the space have remained strong over the years.

Their expertise and longevity in this niche arena have led to strong partnerships with underwriters and constant policy tweaks to keep up with strata needs to ensure risk is transferred appropriately.

It wasn’t that long ago that PDS’s were only updated every five years or so. Now we see updates from the dominant providers every six months. Instigation of recent updates is usually caused by some sort of regulatory requirement however the process generally leads to other tweaks giving better outcomes to consumers through clearer policy coverage or tweaked limits.

So, there you have it – the StrataRatings awards for 2022!

Come and check out which Rating your policy achieved here.