Whitsunday real estate agents join fight against insurance premium hikes

 Harcourts real estate agents Robyn Tyson (managing director) and Sharon Dewsbury (consultant) have joined the ongoing fight against body corporate insurance premium hikes.

 Ms Tyson said units with outgoings, sometimes in excess of $10,000 a year, were now becoming harder to sell.

 “Traditionally (these types of) units were often taken up by retirees, but what retiree can afford ongoing costs of $10,000 a year on a pension?” Ms Tyson said.

 “I think it is interesting that most of the insurance claims prepared by our office after the cyclones were related to trees down and fencing damage. Homes and in particular units had no damage to remark of. But these are the very clients that have seen their insurances double if not treble as well as rates increase,” she said.

 “How do you convince an investor to purchase a unit or a home when there is such extraordinary fixed costs per year to take on board? Insurance companies should be taking our money and investing wisely so that they can ride the storms so to speak not put up insurance premiums to ensure their profitability.”

 Ms Dewsbury said the current situation was not sustainable, with homeowners now forced to spend existing funds and levies on increased insurance premiums instead of building maintenance and upgrades.

 “There’s simply not enough money to do both. If this isn’t rectified, in the long term we’re going to have an awful lot of shabby buildings that are non-compliant,” Ms Dewsbury said.

 Executive for the Queensland Insurance Division (QUID) of Whitsunday Ratepayers Association (WRA) Lester Riley, said Harcourts was the first real estate agency to speak out.

 Mr Riley said QUID was currently working with federal government representatives but had yet to see any action from the state.

 “Warren Entsch (chief opposition whip) and George Christensen (federal member for Dawson) have responded at a federal government level and are in there fighting for us. Why can’t the state do the same?” he asked.

 Ms Dewsbury said it was now up to homeowners to take a stand.

 “We’ve got locals here in town who own a unit in a body corp, that never go to a body corp meeting and take part.

 “I think we need to bring it to the awareness of REIQ (Real Estate Institute Queensland) and the head offices of franchises like Harcourts Qld, but (essentially) it’s the owners of units that are the ones who need to pull their heads out of the sand and speak out. A real estate agency could then support that,” she said.

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