Recently in Senate Estimates, I questioned the ACCC regarding an insurance company who refused to pay out insurance to a family whose house was destroyed in a fire…all because they sold eggs their chickens were laying.
If you run a business or a side hustle from home, you may want to check your insurance clauses.
Economics Legislation Committee
10/11/2022
Estimates
TREASURY PORTFOLIO
National Competition Council
Senator RENNICK: Hi guys. How are you going? I’d like to refer to an ABC article earlier this year that was about a family who had paid over $2,000 a year for five years to AAMI for house insurance. Their house burnt down as a result of electrical fault, but because they had chickens on another part of their property that they made about $60 or $70 a week with, through an honesty box system, they were denied insurance. Apparently, it was in the fine print—you can’t run a business. I would have thought having a few chickens out in your backyard somewhere isn’t exactly running a business. What protections are there for consumers, especially from insurance companies that will look for any excuse not to pay out on their insurance?
Ms Cass-Gottlieb : Thank you. As a financial product, ASIC will be the regulator in relation to misleading and deceptive conduct in relation to financial products. In principle, for both ASIC and the ACCC as regulators in terms of the Australian Consumer Law, if there were misrepresentations made or the terms were not sufficiently made clear—so in fine print—there will be matters that can be taken up.
