If you or a loved one were unlucky enough to suffer a medical emergency which left you unable to answer the door, there would be little option for the emergency service than to forcibly break down your door.

The question I ask: Would your home and contents insurance policy cover the damage caused by emergency services? Or would you need to foot the bill yourself?

After reviewing over 250 policies using LMI PolicyComparison.com, what I found was surprising. If you were one of the millions of Australians who have selected to protect your belongings with a defined events policy, you would likely have to cover the cost of the repairs yourself. This cover not being provided by most policies. With cover restricted to damage caused by emergency services in connection with an insured event, for example, extinguishing a fire.

Unfortunately, this same exclusion would extend to damage caused by the police attending to a domestic violence incident.

What could we do as an industry?

While there are certainly events that fall outside of this, such as the execution of a search warrant… I ask: given the arguably low cost of the damage, and the equally low likelihood of a claim occurring, could we as an industry do better? Could we extend cover to every insuring member of the public? Regardless of your choice between defined events or accidental damage?

I, like many of my colleagues, am proud to be a part of an industry that provides protection and security to the community. An industry which has constantly evolved to offer protection for new and emerging risks such as cyber. An industry which provides protection for the most vulnerable among us.

Let’s keep evolving to ensure this industry remains one we can be proud of.