Our promise

We know insurance can be daunting. So, we wanted to promise our clients that we’ll work to understand and help them. This is especially important for those who need extra support from us.

If you are going through a personal experience that gives rise to unique needs, we may be able to provide extra support. Call 1800 661 662 to talk with us about your options.

At EBM RentCover, our values underpin everything we do. They are engrained in all team members and define the approach we take to understand and support vulnerable people.

Family violence is any behaviour that makes someone else feel controlled and fearful, including emotional, physical, psychological, sexual and financial abuse. To be more specific, in Australia law, it’s defined as:

“violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person’s family… or causes the family member to be fearful.” – Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), section 4AB

To summarise, family violence is NOT OKAY.

There are many organisations out there that are ready and willing to support those in family violence situations. To support our clients, we have listed some below:

• 1800 RESPECT – a national sexual assault, domestic and family violence information and support line (24 hours). It also provides information for family and friends, and workers and professionals on supporting women and children experiencing violence.
• LIFELINE – a national charity providing all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services.
• MENSLINE – a dedicated service for men with relationship and family concerns.
• RELATIONSHIPS AUSTRALIA – a leading provider of relationship support services for individuals, families and communities.
• WESNET – an organisation that aims to design a future where all women and children live free of domestic and family violence and its consequences.

If you are in immediate danger, you should call 000.

We understand domestic and family violence is a very complex and personal issue, and it is not easy to talk about it. If you are comfortable in doing so, we are committed to having a conversation with you about how we can support you through this difficult time. Touch base with the EBM RentCover team on 1800 661 662 and ask to speak to someone about the family violence section of ‘Our Promise’ – we want to provide options to support you through this experience.

If you would feel more comfortable putting your situation in writing, that is more than fine! Here are some other ways you can touch base with us:

• Email enquiries@rentcover.com.au
• Send a letter to EBM RentCover, PO Box 879, Hawthorn 3122
• Click here and use our online enquiry form

We know that if you are experiencing a family violence situation, you do not need the added stress of paying your premium. If you are facing financial hardship because of your experience, we can help by offering different options for payment, including premium funding. Call us on 1800 661 662 for a more detailed list of options.

As soon as you recognise your situation has an impact on your ability to insure your property, and when you feel comfortable sharing your experience with us. We know it can be difficult to tell your story, however as soon as we know something is wrong, we can help.

We will treat information that you give us about your situation confidential. Rest assured, if you are a joint-policyholder with the perpetrator of the family violence, the information you provide us will never be disclosed to the other party. We will also make sure you are not retelling your story over and over again (you will only deal with one or two people and we will make sure you do not bounce from staff member to staff member).

Making a claim is stressful at the best of times. However, we aim to make this process as seamless as possible for all clients (including those who need extra support). If you need to make a claim, we work to handle it with care and flexibility. If you have told us about a family violence situation you are facing, this is how we may help:

• We will listen and decide how to best respond, and to what extent, to support you through this time.
• If the customer and the perpetrator are joint policyholders, we will make sure all communication is kept private (whatever one person tells us is not shared with the other party).
• Damage to the property caused by the perpetrator (e.g. the landlord’s perpetrator maliciously attacks the tenanted property) will be handled on a case-by-case basis, and is settled with thoughtful consideration.

Every claim and situation is different, so for the best outcome we ask that you are open with your circumstances. This will help us to review your claim appropriately and provide you with the best customer service and options.

We don’t want to imply that our team has a great deal of knowledge and experience in dealing with those facing family violence situations – we know we are not specialists in this area and do not claim to be social workers.

However, our team is equipped to offer understanding, care and compassion to those in difficult situations. Everyone in our Expert Care team is trained to understand if a client is vulnerable, take into account a client’s needs, engage with sensitivity and respect, and decide how to best respond. We are a people-driven business and we want to support those who need it most.

If you find out your tenant is impacted by family violence and that impacts a claim, you should let us know so we can respond accordingly. We will work with you to make sure the claim is settled in line with the terms and conditions of the policy, and will not seek restitution from the tenant who is the victim of the family violence (we may seek restitution from the tenant who is the perpetrator – this will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis).