RACT Home and Contents Insurance

Everything seems great and positive until you make your first claim and realise they look for every tiny loophole to avoid giving assistance with a home or contents claim. A rusty screw was blamed for water damage to my wooden ceiling and so the claim was rejected based on the maintenance clause. Apparently I have to inspect every screw regularly… Read more

to ensure I am maintaining my home otherwise I am not covered. What a joke! They just lost a previously loyal customer.

We have a water leak between the hot water cylinder and our taps. National Leak Detection has confirmed the leak by pressure test and supposedly located the leak by heat detector. RACT will not cover removing a plaster wall to repair the leak and inspect the damage. We went ahead and removed the wall only to find no piping at all. Now RACT won't… Read more

respond. Despite numerous written complaints they won't put anything in writing. When we ring them the answer is always we will review your file, contact our subcontractors and talk to our superiors then contact you. They never do contact us. We are stuck in a "catch 22" situation whilst our access to hot water is limited due to the unknown damage caused when we use which RACT is unlikely to cover despite our policy clearly stating they cover leaks. We have been with them for more than a decade with one claim involving black mould in the house that took us five months to resolved. They are incompetent and waste so much money sending out professionals whose only purpose is to deny the claim. Never insure with RACT.

We've been with RACT for decades but simply can't trust them anymore. They made up excuses to deny our modest claim. Their assessor alarmingly concocted theories opposite to what happened claiming pre existing damage and wear and tear. Avoid at all costs or take regular photos with date and time. Worse than Centrelink! Show details

Tried to get an insurance claim after a weather event damaged my house. ract ripped through my house and damaged parts of it promising to replace it after the claim was solved. only then to deny the claim and only repairing the parts of the house they broke after I paid another company to fix the issue I originally put a claim in for. worst insurance company every going back to AAMI which is only marginally better. Show details

We have been members of RACT for over 10 years and could not be happier with the services they have provided, particularly with our recent claim. Beginning with roadside assistance about 12 years ago - always getting straight through to friendly and responsive support, with prompt and effective road side service - very impressive. This drew me… Read more

into comparing prices of car, home and contents insurance, as well as insuring our Airbnb. It was cheaper. While bundling all made it cheaper again. From time to time with work I’ve had to provide insurance details. It was so easy (refreshingly so after Centrelink and Telstra’s waits) to speak with someone who could readily provide all information that I needed. We had two car incidents - in each case, once again, so straightforward and prompt assistance effectively honouring our insurance claims. More recently our Airbnb was burnt in a fire originating from our neighbours house. It was very distressing. We live remotely yet the very next day someone came out. They were both sensitive to our distress in the situation and extremely diligent in fully understanding the extent of the damage and the complexities of the repair. Conversations with our primary contact assessor, as well as our RACT representative showed both their compassion and intelligence. We are extremely grateful for their insight and very fair assessed outcome payout.

15% base increase – After changing all of our insurance to ract last year, no claims made, 15% increase offering this year. Rang & usual excuses, increased risk in our area ? Made a formal complaint & got a call the next day from ract stating that it was a 15% base price increase. No recall at all. Take it or leave it! When we swapped over the sales team was gushing… Read more

on about how any increase would be minimal. I wish my pay increase was 15% minimal. Look elsewhere, but where?

Inexperienced assessor – We had a water leak in our front yard and at the time we were unaware that it was not coming from our pipes . Our driveway was lifted and a constant waterfall continued to flood areas of our garden and under our house which caused mould . We were assessed by RACT . The assessor claimed that it was a very old problem and was not covered in our… Read more

insurance. TAS Water investigated and found it was a leaking pipe under the ground and a few houses away . They gave us a brand new driveway , offered to pay for the trees which needed to come out and sprayed under our house to get rid of the mould . My review is directed at the inexperienced assessor.

50% increase home and contents 2024!! – Have been a RACT customer for several years but have been absolutely horrified at the 50% increase in my home and content rate for 2024. I have never made a claim for anything home and contents insured by them! When I went to lodge a formal complaint about this I was told by the person I was talking to on the phone that they could leave… Read more

feeback? I stated NO I wanted to make a formal complaint FEEDBACK is NOT a formal complaint facility it can be negative or positive feedback. I was never advised prior to my insurance paperwork being sent out a couple of weeks before my due date, and as a person on disability pension I had allowed for a 12%increase for my renewal. I am now left struggling to insure both my home and contents as I can not afford to loose them and become homeless. I own my home outright and have no debt but this WILL potentially cripple me. I get $508 a week to live on. The weekly increase is over $11. What pay cuts have the CEO and EXECUTIVES of RACT taken to help mitigate the ongoing increases for their customers? Have they like many according to Business Review June 2023 taken up to 15% pay increases? Im assuming the board and members have voted for this 50% increase when so many of us are already struggling. I was told by the person I spoke with at RACT it was because of all the floods and fires across Australia!. Hang on I have never had a insurance premuim go down when their are very few of these happening. Isnt that the whole business of insurance companies to make sure they have the money to cover their foreseeable debts aside? Debts as in potential loses. so what RACT is doing is adding to the high risk of people loosing their homes in dire circumstances because OF their lack. Of course paying shareholders is actually the real business today. Lets just keep making the customers pay So we can ensure profits to the shareholders. Screw the customers who can not buy food pay their heating. I am sure the CEO and executives are not having to make decisions about heating food or insurance! Go sleep in a safe warm sleeping bag for one night to "support the homeless" WHEN YOU ARE HELPING CREATE THEM!

Get lost – What ever you do don’t go near this mob. Stuck in 60’s. Tony Abbott would be real happy here. Avoid! Show details

Jaw dropping premium rise – Have been with RACT for 20 years with a bundled Home/contents/car policy. Like just about everything the premiums have risen over the years but the latest renewal went up a staggering 59%. The policy doesn't show what proportion of the total is for the vehicle and they devalued the replacement cost from an agreed value. It also came with a sheaf… Read more

of pages devoted to new and changed exclusions.

My wife and I were in shock and rang RACT trying to get an explanation for the massive hike and what the premium for the car is. The call centre operator was unhelpful to the point of being rude and rolled out standard responses such as "Its gone up due to floods" Bit odd as we are up on a hill. They flatly refused to divulge how much we were paying for the car premium and curtly told us to pay it or look elsewhere.

Definitely the last straw for a company I was already unhappy with. They refused to pay for damages caused by feral tenants in an investment property. Yes I know premiums have to rise but slugging loyal customers who don't live in disaster zones is just wrong. Don't be fooled by the Tasmanian local brand spiel they like to promote.

Unbelievable attitude – Have been with RACT for over a decade and all was great. Recently called them to insure a new car. Felt like I was on trial for something with all the questioning and the tone of the questioning. By the end I said don't worry about it and went elsewhere. Then a few months later I called them to make sure our Home and Contents were up to date. This… Read more

time I got a Spanish inquisition about what was happening on our farm re: a small art business that does not trade on the farm and they called me back and cancelled our policy!! Wow... their attitude is beyond anything I have ever dealt with. Talk about the customer doesn't matter. I have seen this happen with other companies when bean counters get too involved with management. They have no idea about the importance of customer relations to the viability of a company and will strangle it until someone wakes up and fires them and tells everyone to treat customers like they are important again.

Do yourself a favour, go elsewhere until they realise... no customers = no business.

Unprofessional service – Unprofessional customer service. I need to move interstate in September so I called to cancel my renewal of insurance and roadside assistance in advance around first week of August. I didn’t know that my membership card will be immediately cancelled. She didn’t tell me anything about it at the time we discussed about it. Because if I know that… Read more

information I will rather call back to cancel 2 days before of the renewal. Why do I need to call in advance for about a month. Using membership card is my benefit. I paid for it fully but they cancel my membership card at the time I called to notice them about my leaving. I can use the card for petrol during the coming weeks. I called back because I just recognized my card is canceled when I went to petrol station. I was surprised and upset. That I can use my benefit. Even when I talked to them again, they said they can’t make the membership card go back at the time they canceled my insurance . So ridiculous system.

The worst people and management ever – My neighbour had a contractor over to do some digging. He put a pick axe through my wall. RACT Insurance wasted so much of my time with 'engineering reviews' and other hassles ... in the end they are simply the worst Insurer ever. I can't say enough bad things about their behaviours and their very much below par excuse for an insurance product. Go with a real Insurer, these people are simply rip off artists. Show details

Not what a loyal member expects, tradies, tutors etc etc beware – Sent this self explanatory email to RACT but have had no reply good morning, our policy number P000xxxxxxxx we have been advised that due to a change in your underwriter’s policy you will no longer insure us for house and contents as my wife is a tutor / teacher and has clients come to our house. (she teaches 8 hours per week and has her own… Read more

personal liability cover) We have been insured with you in one way or another for 30+ years. A couple of years ago we advised we had a Bnb under our house, you advised you could not insure us so we found an alternative. You then advise you insure a Bnb so we moved back to you. We have been roadside members for 35 years.

We have now found an alternative, very competitive, not for profit insurer so will be cancelling all our policies with you on expiry.

In the interests of your members it may be prudent to reconsider your underwriter.

Hopefully, all the RACT policy holders, tradies, home teachers / tutors etc, are aware of changes to having clients call on them at home.

In short, we have been extremely loyal to the RACT but it seems it’s not a two way street.

They pass the buck when push comes to shove – Any burden for damage that can be attributed to council or utilities is passed back to their customer to figure out. Show details

Landlord house insurance – I wanted my rental property insured by RACT because we have other insurances with them, and I was promptly told that they don't cover Tennant protection, I find that very poor on their behalf not covering that vital issue. They didn't even try and help me in any way shape or form I would never recommend them to anybody. AND VERY RUDE Show details

The Worst – Most incompetent, unprofessional insurance company I've ever dealt with. Made me send my broken macbook to a place that wasn't even registered to fix Apple products (Essentially Mobile, for anyone wondering) and then when they completely broke it beyond repair, RACT refused to replace it and told me to take it back to essentially mobile. The… Read more

person in charge of the claim is always "at lunch" and never available, and this ordeal has been going on for over SIX MONTHS now. I am a student. I need a laptop. This is ridiculous.

CHANGING INSURANCE COMPANY. VERY INCOMPETENT – My mother is 82, frail and living in the family home. My sister is currently living with her. Friday morning they woke to a flood, the hot water cylinder had ceased to work overnight. This was reported to RACT at 6.30am as an urgent claim. At 8am they received an acknowledgement call, assuring that the assessor will be in touch very soon. They… Read more

were advised to turn power off. The assessors office phoned not long after and again my mum was assured that the assessor would be in touch soon. My mum assumed that the assessor would point her in the right direction re a new hot water cylinder, plumber, electrician and carpet drying. After numerous phone calls through the day to RACT who were not sympathetic towards my mum's needs, finally at 4pm.....yes that's right 9 and 1/2 hours post initial report the assessor arrived. Power was turned on and industrial dryer was set up. But of course at 4pm on a Friday afternoon, there was no way to source a hot water cylinder, plumber or electrician. The industrial dryer partially dried the carpet, and will return on Monday....when the carpet will be smelly and beginning to mould. Can you imagine what it feels like for an 82 year old, with no heat in her home, freezing because of the moisture caused by the flooding and power off so no heat pump.??? So this weekend my mum who pays over $2000 annually for insurances with RACT has no hot water and smelly, mouldy carpets. TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. RACT management and assessors should be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves. After reading the reviews for RACT insurance, no surprises how unprofessional and totally inept this business is. Shameful way to treat a customer.

Don't go there – Have home and contents insurance - haven't had a claim in 12 years until now and declined instantly. Accidental coverage not covered. Would like to know of any insurance claim that isn't accidental. Am changing companies immediately.  Show details

RACT blocks you on FB – I have been waiting 4 months for them to fix the bridge connecting 2 houses to the road. I am now emailing them every day to remind them they actually need to fix it, not just charge premiums for bridge insurance. Edit - it is now approaching 5 months next week. I have sent them 35 emails in the last 3 weeks. No reply to any of them. Edit - It is… Read more

now the 19th of October. I am still sending emails to RACT everyday. They still have not answered any of them. There is still no progress on the bridge.

7/11/2018 - RACT actually worked out how to phone today. Their solution to a condemned bridge is to make it driveable once and leave my car parked out on the street at the mercy of vandals and arsonists. They point-blank refused to cover the difference between my insured amount and the cost of a new car if it is written off. They estimate the bridge will not be fixed until the end of March 2019. The bridge was condemned by a storm in May 2018.... Obviously I refused that substandard solution and told them to do better! Still emailing them everyday...

10/11/2018 - tomorrow will be 6 months since the bridge was condemned. RACT has contacted me twice. The first time they laughed and said "walking is good". The second time they offered a substandard stopgap whilst doing nothing. At no stage in the last six months has RACT apologised for their lack of any action in replacing the bridge. Their tone is one of indifference.

20/11/2018 - RACT actually expects me to pay to renew my roadside assistance when I cant drive my car because of their inactivity. I am now sending them one email a day telling them to fix the bridge, one daily email to their complaint section explaining they are disrupting my life in a major way and one email telling them to refund my roadside assistance fees from May 2018 onwards. No replies...... No bridge..... No action......

22/11/2018 - RACT worked out how to press reply on an email today. They are refusing to refund my roadside assistance for the six months my car has been stuck in the garage due to their inaction. No credible replies....No bridge.....No action.....

16/12/2018 - emails sent daily...... No response.... No action..... No bridge.... 7 months and counting

90/01/2019 - today i sent RACT an email telling them I had an appointment with my solicitor on monday and I would be suing each of them. Within an hour I had the phone number for the underwriter. When I said I wouldnt be contacting him I then received the phone number of the CEO of RACT. When I said I would be going to the solicitor, not phoning him I got an email from said CEO saying he was hoping to be able to meet with me and tell me what was going on. When I replied that I wouldnt be meeting him and would be seeing my solicitor he then reiterated his offer and expected me to accept that after 8 months they were still working on the engineering requirements for what is a very basic bridge.I already know that has been sorted as I overheard the bridge people discussing what they were going to do ie. pump concrete at each end and put a slab across...... A very simple bridge repair for a very simple bridge..... I told him I already knew they had spent months trying to make the neighbour and I pay for an easement on crown land for the bridge. Putting aside squatters rights, given the age of the house and bridge structures, I already knew I had easement rights because I checked the legal access for the bridge through my solicitor when I bought the house. Insure with RACT at your own peril. They don't act in good faith and will allow you to be scammed into paying for an easement when you already have legal rights to it.

We had a burst water pipe. But that was just the beginning of our troubles – Six months to fix a problem that should have taken six weeks. Instead, we had six months of constant haggling on the phone. As time went on it seemed to us that all they were interested in was saving money. After three months of obfuscating, they insisted on redoing the scope of works from scratch, to remove "unnecessary" work that had been… Read more

already approved by the independent assessor.

The whole experience was a nightmare. We are now at last back home, but there are still issues that remain unresolved.

No Flame... No Fire that's their policy!!! Smoke damage NOT covered – ... So if you have smoke damage into the tens of thousands of dollars, but the assessor says the pot on the stove didn't actually catch fire, your insurance isn't worth a cent! It's the assessor's call, he can either be your messenger of light or the devil incarnate. In this case we are left with the damage bill, so check your policy VERY closely.… Read more

Smoke damage is NOT covered if they deem there was no flame. And guess what.... that's what they will say if your kitchen doesn't catch fire. Who would check their policy this thoroughly? We are changing all our insurance over to a company with a higher standard. RACT, I will tell the world!

Very let down – This is about car insurance . They done us over big time , let us down and was very demeaning and upsetting to deal with such heartless people , never thought an insurance company could treat you the way they did . We may not have been completely honest with them but we’re only human and they obviously are not.  Show details

Over rated and obstructive – Insured for year. Never made a claim until recently. The "$200 excess" on a broken window, cost more that the repairman would have charged to fix it. ($170) And then they refused to use a police report photos for a claim against damage to my fence. Thousands and thousands in fees over the years. And this is my first two claims. Looking for a better company to deal with now. Overpriced and a total rip off.  Show details

Best experience ever – Had a small accident, my first claim for many years, and was very pleasantly surprised at how straight forward the claim process was. The car was repaired to my full satisfaction. Thanks RACT.  Show details

Fantastic experience - great customer service and good value! – We approached RACT after reviewing our home, contents and vehicle insurance. Sarah, our consultant, was helpful, friendly, informative and made the process of setting up our policy, seamless. It not only meets our needs, but is great value. Accolades to RACT - a pleasure to talk to someone who delivered great service with a personal touch.  Show details

no hassle insurance claim – Claim for storm damage for house insurance - excellent service. All done by phone, fast response, repairs done professionally and on time.