Westpac Home and Contents Insurance

We had our roof replaced due to hail damage, tradesman went on the roof less that 3 years later to discover it had started to rust. The inspector agreed there was a problem but the company is blaming us! getting ready to fight the decision..... Westpac prides itself with lifetime warranty hahahahaha Show details

Does the job for a great price – The cheapest insurer I could find that fits my needs as a renter, Allianz via Westpac provides good coverage for a great price. Customer service is easy enough and never too far away, although it would be nice to manage the policy and payment methods online. Show details

Check your policy, especially if you are a long time customer !!! – Since Westpac insurance moved into Allianz, it've turned terrible. I had 2 home insurance policies with them, never made any claims. One of these is due to renewed in mid Nov 2023, and they just ridiculously decided to add "Flood cover" to my policy for a flood free property, with $1,371/year for this add-on. When I called in (12:26pm 03Nov3023)… Read more

to request this add-on to be removed because I don't need it, a male rep gave me a lengthy lecture before he concluded that "it can't be removed, it's mandatory, it's based on flood data and Council’s advice" !!! OMG, they "based on flood data" to solely added "flood cover" for a flood free location !!! They think they can force you to pay for a rubbish product. After initial shock, I shopped around and got a much better deal with another insurer within an hour from that phone call.

Check your insurance policy, you might be unknowingly paying for unwanted items they added !

A perfect and helpful experience with the staff – Could not fault the phone staff or the assessor with any of my questions.They were quick to respond and so polite and helpful and we were done with in 4 weeks start to finish Show details

Excellent service – Contacted westpac insurance about my airconditioner broken down sent the quote in via email 2 hours later had a reply to say it was approved I had paid for the replacement my claim was deposited into my account within 3 days great service and very understanding and helpful staff Show details

Excellent service from Glenn over the phone – I writing a review for a Glenn I spoke to on the phone 27th June. He was very helpful consulting with me about my policy. As an elderly lady I was able to understand all the details that were included in my new policy. For his courtesy and time I will give him an excellent. Kind regards Norma  Show details

One disappointed customer – Been with Westpac since I purchased my house roughly 15 yearsago. My washing machine hose burst while we were away and flooded my property on 2/1/23. Westpac is closed weekend/public holidays (the first issue when you need help) but i managed to get through to the emergency line. Westpacs assessor (aj grant group) turned up that arvo to remove… Read more

water but couldn’t do anything else until they received instruction from westpac. AJ Grant group returned the next day and wanted to remove the soiled carpets asap to prevent mold but despite calls to Westpac they received no instruction. It turns out Westpac gave the contract to Johns Lyng Group instead to recomplete an assessment and undergo works… their assessor turned up on the 5/1 to restart an assessment process. The building estimator turned up 9/1 and removal works completed 11-12/1 by this stage out house smelt rancid. I booked our first week accommodation and spent the second week camping in a paddock before staying with family while waiting for accommodation to be arranged. I received a scope of works 23/1 for $6k. I called Westpac and had the building estimator return to redo his scope which then came in at $33k. I was told I could get quotes for westpac to consider also. I sent a builders quote to redo the works which was a little more (our plaster/paint quotes were higher) but westpac advised me 13/3 they won’t pay anything above JLG’s scope (so wasted my time getting a quote) and was told given the removal work is complete and the bathroom and kitchen are not effected they would ask JLG as didn’t think we would need accommodation (despite plaster remaining off majority of walls including my children’s rooms and wiring accessible and our booked accommodation ending 14/3). In they end they said they would allow one more weeks accommodation. I was so upset I turned up to JLGs warehouse as getting through on the phone was impossible. They spoke to the insurer and in the end I requested to be paid out. It took three months of staying in an air bnb in which time they only pulled out damaged plaster and furniture (completed 11/1-12/1) after which I had to make calls each day to find out what was happening/what needed to happen next, westpac told me to call JLG, JLG told me to call Westpac! I was never offered a contract to have the house repaired and my own quote for repairs rejected. I put in a complaint to westpac but was told it would be ten days before someone would call me. When they did it was ‘the wrong complaint department’. Once I’ve sorted my own repairs I will be sorting a new insurer. So disappointed with the service. You deal with westpac, who deals with Allianz who you also have to deal with, who deals with another contractor who you also have to deal with( who doesn’t have any trades to do the work.) Total run around. Worst experience of my life!!

A disappointing company that does not value their clients – We have been with this company since 2011 and been good client on the basis that we pay the premium and have not bothered them for much in return. Annual premium last year was $1,930,recived this years renewal at $9,020. A modest increase of just under 500%. No letter of explanation or even an attempt to highlight the ridiculous increase, just a… Read more

standard renewal notice with a new monthly figure of $751 slipped in, no doubt hoping it would slip through the first month or so before being noticed. So, I ring them up and get put through to their special couldn't give a dam department who advise that despite us never being flooded or even close we are now deemed a risk and the flood part of our policy is now going to be $7000pa. Ok I get it that they do not want to insure for anything that may well happen but as I explained it has never been problem (I trust my neighbor whos been in the same place for 70 years) so loose that part of the cover. Seems simple but, no, the nice man in the I am here to help and understand department lets me know this would be far to simple, but simply is not possible. He then explains that after being a good client for 12 years it is either my duty to be100% rooted by them or bugger off as their policy cannot be altered to accommodate an annoying thing like the clients needs, if you stay you pay to put is simply.

Guess what ....no longer a client, never will be again and yes, it is my policy tell a few along the way about a company that does not value it clients or loyalty.

The insurance you have when you don't have insurance – If I could give them zero stars I would! We have been insured with Westpac Home & Contents Insurance for something like 40 years. I used to work for these scammers for 27 years. The House and Contents insurance (something I used to be required to promote as an employee) is no better than being uninsured. We had a severe weather event that resulted… Read more

in water getting into the roof and creating damage internally. Westpac House & Contents Insurance (now underwritten by Alliance) spent more in avoiding paying the claim than what it could have ever cost to pay the claim. After some 4-5 weeks I had heard nothing so rang to chase up the position of our claim. We were advised that they rejected our claim as they believed the damage was not due to a weather event. It seems that their rejection of our claim was only going to be communicated to us if we chased it up! Apparently Westpac House and Contents Insurance believe that the water penetration into our roof was something akin to an immaculate intervention, or an act of God - or as it turns out any one of several hundred reasons why they might reject a claim. There was a time when I believed that Westpac was an organisation with a conscience, and I truly believed they were a good and honest business to both work for and promote. I was misguided. Westpac are no better than any of the other financial organisations that place profit above all else. There was a time when customer service and loyalty counted for something. That is in the past - something I was slow to recognise. Profit is king and customer loyalty is actually penalised. It's called a lazy tax. It's the financial penalty you pay for not shopping around in the search for a better deal. Lesson learned. Our house and contents insurance will be moving to Shannons. If you've never dealt with Shannon's they are fantastic.

Horrible Company – The try to extract the last cent from you. Felt humiliated more than once Show details

Absolute joke – Having first made a claim prior to Christmas for damage done under the house by a leaking tap we have had 6 different people come to our home and inspect the damage. All have had the same opinion however in our latest communication the insurance company has stated that the damage done is due to rainwater and caused by an excavation in our… Read more

backyard. Yes we have an excavation however when the first 3 people inspected our damage we had no excavation. They have stalled, lied and given us the runaround for over six months until they could formulate an excuse to not cover our claim. We had even been given a rep from WI to review all communications and keep us informed however despite several emails we have never heard from that person again. DO NOT go anywhere near these charlatans, they tout “easy claims” and quick resolutions.

ZERO STARS —- Keep Away - Unless You Like Headaches – Waiting far too long for a simple claim to be processed (new carpet due to water damage). I get told that they will follow up but they never do, I’m the one who does the following up. Currently looking for different insurance company. The moment my claim is resolved I will be leaving. I truly loath Westpac Home and Contents Insurance. Show details

Don’t touch Westpac home and contents insurance – Westpac has gone out of their way to refuse my claim. My house has been extensively damaged by last years earthquake in Melbourne.I have had a structural engineers report and it doesn’t make a difference to them. I have put in a complaint to AFCA and they still argue and refuse. They are not a reputable company and decide whether they will fund a… Read more

claim long before they even come and look at the damage. I am sick at the moment and so is my husband and the stress of this is too much as well as unfair. I have dutifully paid them every year and this is the first time I have made a claim. I suggest to other people not to touch them

Lack of transparency is a violation of Sec 21 General Insurance Code of Practice – According to Part 3, Section 21 of the General insurance Code of Practice, insurers have an obligation to, “be honest, efficient, fair, transparent, and timely in our dealings with [customers]”. This review brings into question Westpac’s alignment to this standard. I have a home and contents policy with Westpac and have been a Westpac customer… Read more

for over 15 years. After the 2022 floods, my home was extensively damaged. and essentially needs to be gutted and replaced - anyone who is renovating, or building knows that this costs is upwards of 400k given the prices for building materials and labour at the moment.

Westpac sent out an assessor to ascertain the extent of damage to my home. Westpac insurance outsources its assessors from a company called MK3. A representative from MK3 conducted the assessment. I was surprised to learn that MK3’s assessment and scope of works was substantially below what I knew to be realistic. I am a reasonable person – I know that insurers need to save as much money where they can, and customers want to gain as much money as they can. This is a normal interaction between any business and client. A few thousand dollars is expected. But this was an astonishingly different. Also, Allianz is the underwriter for Westpac Insurance. I have been unsuccessful in contacting anyone from Westpac or Allianz after spending hours and hours on hold. So, unable to get any information directly from them, I conducted my own research to find out more about MK3 and Westpac's relationship is. I made the decision to share it.

These are some of the facts I found - you can make a judgement on those facts for yourselves.

1. The General Manager of MK3 previously held the senior role as ‘National Claims Manager’ for Westpac Insurance for nearly 9 years. 2. The current sole director of MK3 is a licensed builder, but his licence says, "only for contracts not requiring home warranty insurance" on the public register. This means he has not been approved by an insurer and is unable to offer home warranty insurance on his work. 3. I checked to see if MK3 had other ‘boards’ or industry groups that could provide third party feedback on their processes. I was unable to locate any.

For anyone who has been through a claim, you will know that the amount of money you get from your insurer to fix your house is dependent on the assessor’s report. Assessors tell insurance companies how much it will cost to repair your damaged home. Homeowners are dependent on assessors. As such, assessors have a sort of ‘positional authority’ over the fate of customers. Given this, one would hope that assessor would provide neutral and realistic assessments on damage claims. Let’s say that the assessor tells the insurance company that your scope of works can be undertaken for $100,000. As a customer, you are told that you have two choices: You can use Westpac’s building company who has promised to undertake the work for 100k, or you can take the 100k as a pay out and use your own preferred builder. What happens if the 100k you were offered is unrealistic and every builder tells you that it will cost 200k to fix your house? Well, you realise that you didn’t really have much of a choice after all: you are, more or less, forced to use the insurance company’s builder. What if the assessor (MK3) was also the builder? Gosh.

You can find this information for yourself. It is available to the public on the ASIC website https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/ (I paid over $100 to download ALL of the historical ASIC records on MK3 including previous owners, changes in ABN etc). You can also check public Linkedin profiles and information about licencing at https://www.licencecheck.nsw.gov.au/.

I still have had no updates on my claim. It has been months and I have been living in a house riddled with damaged friable asbestos, no proper walls, black mould spreading everywhere. When I called Westpac today, I was on hold for 3 hours - only to be told that the person I needed to speak with was having a lunch break. Westpac really should think about who pays for their employees and their breaks - it is customers like me who at present don't even have refrigerators to keep a lunch in, beds to sleep on, or safe shelter. Go figure.

Westpac - I am a customer who chose to purchase insurance from you. I have been driven to such a point of frustration that I happily paid to gather research that I have posted here. You have nobody to blame but your own management for the outcomes of this post.

Your website says, - "WESTPAC GROUP'S PURPOSE IS Helping Australians and New Zealanders Succeed. It’s what we do, who we are and why we come to work every day. What's most important to us is UNDERSTANDING what success means to our customers and HELPING THEM get there. OUR STRATEGY SEEKS TO DELIVER ON THIS PURPOSE BY BUILDING DEEP AND ENDURING CUTOMER RELATIONSHIPS..."

I certainly do not feel a deep and enduring relationship with Westpac right now. The best indicator of future behaviour is past behaviour. Base on that, I think Westpac would be better aligned to more realistic aims and goals

Worse Insurance comapny – Have waited to have a claim on a mobile phone for over a month now. Phoned them 3 times to follow up for hours, only for them to request more information and then they will process. No correspondence, have to chase them up each time. The worst experience I have had with an insurance company. Think I'll go back to Suncorp.. Show details

Don't bother – Made a claim for a small kitchen fire late March 2022. The following week we had a phone call to see if they needed to make the place safe. This was not required so several weeks later someone came over to see what cleaning was required, by then we already had cleaned everything. Were told an assessor would come and we are still waiting. by now… Read more

we have repaired , replaced and repainted everything. We cancelled the claim but no acknowledgment or reply from them. We just received our insurance renewal bill which has gone up from 946 dlrs to 2528 dlrs per year. What is the point of paying all this money for years if they abandon you when you need them.

Terrible experience – I wait hours on hold only to be cut off. Only once was my call answered (after close to two hours on hold) and I was told that the person I was speaking with wasn't authorised to assist me. She said that someone would call me back. That was two months ago. She also told me to email them. My emails have not been answered. My claim was initiated in February 2022. It is now June and nothing has been resolved. Show details

Westpac don’t insurance with them – 2 years later I’m still having problems with the roof of the house. The pergola out the back is done by a cheap installer. Nowhere near the quality of the existing one I paid 20 thousand dollars for . Water still leaking into the house. A Large tree went through the house, they didn’t repair the roof , properly, water was still getting in in the… Read more

same spots after it was repaired and they tried to say we didn’t clear the leaves out of the gutters. Hello … huge gum tree through the middle of the house, you should have seen the inside of the house, of course there would be leaves in the gutters. Cheap shoddy workmanship , westpac have done more damage to the house than the tree. We have had to spend money we didn’t have to repair the repairs, as at some point you just can’t keep fighting with them - so how can you blame people for not taking out insurance - all they are is legalised thieves. Heartbreaking when you put your heart and soul into renovating and taking pride in your home.

Westpac Insurance Comprehensive Storm Damage not Comprehensive – Westpac Insurance Run by Allianz Insurance (always found the later totally useless). So no surprises when I made a claim in early March 2022 re: water damage owing to the extreme rain falls experienced. Three months of deliberation 2 visits by photographers to take pictures of damage and two denied claim outcomes, first denied claim 6 weeks,… Read more

second denied claim 3 months after original claim. I involved the top employee of Westpac ( Mr Peter King CEO) by email, but he did nothing, though using his name expedited the claims department to contact me quicker. Previously had to wait over an hour on the telephone and emails direct to the claims department not replied to. In total, I found Westpac Insurance totally unprofessional, incompetent, dishonest and derelict in their duty to provide customer service. Their claim of offering Comprehensive Storm Damage is false as it does not include Hydro Static Pressure which assisted them in rejecting my claim. Hence I cancelled my policy and have gone to a competitor. I would recommend avoiding Westpac Insurance, though they are at the lower end of premium prices, if they renege on claims they claim your covered then your premium paid is simply a donation.

It hurts giving it 1 star – Been with Westpac insurance for the past 2 years they are very efficient at taking your money but unfortunately if you have to claim as we have, we are still waiting 3 1/2 months later….sent the assessor out the following week after the claim and if you are fortunate enough to get a double whammy of useless incompetent people you will be provided… Read more

the assessor AJ Grant. Don’t waste your money go elsewhere!! You can even wait on the line and listen to shithouse music for an hour with no answer (that probably costs more in the policy)

Flood Claim - Worst Customer Experience I Have Ever Had In My Life – I am writing this today, as I lost my entire home in the February Lismore floods on top of this I have experienced the worst customer service I have ever had in my entire life and it brings me to tears to write this review, but unfortunately I do not know what else to do. It has now been 2 months since I have lodged my claim, since then I have not… Read more

heard a single thing from Westpac - I have tried to contact Westpac twice (13th, 20th April) I was put on hold for more than 2 hours. I was told that I would hear more information in the next 24 hours - Its been nearly an entire month and still NOTHING!!!!! It breaks my heart that I have spent my whole life savings on my home and have had to work overtime just so that I can afford to pay the insurance - to then find out that "The insurance" was nothing but a scam Westpac do NOT care about the little guys and are all about the money, they simply do not care and will do anything they can to not payout claims or even have the human decency to communicate to their own customers that have lost their whole lives.

Empathy is something this corporation lacks and I couldn't even imagine what other people are going through!

I have tried contacting Westpac 1 last time yesterday before I get my solicitor involved as I have no other choice. I have started to wake up 3-4 times every night with constant panic attacks - I run my own plumbing business and have lost all of my equipment in the floods, I am still paying my mortgage and my employees with no government help what so ever due to having "Insurance" that I am now starting to think is a SCAM!!

DO NOT USE WESTPAC AS YOUR INSURANCE PROVIDER!!!!!

0 stars – 2-3 hour wait times per call to request a follow up. After 3 months of MK3 Assessor incompetence our claim for storm damage was denied due to what they deemed as builder’s defect and wear and tear. Disgraceful cancelling our insurance after 10 years and moving our banking. Go with another insurer not these clowns. Show details

0 Stars – Absolutely low grade service, if you wish to waste time and increase your blood pressure every time you deal with them, please buy insurance from them. They were sitting on my claim for 3 months with no follow up phone call, I made many phone calls everytime on hold for 1 hour on an average Show details

Westpac Failed in their Duty of Care – Well in todays Mail I received a Letter advising me that on the renewal of Home and Contents Policy, last years Aggregated Premium was listed wrongly so as to hide to yearly increase. Now I find my Insurance Premium has risen 18%. Yes they offered to refund the Toal premium paid within 21 days but hey with all the disasters lately all the premiums… Read more

have gone through the roof. I built may home in a high area and then raised the home another metre off the ground to help flood protect my home in the event of a major flood. This was at huge costs to do so, but it looks like we all pay for the disasters now around Australia even if we live if a flood free environment.

If there is a choice- zero star – If there is a choice- zero star. How could u wait for three weeks for your claim and no one answering your call or email? I have spent 40 minutes on the first call, no one answering. Second call after three week and waited for 52 minutes. Finally a consultant answer my call and said it’s not his department and would like to transfer me to other departments. He hang up on me. I have been with them for 8 years and this is my first claim. Show details

Duscussing to have insurance with them – If I was able to rate it 0 stars i would have done so. I have been with them for over 7 years put in my claim in march 2022 due to the heavy rain and flooding that happened. I had water coming down from the roof into rooms and living rooms I had MK3 come out and access the damage they used the excuse that this is maintenance I informed them that… Read more

when i brought this house i got a building inspector to come out and i sent all the paperwork though to them they still didn't agree to pay for any damages done

Westpac has left our family homeless now for 10 months – We are still homeless after 10 months due to a bad repair job by Westpac (now Allianz) due to water damage. Westpac does not care that they have left a family of 5 adults, 2 children. 4 foster children and our physically disabled daughter homeless and without any contents or clothes. Our 22 year old, physically disabled daughter is mould… Read more

affected and is in and out of intensive care. She was in hospital for a total of 6 months last year. This “company” doesn’t care that they cast her out onto the street without a safe place to stay.

Their bodgy repair work that we repeatedly warned them was not good enough, has left our home fully contaminated with mould and all of our contents and clothing unusable.

We lived in a hotel for 6 months at our own cost and then were offered a place at my brothers. This house is now on the market and we will be homeless again in a few weeks at the same time as all the flood victims.

We lost the purchase of a house that we had bought subject to the sale of our home, and it subsequently sold for $280,000 more than we had a contract on it for. That is now a loss to us of $280,000 plus we are currently out of pocket for replacement furniture, clothing, hotel costs, rental costs and mounting at currently 180,000 and rising. Thankfully we have a redraw loan (with Westpac) and they are making us pay interest for their ineptness.

Does Westpac care? NO!! We have had to go to the ombudsman and it’s still dragging out with no apparent end in sight and not ONE cent paid by Westpac to help us.

We are now stuck even worse due to the floods as they haven’t even looked at sorting us out and now there will be thousands more in the same situation as us. I despair for anyone insured with Westpac or Allianz and I fear they will be discarded and spat out like we have been.

There is a whole lot more information to this saga BUT there isn’t enough space here to explain it all.

DO NOT Insure with Westpac or Allianz! They will leave you destitute and homeless!

Westpac and Allianz, you are a disgusting, money grubbing excuse for an insurance company.

Customer service – Very poor customer service waited for 2 and half hour for my call to attend but unfortunately they drop my call at the end without even attending. Ridiculous and unbelievable Show details

Ridiculous claim delays and no promised emails or follow up – I have spoken to 5 consultants after average wait time of 53mins and each one was a different story or complete lack of where claim was at. They got a third party to review the item value and provided a report back to Allianz immediately and I constantly got told they were waiting for the report, and again the report was sent through by the third… Read more

party. Claim was for small amount and I have never had this level of service. Hard to believe a business runs like this. I could imagine if they had 50 people working for them then 45 would be in sales, and 5 in claims...Its taken over 3 months and still not resolved, and no feedback or communication and crappy responses when you do speak to someone!

Terrible im leaving – Submitted my first claim in ten years before Christmas, amount is half of what I pay in premiums each year. Hear nothing, email them - are ignored. On phone 35 mins and counting. As soon as I get my cheque Im going elsewhere. The worst service Show details

Anyone making a building claim under Escape of liquids with Westpac/Allianz watch out. You have been warned – Waiting nearly 20 months to get a pay out their building company quoted now won’t do the job. Why isn’t there a ‘0’ Star? Now looking around for a builder. Show details

Ridiculous customer service – I have tried to update my direct debit details in the last 2 months and failed. Called them a couple of times and each call took more than an hour, then I have to hang up as they are too busy to answer your call. There are no other ways to update the detail apart from calling. When I pretend I'm getting a quote, the call hot picked up in 2… Read more

minutes. So they are keen to get more customer but won't help existing ones .

I'm trying to cancel this now but my call just can't go through. How ridiculous