FAQs

Go to our Important renewal information page for a range of FAQs to help you understand the changes to your policy.

Insurance is about protecting yourself from the unexpected. When you have belongings and property that are of value, you want to know that you are covered if they were damaged or lost. In Queensland, we are all too familiar with unpredictable weather and the impacts of cyclones, floods, storms and bushfires. But insurance also protects you against things like theft, damage and legal liability.

When you pay your insurance premium, it goes into a pool of money with everyone else’s premium. When people claim on their policy, that money comes out of the pool. In the event of a catastrophe e.g. large scale flooding or a cyclone, this pool of money goes to helping a lot of people recover. 

Yes, you can defer your monthly insurance payment by logging into your My RACQ profile, select the insurance policy you want changed then go to ‘Payment method’ change.  Enter the date you would like your payment deferred to.  You can defer your monthly payment at any time prior to your payment due date.  You can also give us a call on 13 1905 and one of our consultants will arrange this for you.

Yes, you can. To manage your building, contents or motor insurance policies, login to your My RACQ profile on your device and follow the prompts. Certain policy updates may require you to contact us directly on 13 1905.

Simply go to retrieve quote here and enter the quote reference number and postcode.

You can update your direct debit payments by logging into your My RACQ profile, select the insurance policy you want changed and follow the prompts. You can also give us a call on 13 1905 and one of our consultants will arrange this for you.

You can update your credit card details by logging into your My RACQ profile, select the insurance policy you want changed and follow the prompts.  You can also give us a call on 13 1905 and one of our consultants will arrange this for you.

RACQ Life and Income Protection customers are covered through the pandemic. COVID-19 has no impact on your existing Life and/or Income Insurance cover with us.

The ‘Disease’ exclusion in our Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) or Supplementary Product Disclosure Statement (SPDS) means that you are not covered under your policy for loss or damage or legal liability which is caused by or arises in connection with -

Any disease, or fear or threat of any disease, that can be transmitted between living things:

• by any substance or agent, including any virus, bacteria, parasite, or other organism, and
• by any method, including by air or bodily fluid, or from or to any thing, whether solid object, liquid, or gas.

If a disease cannot be transmitted between living things as described here it does not fall under this exclusion.

Insurance companies need insurance as well - this is reinsurance. In the event of a major catastrophe, sometimes the amount of money we pay to help customers recover from loss or damage takes a large portion out of our reserves. By insuring a percentage of those reserves, we make sure that we can recover some of the money we pay out to customers. That way we can continue to offer you a competitive premium. 

All Household, Motor Vehicle, Boat & Body Corporate Insurance policies, issued after 1^st August 2020, will contain an exclusion for ‘Disease’. The definition of ‘Disease’ can be found in your SPDS. Please read your PDS or SPDS to see how this exclusion affects your policy.

Any disease, or fear or threat of any disease, that can be transmitted between living things:

• by any substance or agent, including any virus, bacteria, parasite, or other organism, and
• by any method, including by air or bodily fluid, or from or to any thing, whether solid object, liquid, or gas.

This exclusion has been introduced in response to changing and emerging insurance risks that are currently unable to be quantified or priced, and unfortunately, we have not been able to secure protection for this from our own insurers. By making this change to our policy it allows us to continue to offer insurance to our members in a sustainable way.

Please read the PDS, any applicable SPDS and relevant Key Facts Sheet to ensure you are aware of what you are covered for and any changes.

For most circumstances that will result in a claim COVID-19 will not have an impact. In some limited circumstances for Household, Motor Vehicle, Boat & Body Corporate Insurance policies, issued after 1^st August 2020, an exclusion for ‘Disease’ will apply. The ‘Disease’ exclusion can be found in your PDS or SPDS. The ‘Disease’ exclusion may have some impact on your claim.

This exclusion has been introduced in response to changing and emerging insurance risks that are currently unable to be quantified or priced, and unfortunately, we have not been able to secure protection for this from our own insurers. By making this change to our policy it allows us to continue to offer insurance to our members in a sustainable way.

Please read the PDS, any applicable SPDS and relevant Key Facts Sheet to ensure you are aware of what you are covered for and any changes.

The Emergency Services Levy (ESL) is an emergency services insurance contribution scheme that funds the fire and rescue emergency services in New South Wales (NSW). Insurance companies are required to contribute to the budget for these services in NSW each financial year. Insurers may reclaim this amount from their policyholders by charging an ESL in their insurance policy premium.

The Emergency Services Levy Insurance Monitor (ESL Monitor) published an Order requiring insurance companies, and those acting on their behalf, to provide a breakdown of the ESL component of the premium, as well as year on year premium comparisons. These disclosure requirements are being enforced by the ESL Insurance Monitor.

Will this increase insurance premiums?

There is no direct change to policy premiums because of the ESL. However, you may see an impact in the ESL contribution compared to last year.

Affected insurance products

These are the different policy types that are impacted by these changes:

• Boat
• Caravan
• Household
• Motor Vehicle
• Body Corporate
• Unique vehicle
• Enthusiast Car & Motorcycle

After more information? Check out www.eslinsurancemonitor.nsw.gov.au/frequently-asked-questions.

An insurance company can offer you a range of policies. You can use this information to purchase a policy from that insurance company.

Brokers are professional advisors who have access to insurance policies from a range of insurance companies. They can provide you with advice on which policy is best suited to you and they will purchase this policy from the insurance company on your behalf.

We offer a range of insurance policies  to protect you against loss or damage, including motor and household insurance.

We are a Queensland company and insure everywhere within the state as well as some areas of Northern New South Wales. When you get a quote, we ask for your postcode to check that you fall within that area.

Yes. RACQ introduced full flood cover in 2012. Our PDS defines flood as ‘…the covering of normally dry land by water that has escaped or been released from the normal confines of any of the following:

•  a lake, river, creek or other natural watercourse (whether or not is as been altered or modified)
•  a reservoir, canal or dam.’ 

A premium is the amount you pay to get insurance cover. It is the cost of your insurance. Your premium is based on a number of factors including your risk address, age, insurance history and the value of what you are insuring. In most cases, the higher the risk of loss or damage, the higher the insurance premium. The chance of loss or damage is different for everyone, so at RACQ we calculate your premium based on your individual circumstances.

When we talk about risk we are talking about the chances of an incident occurring that will cause damage or loss. All insurance companies calculate risk to determine a customer’s premium. It’s putting a financial value on the risk. 

This is when the amount you are insured for (on your Certificate of Insurance) is below what it would cost to replace or rebuild. 

According to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), your property is considered to be underinsured if your insured amount covers less than 90% of the cost to rebuild. For example, if you have your home insured for $200,000 but it will cost $300,000 to rebuild it, you may not receive enough money from your insurance company to rebuild. 

We have sum insured calculators accessible from our Household Insurance pages and online quote system to help you work out how much you should insure your property for.

Over insurance is when you insure your property for more than it is worth. This does not mean you will get the inflated value if you make a claim.  

In the event of a successful claim, you can be paid the replacement value of the property lost or damaged. For example, if you have insured your home for $300,000 when in fact it only costs $200,000 to rebuild, you may only receive $200,000 from your insurance company. 

We provide Sum Insured Calculators on our Household Insurance pages and within our quoting system to help you decide how much to insure you property for.

An excess is the amount you are required to pay towards a claim on your policy. When you take out a policy, we apply a standard excess. On most of our policies you can select your excess  from a range of options that can increase or decrease your premium. A higher excess will reduce your premium and cost you more at claim time. A lower excess will increase your premium but lower your costs at claim time. It’s entirely up to you. 

Some policies also have non-removable excesses. These are usually due to driving history, your age or licence level. Any excess that applies to your policy is shown on your Certificate of Insurance.

You should have received your Certificate of Insurance, Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), Supplementary PDS and Key Facts Sheet that apply. These documents tell you what you are and are not covered for, your excesses, limits and more. Read your documents to make sure you understand everything, and then put it somewhere safe in case you need to claim later. 

You have a 21 day cooling off period on your insurance which starts from the date and time we issue your policy, or midnight on your renewal date. You can cancel your policy within this time, and we will refund your premium in full (as long as you haven’t made a claim). If there is anything in your documents that you don’t understand or you feel is incorrect, call us on 13 1905.

The Insurance Council of Australia has developed the Understanding Insurance website which is designed to help educate the community about insurance. 

If you're not already an RACQ member when you take out an RACQ insurance policy, you’ll automatically become an RACQ member. This means you'll be able to make the most of a great range of benefits. You can find out more by visiting RACQ Member Benefits.

No. You have 14 days to either pay your policy in full or set it up to pay monthly.

If you decide to cancel your policy within the first 21 days, and you have not made a claim in that time, you will receive a full refund of any money you have paid.

Yes. You are covered from the date you have requested your cover to start from, provided you make payment or set up monthly payments, within 14 days of the policy commencing.

Yes, your cars, boats and caravans are covered in Australia if you have an incident that occurs during the period of insurance.

Our boat insurance will provide cover up to 200 nautical miles from the Australian or Tasmanian mainland.

No, we don’t currently offer insurance bundles. However, you can combine eligible products to receive additional discounts. For example, if you have your car and caravan on the same policy you will receive a combined discount. If you then also insure your house with RACQ you will qualify for a multi-product discount for having three insurances with us.

Yes, we offer a multi-product discount if you have three or more eligible products insured with us.