Exciting Product Improvements for KT Insurance

KT Insurance’s Head of Product, Underwriting and Technology, Chris van der Horst, discusses how CMCA feedback has fuelled a raft of recent improvements.

After over a year of hard work with the aim of refocussing KT Insurance’s products, operations and culture on the desires and needs of CMCA members, I’m ecstatic to announce the launch of our new Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). Sure, a relatively dry document probably won’t get your heart racing unless you’re an insurance nerd like I am, but this really is cause for celebration as it marks the launch of a number of improvements that wouldn’t have been possible without your valued feedback. This updated PDS applies to new policies created after Thursday January 19th and current customers’ policies will be updated upon renewal from Sunday March 5th.

A popular area of feedback has been excesses and specifically a 1% basic excess for higher-value RVs, something that we began to address late last year by lifting the 1% basic excess threshold for motorised vehicles from insured values of $100,000 up to $150,000. Vehicles valued below that normally attract a basic excess of $300 to $1000 depending on insured value, whether they’re motorised or non-motorised, and other underwriting criteria. While excess options and pricing will continue to be an area of improvement, we are pleased to announce that claims relating to accidental loss or damage to an awning and/or annexe will now attract a flat $500 excess rather than a policy’s basic excess when the claim is related to loss or damage to an awning and/or annexe only.

We have also introduced two new standard features that will not attract any excess for the first claim in a policy period: cover for animal collisions and windscreen chip repairs. For collisions with an animal where there is no loss or damage to third party property for which the insured is liable, meaning a single-vehicle accident, we will waive any payable excess once per policy period, from minor damage claims right up to larger accidents resulting in a total loss. This is joined by up to $500 in excess-free cover, again once per policy period, for windscreen chips and cracks that are small enough to be legally repaired rather than claiming for full replacement of windscreens or glass that’s been accidentally broken, which attracts a $200 excess. Both of these new excess-free features were motivated by member feedback of hesitancy to claim for smaller damage that occurs while living life on the open road, and specifically by a customer who suffered a small dent that didn’t damage the paint on the bonnet of their RV after striking a bird while travelling to the National Rally in Bingara.

Another piece of feedback from the rally that we’ve been eager to address is the insurance grey area of vehicles towed on A-frames. We’ve been able to cover an A-frame trailer itself for some time, and while the non-RVs towed by them fall outside of our Target Market Determination (TMD) that dictates what we can and can’t provide insurance for, we have clarified our legal liability cover to specifically address these towed vehicles. This means that compensation for loss or damage to someone else’s property that is caused by an insured RV or trailer where our insured is at fault also extends to items or vehicles that are on or attached to the trailer, filling the potential gap in liability cover when these towed vehicles are insured under a standard motor vehicle insurance policy.

We’ve improved a number of other existing standard policy features too, such as increasing our emergency repair reimbursement limit from $500 to $1,000 and expanding medical emergency assistance to now include pets in the provision of transport home along with the insured driver, their family and their RV. We’ve even revised our standard contents cover to be clearer about what items can and can’t be covered for accidental loss, damage or theft under the standard cover of up to $2,000, with the option to purchase additional contents cover available too.

The KT team will continue to work diligently on developing features and benefits that align with the unique needs of living life on the open road while ensuring that our unique, exclusive insurance offering to CMCA members remains competitive. We hope that our recent improvements and our commitment to continue them proves that KT Insurance truly has changed for the better.

If you’d like to learn more, CLICK HERE to read our new PDS and a Summary of Changes document. If you’d like to provide us with feedback on how we can improve further, we can be reached via email at info@ktinsurance.com.au or through the KT Insurance Facebook or Instagram. Of course, our sales, service and claims teams can also be reached by calling 1300 261 261.