Lumley General

Wesfarmers General Insurance Limited, trading as Lumley General has announced that as of 1 July 2009, it will be progressively scaling back from offering home warranty insurance, with a view to withdrawing from the market by 31 December 2009. Lumley General will:

• cease writing new home warranty insurance policies from 1 January 2010
• cease renewal of eligibility currently held by builders from 1 November 2009 and
• cease granting new eligibilities to builders from 1 July 2009.

Builders having current eligibility with Lumley General will be required to find another insurer before 1 January 2010 or earlier where their eligibility with Lumley General expires between 1 November and 31 December 2009.

Lumley General is informing brokers (as the builder is the customer of the broker) of its intentions. The insurer, in association with brokers, will where possible, assist builders experiencing difficulties in obtaining eligibility with another insurer. This may include providing ongoing eligibility, or short term renewal and/or assistance in providing necessary data and information to allow an orderly change over to another insurer.

All existing policy holders with Lumley General will remain covered, in the event of a claim, for the duration of the period for policies underwritten by Lumley General and its predecessor organisations.

CGU Insurance Limited

CGU Insurance Limited announced on 13 July 2009 that it will be withdrawing from the home warranty insurance market on 30 November 2009. CGU has advised that it will:

• cease writing new home warranty insurance policies for builders with current eligibility with CGU from 1 December 2009 and
• cease granting new eligibilities to builders from 17 July 2009.

Builders having current eligibility with CGU will be required to find another insurer before 1 December 2009.

CGU is informing industry associations, major builders and brokers (as the builder is the customer of the broker) of its intentions. The insurer, in association with brokers, will where possible, assist builders experiencing difficulties in obtaining eligibility with another insurer.

All existing policy holders with CGU will remain covered, in the event of a claim, for the duration of the period for policies underwritten by CGU.

Obtaining insurance elsewhere

It is recommended that builders having current eligibility with either Lumley General or CGU contact their broker with a view to obtaining eligibility for home warranty insurance with one of the insurers continuing to provide home warranty cover (i.e. Calliden, QBE and Vero) well before 1 December 2009 (for builders having eligibility with CGU) and 1 January 2010 (for builders having eligibility with Lumley).

For contact details go to the Approved insurers page.