Straight answers to the things people ask us most: how we work, how we're paid, what your policy actually covers, and what to do when something goes wrong.
An insurance adviser works for you, not for any insurer. We look at your risks, search the market across multiple insurers, and arrange cover that fits your situation. We handle the paperwork, explain the policy wording, manage your renewals, and stand beside you when you need to make a claim.
The difference from just buying insurance direct is that you have someone actively managing your program, rather than just selling you a product and moving on.
You. Your insurance adviser has a legal duty to act in your interests. Unlike an insurer's own team, we are not aligned to any one insurer and we don't earn more for placing you with a particular company. Our job is to find you the right cover, not to push a particular product.
An insurance adviser provides professional advice about your specific needs and coverage. That's something an insurer's own team simply can't offer. We work for you, not for them.
We're not limited to a single insurer's product range. If you have unique or hard-to-place risks, we'll search the market, including wholesale and specialist markets not available direct to the public, to find an appropriate solution.
In some instances it's more cost-effective for us to decline commission from the insurer and simply charge an adviser fee. Either way, all our invoices disclose the exact dollar figure of how we're being paid.
You can verify that we're properly licensed on the ASIC professional register at service.asic.gov.au/search.
Strata and body corporate insurance, business packages, public liability, professional indemnity, management liability, commercial property, business interruption, cyber, tradies insurance, and security industry cover, among others.
If you're not sure what you need, give us a call and we'll work through it with you.
Putney Insurance Group (trading name of Phoenix Risk Management Pty Ltd, ABN 67 121 681 927) is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Sirius Insurance Pty Ltd, which holds Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) 550946. This authorisation is issued and monitored by ASIC. You can verify it on the ASIC professional registers at service.asic.gov.au/search.
Mostly through commission. That's a percentage of your premium paid by the insurer, typically between 10% and 25% of the base premium. On some policies, particularly smaller or more complex ones, we also charge an adviser fee.
All of this is disclosed upfront in our quote and in our Financial Services Guide. There are no hidden extras. The total you see is the total you pay.
Generally no. Commission comes from the insurer's distribution margin, so it doesn't add to your premium. On top of that, we often access wholesale rates and policy options that can't be purchased directly. We'll disclose exactly how we're paid before you commit to anything.
An adviser fee covers the time involved in sourcing, placing, and managing your insurance, particularly on policies where the insurer's commission doesn't reflect the work required. The amount varies depending on the complexity of the cover. We'll always tell you the fee before you commit.
Yes. We disclose how we're remunerated in our Financial Services Guide, and you can ask at any time. We'll tell you the amount or the basis on which it's calculated. That's part of how the authorised representative framework works.
Yes, you do need to read it. A Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) is the full policy document: the terms, conditions, exclusions, and claims procedures. Insurers are required to give you one.
Part of our job is to walk you through the important parts and flag any exclusions relevant to your situation. But the PDS is your contract. You should be familiar with what it covers and what it doesn't before anything happens.
Underinsurance happens when your sum insured is less than what it would actually cost to replace or rebuild what's lost. Most commercial and strata policies include an "average clause", which means if you're underinsured, your claim payout is reduced proportionally, even for a partial loss.
For example: insured for $1.5M, rebuild cost is $2M, partial loss of $400,000, you may only receive $300,000.
We strongly recommend periodically obtaining professional valuations on your buildings. Please note that insurable value is different from market value.
An excess is the amount you contribute to each claim. If your excess is $1,000 and you make a claim for $5,000 worth of damage, the insurer pays $4,000. A higher excess generally means a lower premium. We can help you find the right balance for your situation.
Before your policy is issued, and at each renewal, you must tell the insurer everything that could reasonably affect their decision to cover you: things like prior claims, prior refusals, the nature of your business activities, and any unusual risks you're aware of. The insurer may also ask specific questions, which should be answered fully and accurately.
Leaving out something significant, even by accident, can give the insurer grounds to reduce or refuse a claim. We'll guide you through exactly what each insurer needs to know when we place your cover.
Yes. Premium funding lets you spread the cost into monthly payments. A funding company pays the insurer upfront and you repay over 10 or 11 months. There's an interest cost, similar to a short-term loan. We can arrange this and combine multiple policies into one monthly payment. Ask us for details.
Call us as soon as you can. Give us the basics: what happened, when, and any steps you've taken so far. We'll notify the insurer, get a claim number, and guide you from there.
In an emergency, focus on making things safe first (call 000 if needed), then get in touch with us. Don't start full repairs or throw away damaged items until the assessor has been. See our Claims page for a full guide on what to do.
We handle it on your behalf. We lodge the claim, submit the documents, deal with the insurer, and follow up throughout. If the insurer underpays or delays unfairly, we push back.
We'll also flag anything you might be entitled to that you hadn't thought to claim, like temporary accommodation, loss of rent, or hire car costs.
It depends on the complexity. A straightforward claim can be resolved in a few weeks. Larger or disputed claims take longer. Under the General Insurance Code of Practice, insurers must acknowledge your claim within 3 business days and advise their decision within 10 business days of lodgement. Most claims wrap up within 4 months. We monitor progress and follow up if things drag on.
If the insurer declines, they must tell you why in writing. We'll review the decision and push back if there are grounds to. If that doesn't resolve it, the next step is the insurer's Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process. If that doesn't get you anywhere, you can escalate to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), a free external complaints service. We can walk you through all of it.
Strata insurance covers the building structure, common areas, and public liability for a strata-titled property. The owners corporation (or body corporate) is legally required to arrange it in every Australian state and territory, and the cost is shared across lot owners through levies.
A standard policy typically covers the building itself, common contents, public liability (minimum $20M), and often loss of rent for affected owners if a covered event makes a lot unliveable.
The strata policy covers common property and the building structure, not what's inside your lot. As an individual owner, you need your own contents insurance. If you're renting the lot out, landlord insurance is also worth having. Owner-occupiers should consider personal liability cover within their unit as well.
This is one of the most important questions in strata. The sum insured should reflect the full cost to rebuild the building, not its market value, which is often very different. If the building is underinsured, every lot owner shares that gap in a total loss.
We recommend a professional building replacement cost valuation every 2 to 5 years. We can help refer you to qualified valuers, and we review the sum insured at every renewal.
Not always. Storm damage from rain, wind, or hail is typically covered. Flood is usually defined as the overflow of a watercourse, dam, or similar, and can be subject to higher excesses, exclusions, or separate conditions depending on the building's location.
We check this carefully when placing strata cover, especially for properties in flood-prone areas. The definitions in the PDS matter a lot here.
An Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) is issued by ASIC and authorises a business to provide financial services in Australia, including insurance advice and broking. It comes with legal obligations around competence, disclosure, conduct, and complaints handling.
Sirius Insurance Pty Ltd holds AFSL 550946, under which we operate as an authorised representative. This means you have the regulatory protections that come with that licence, including access to AFCA if a complaint can't be resolved.
A Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR) is a business authorised to provide financial services under another company's AFSL. Putney Insurance Group (Phoenix Risk Management Pty Ltd) is a CAR of Sirius Insurance Pty Ltd.
In practice, this means we operate under Sirius's licence, supervision, and compliance framework. The same regulatory protections apply to you as if you were dealing with the licence holder directly.
AFCA (the Australian Financial Complaints Authority) is a free external complaints service for consumers and small businesses with disputes against financial firms, including insurance advisers and insurers. If we can't resolve a complaint through our own process, you can take it to AFCA at no cost.
They handle complaints about advice, claims outcomes, service failures, and more. Visit afca.org.au for more information.
Contact us first. Call 1300 227 123 or use our contact form. We take complaints seriously and aim to sort things out quickly.
If we can't resolve it to your satisfaction, you can escalate to our licence holder, Sirius Insurance. Their complaints policy is available at siriusinsurance.com.au/complaints-handling. If the matter remains unresolved after that, you can also refer it to AFCA (Australian Financial Complaints Authority) at afca.org.au, a free external complaints service.