WEstjustice and CHOICE Lead Huge Win for Australian Renters

A joint WEstjustice and CHOICE campaign has resulted in a huge win for renters across Australia, with landlord insurers committing to the minimum standard of not directly pursuing renters for accidental damage. In the past, landlord insurers have unfairly pursued renters for accidental damage, damage they didn’t cause, or where there was insufficient proof of causation, often breaching the General Insurance Code of Practice in their recovery practices. WEstjustice’s Legal Director for Economic Justice, Matthew Martin, has seen instances of landlord insurers demanding as much as $300,000 from tenants for accidental damage.

To stamp out these widespread and unfair practices, WEstjustice and CHOICE led a media campaign and direct advocacy with landlord insurers and the Insurance Council of Australia. They also flagged that CHOICE would be publishing a public ranking of landlord insurers’ recovery practices from best to worst, which led to all landlord insurers committing to not pursue uninsured renters for accidental damage as a minimum. This is a significant shift in practices and a huge win that will help not just WEstjustice’s clients, but renters all over Australia.

However, this is just the first step of many towards better practices, but will lay the groundwork to move toward best practice across the industry.

Matthew Martin spoke to ABC news and radio about his team’s work toward this significant outcome for renters.