Auto & General review: Home & contents insurance

Following the recent purchase of our property, we have had the misfortunate of having our sewer pipe blocked by the ingress of tree roots stemming from the previous council tree located on the nature strip at the front of our property. Budget Direct have stated that they will not take responsibility for the damages as they have included these types of matters in their list of exclusions. I understand that the previous owner did not take reasonable steps to inform the council on the tree roots causing pipe damage, but we have only signed the contract for the purchase on 22 February 2023. Although specified in the list of exclusions and us not being at fault for this issue; not rectifying it now would lead to more expensive claims in the future. This is because the extent of the damage is so far for the pipe section under the nature strip. If these collapse in the near future, it would most certainly cause damage to other structural elements like the boundary walls and our house foundations. As the area of the damage is so far localised in the area of the previous council tree, you would think that Budget Direct would bear responsibility to rectify this issue prior to it getting worse. The issue would very easily be remedied with the works described in the quotation we obtained from a plumber who attended the site. Instead, similar to the hopelessness of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, our insurance company only covers themself in the fine print rather than assisting us in ensuring these damages don't lead to something worse.

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