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A key facts sheet is a summary of a home building or home contents policy, in a format the law sets, so that one policy can be compared with another. Moneysmart says the government prescribes its information and layout so you can compare like for like.
General information, not financial or legal advice. The rules are in the Insurance Contracts Regulations 2017; Moneysmart explains how to use them.
Which policies
The Insurance Contracts Regulations 2017 apply the key facts sheet rules to two classes of contract: home buildings insurance and home contents insurance. Car and travel insurance are not on that list.
Insurance Contracts Regulations 2017, section 13(2), quoted in part
“An insurer must provide a person (a consumer) with a Key Facts Sheet for a prescribed contract, or a potential prescribed contract, as soon as reasonably practicable but not later than 14 days, after” the consumer first requests information about the contract or, if they enter into it with the insurer, after they enter into it. Extending, varying or reinstating a contract does not count as entering into it.
Read plainly
Ask an insurer about a home or contents policy, or take one out, and the sheet should reach you within 14 days, sooner if reasonably practicable.
The insurer may send it electronically if you ask. And an insurer with a public website must keep the most current copy of each key facts sheet there, in a form anyone can download. So where an insurer has a public website, you can read its sheets before you ask for anything.
The format
The regulation fixes the content through two forms in its fifth schedule, one for buildings and one for contents, and fixes the look as well. Moneysmart gives the reason: with the information and layout set, you can compare like for like.
| Element | What the rule sets |
|---|---|
| Page | A4, in Arial. |
| Heading | Starts with the words “KEY FACTS”, in 18 point. |
| Steps | The word “STEP” in 16 point and the number after it in 48 point. |
| Step 2 | A top box in white on blue, then boxes alternating black on white and black on light blue, with a footnote in 8 point after it. |
| Step 3 | A box in white on blue. |
| Everything else | 10 point, with headings, subheadings and the policy name in blue on white, and the rest black on white, with enough contrast to be read easily. |
Exceptions
Section 13(5) lists the cases where the insurer is not required to provide the sheet. In summary:
Exception (c) is worth knowing if you buy through a broker. The sheet for the policy may still be on the insurer’s website, under the website rule above.
Using one
Moneysmart’s advice on comparing contents insurance puts the two documents in order: the key facts sheet lets you compare like for like, and the PDS is where you read the detail of what’s covered. Its list of features to compare:
| Feature | What to compare |
|---|---|
| Premium | The cost for the same type of cover. |
| Excess | The amount you pay to make a claim. A higher excess can lower the premium. |
| Cover limits | The maximum you can claim for certain items. |
| Value of belongings | Whether the policy pays the value or the replacement value of your belongings. |
| Settlement | How belongings are repaired or replaced: replaced by the insurer, or cash to replace them yourself. |
For home building cover, Moneysmart adds legal liability, extended cover above the sum insured, and exclusions, including caps, limits and special conditions. In North Queensland, the Australian Government’s North Queensland home insurance website compares home insurance policies by where you live.
A summary can only summarise. The questions to take into the full document are in reading a PDS, and the amount to insure for is in sum insured and underinsurance.