With the festive season in full swing, it’s the perfect time to embrace the holiday spirit and enjoy some well deserved relaxation and celebration.
To help you keep your home, business and loved ones safe throughout the season, we’ve compiled our top holiday tips – so you can make the most of this time without any unexpected surprises!
Your home
1 Home security while on holiday
Lighting Timer switches and smartphone apps are great tool to program your lights to switch on at certain times. This gives the appearance that someone is home and can assist in deterring curious criminals.
Video monitoring Consider purchasing a CCTV system that connects to your smartphone via an app. This will allow you to live-stream footage from cameras in your home through to your mobile device or tablet.
Alarms Invest in an IP monitored alarm system from an accredited provider. This type of alarm will not only alert your security provider, but can also send notifications to your mobile device if something is amiss.
Curtains Consider leaving your curtains the way they are. This can give the impression you’re home; just remember to keep expensive items, such as jewellery, out of sight.
Locks Test all your door and window locks before leaving to make sure they’re effective and in working order. And don’t forget to lock and arm all of them when you leave.
Checking in Do you have friends or family nearby who aren’t heading away on vacation? Ask them to occasionally check on your property to make sure all is well.
2 Essential services for the home
Make sure you’ve turned off water taps to your dishwasher and washing machine just in case a washer or hose breaks while you’re away. Likewise, unplug any non-essential electrical items to ensure they aren’t damaged in the event of a power surge.
3 Christmas lights and fire risks
Consider converting old incandescent Christmas lights to LED bulbs. LEDs can not only help you save electricity, but more importantly, they expel little to no heat while in use. This can significantly reduce the risk of fire.
TIPS
- Ensure your Christmas lights and cords are in safe working order before you plug them in. Overloaded power boards, exposed wiring and damaged cables can still present a fire danger. Check for (and avoid using) items with frayed cables, burn marks and exposed wires.
- Put your lights on a timer switch.
- Ensure your lights are used in the correct setting, that is, indoor or outdoor use.
- Consider purchasing battery operated lights to decrease the fire risk.
- Check your lights to ensure they have a label confirming they’ve been tested and have passed Australian Safety standards.
4 Check the safety of your gas BBQ
Across the summer months in Melbourne alone, there is a serious gas BBQ fire once a day on average! This is often accompanied by property loss and injury…so know the drill before you grill! Before using your BBQ, check for any gas leaks and ensure that the fittings and hoses are in perfect working order before you fire up the barbie!
5 Insurance policy maintenance – update, update, update!
After Christmas, it’s time to take stock – literally! While you’re enjoying your new gadgets, sparkling jewellery or that unique piece of artwork your in-laws thought you’d love, don’t forget to update your contents insurance policy. Keeping your broker or insurance company in the loop about new valuables isn’t just smart – it’s essential. After all, you don’t want your new treasures to be left unprotected.
TIPS
- Insure valuable Christmas presents before they’re opened!
- Likewise, if you’ve splurged on some high-value Christmas presents this year, don’t forget to give your contents insurance a little holiday cheer too. The moment those treasures make it home, consider adding them to your policy. It’s a sure fire way to protect against life’s unexpected moments, like fire or theft.
6 Summer maintenance and renovations
The summer months are the perfect time to renovate your property or tick some long overdue maintenance and chores off your to-do list. If hiring tradespeople, ensure they have a current Public Liability insurance policy with adequate limits in place – it’s always best practice to ask for their Certificate of Currency.
And if you live at a strata property and are volunteering for works around the premises, check that the OC’s Strata Insurance policy includes Personal Accident Cover for Voluntary workers.
Your business
7 Business security tips
Before you wind down and shut shop for the holiday season, ensure your business’ alarms and monitoring systems are up to date. If you work with an external security provider, be sure to share the dates your business will be closed. It’s always better to have them on the same page than be caught off guard.
Weather related events and claims
8 Planning for the weather
As the holiday season approaches, everyone is eager to know what the forecast holds! Meteorologists suggest checking in around December 18 for a reasonably reliable outlook.
Otherwise, the Bureau of Meteorology’s long-range forecast offers a general idea of what to expect. And while it looks like December is shaping up to be warmer and wetter for much of Australia, that doesn’t guarantee a humid holiday for everyone. Regional differences play a role too – weather patterns in the west and north can tend to be more predictable, while conditions in the south and east can change rapidly as residents know all too well!
Wherever you are, keeping an eye on the forecast as the date approaches is the best way to plan for holiday celebrations.
9 Latest weather warnings
For information on the latest weather warnings you can visit the Bureau of Meteorology website: www.bom.gov.au
10 Need to get in touch over the holiday period?
During the holiday season the Whitbread office will be observing the following public holidays:
- Christmas Day Wednesday 25 December 2024
- Boxing Day Thursday 26 December 2024
- New Year’s Day Wednesday 1 January 2025
We will maintain a reduced team from Monday 23 December 2024, to Friday 3 January, 2025.
We will resume full operations at 8:30am on Monday 6 January 2025.
For urgent claims assistance during our closure period, we have included important details below.
Emergency claims assistance
We understand there may be emergency situations where urgent after hours assistance is required throughout the holiday period.
What you can do
Contact the insurer
We recommend contacting the insurance company directly to seek emergency assistance and commence the claims process as soon as possible.
We recommend printing or saving this list somewhere that is easily accessible, so it is readily available to you in the future.
Contact the 24/7 emergency make safe repair hotline
If you experience an after hours property emergency and cannot contact your Whitbread broker, claims team or insurer, please consider the contact information below for emergency assistance.
Johns Lyng Group
Johns Lyng Group offer all Whitbread clients a dedicated 24 hour emergency response hotline service, providing make safe services across Australia. For assistance please contact:
- Phone 1300 945 945
- Email brokerresponse@johnslyng.com.au
The Scotia Group | Strata clients
The Scotia Group offer Whitbread strata clients a dedicated 24 hour emergency response service, providing make safe services in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. For assistance please contact:
- Phone 1300 726 842
- Online request Visit www.scotia.com.au/contact to submit a message
Tymaline Building Services | Strata clients
Tymaline also offer strata clients a dedicated 24 hour emergency response service, providing make safe services for those in the Melbourne CBD and metropolitan area, greater Melbourne within two hours of the CBD, the Mornington Peninsula and Geelong. For assistance please contact:
- Phone 03 8870 2222
- Online request Visit www.tbsaust.com.au/contact to submit a message
It’s important to remember that if the incident is not an approved insurance claim you may be responsible for applicable associated call out fees and repairs.
Further information
To discuss a claim, or for more information on after hours emergency assistance, please visit our dedicated Emergency Assistance and Claims page, send an email to claims@whitbread.com.au, or contact your Claims Consultant on 1300 424 627.
T: 1300 424 627
E: info@whitbread.com.au
Important notice
This article provides information rather than financial product or other advice. The content of this article, including any information contained in it, has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider the appropriateness of the information, taking these matters into account, before you act on any information. In particular, you should review the product disclosure statement for any product that the information relates to it before acquiring the product.
Information is current as at the date the article is written as specified within it but is subject to change. Whitbread Insurance Brokers make no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the information. Various third parties have contributed to the production of this content. All information is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of Whitbread Insurance Broker.
This article is not intended to be personal advice and you should not rely on it as a substitute for any form of personal advice. Please contact Whitbread Associates Pty Ltd ABN 69 005 490 228, License Number 229092 trading as Whitbread Insurance Brokers for further information or refer to our website.
