Bondi Coastal Metro Block - Beachside Risk Pricing

A property trust approached us to insure a small residential block they'd acquired in Sydney's eastern coastal suburbs. The building sat within a few hundred metres of the beach, on a street with heavy salt exposure and consistent wind loading.

The trustee had tried to get a quote through several online landlord portals first. The property was under a single title with no body corporate, so strata products didn't apply. Standard landlord policies capped at a single dwelling and wouldn't extend to a block. The client was running out of options with settlement approaching.

They found us through a referral from their accountant. On the first call we identified three things that would make this placement harder than it looked: the coastal postcode, the short-stay letting mix across the units, and the trust structure that needed to be named correctly on policy documents.

Coastal metro blocks sit in an awkward spot for most insurers. They're too small for many commercial property markets, too unusual for mainstream landlord products, and exposed to claims frequency that direct insurers don't want to write.

We prepared a submission that addressed the specific risk concerns upfront:

• Construction and maintenance evidence - recent repaint, salt-tolerant coatings, updated plumbing compliance
• Occupancy profile - mix of long-term tenants and short-stay letting, with clear management in place
• Claims history - five years clean on the building
• Sum insured - professional replacement cost, not market value

We approached three markets we trust for coastal residential and worked the submission through each.

Two markets had concerns. One referred the risk before pricing it on the higher end given the short-stay exposure. Another quoted, but with a higher excess than the client wanted.

The short-stay letting mix was the friction point. Insurers price short-stay risk differently to long-term tenancies - claims frequency is higher, guest damage is harder to pursue, and there's no security bond structure to fall back on. We had to explain the property's actual usage pattern: most units were on long-term leases with only one flexibly let for shorter stays.

Timing also mattered. The trust wanted cover in place within 10 business days so the broader insurance programme could be aligned to one renewal date.

CGU came through with terms that matched the client's profile and priced sensibly for the coastal exposure. The premium landed in the mid four-figure range - meaningfully less than the higher-end referred quote, and with a lower excess than the other quoting market.

Coastal metro blocks look simple from the outside. A few units, good rental income, decent postcode. But the underwriting conversation is rarely straightforward. The difference between a quick decline and a good placement is knowing which market actually wants the risk - and being able to frame the submission so the insurer can see what you're seeing.

If you've been bounced off online portals with a coastal or eastern-suburbs block, speak to us. We've placed enough of these to know where the market sits.