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The Premium Yarn - The One Insurance Blog that won't put you to sleep.

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Welcome to this month's edition of the Premium Yarn!

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Righto, June. Six months into it. Where did the time go? I’d rather not think about that now.

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I’ve got a couple of important things to talk about today, let’s start with the more important of the two first, which pertains to every one of you, and your insurance invoices.

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What's happening with Fire Service Levies 🔥

In your invoices, you’re charged a set of levies, one which goes to the Earthquake Commission (EQC Levy) and one which goes to Fire & Emergency NZ (FSL Levy or Fire Service Levy).

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EQC only pertain to domestic dwellings – they’re charged on homes and residential units in apartments. FSL apply to both domestic and commercial and are charged on essentially everything except liability covers.

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Effective the 1^st of July 2024, two things are going to happen: the first is largely inconsequential, in that the Earthquake Commission are changing their name to the Natural Hazards Commission or Toka Tū Ake.

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The second change is that FSL is increasing, with different risk incurring different levy changes, the basics are:

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• Homes – was $106, will now be $119.50.
• Contents – was $21.20, will now be $23.90.
• Vehicles – was $8.45, will now be $9.53.
• Vehicles or 3.5 tonne, Commercial Contents & Buildings – was 10.6c per $100, will now be 11.95c per $100 of risk.

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It’s important to note that domestic lines are capped but commercial aren’t, so, per above, if you initially insured a building worth $5,000,000 your FSL will be going from $5,300 to $5,975 – I know, a little bit stink, but have no fear, as I come with loopholes:

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1. We can chat about FSL declarations, which allow us to charge the levy against the indemnity value instead of the default replacement value.
2. If you haven’t already, an insurance rebuild valuation for your insurance can also allow us to charge a lower fee, most use the indemnity value, but some go one step further and work out an even lower rate for just the FSL levies (only certain QS do this – Caveo have a deal with Construction Cost Consultants, so let me know if you want to chat more on this).

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What's on for Caveo

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The second thing is that, as alluded to in my previous email: I am off to Japan for two weeks. What makes this special is that this is the first time since starting Caveo four years ago where I intend to leave both my work laptop and phone behind – they said it couldn’t be done, they said he was a mad man, but I trust in each and every one of you to not make me completely regret that choice haha 😉

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I’ll be gone from the 6th of June, until the 25^th – I’ll have a comprehensive out of office, as well as Alice checking my emails for anything urgent.

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Alice has recently completed her Level 5 Certificate in Financial Advice, which means she is now fully qualified to give insurance advice on her own whim, we will let you know a little more about this once I’m back but please do give her a congratulations if she emails you as it’s no easy feat to complete study whilst working full time and raising a family!

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So, If you have any urgent, complex stuff then please be patient and be kind – I’ve given Alice permission to message me on my personal phone if it turns to custard, but let’s hope that’s not needed!

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If you’re curious, we will be visiting Tokyo, Hida, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Nara, Kurashiki, Hiroshima, Fujikawaguchiko and Osaka 😊

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And one last thing for my business bosses:

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This month (Wednesday the 26^th June) we are hosting an inhouse talk focussed on Resilience and Adaptability for Business Owners.

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Kristen Savage (Business Owner, Entrepreneur, Farmer, Philanthropist, Surfer) is our guest speaker and will share his own experience going from teaching commerce at Wellington College, to farming a 600-hectare coastal property. Adapting his business, The Hickory Bay Cold Water Surf Resort, to rapid change, as well as his philanthropic experiences helping the farming community through tough times, with his initiative The Hickory Bay Surfing Institute and the Akaroa Chapter of Surfing for Farmers initiative in Hickory Bay

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Kristin is one out of the box and you will leave feeling better about the world!!

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Entry is koha. Please feel free to join us and share this with others who you think can benefit as well!

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Details are on our events page.

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Hope to see you there and I forward to talking to you all once I’m back!

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‘Till next time.

Cheers,

Joshua

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Joshua Rhind | General Manager

Caveo - powered by Velocity Financial

M: 027 384 6444  

E: joshua@caveo.co.nz

W: www.caveo.co.nz

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Read Caveo's disclosure here.

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Always get professional advice

The information shared in this post is meant to be general guide to support you on your journey. When making important decisions about your finances, we encourage you to seek independent financial advice first, tailored to your unique situation.  As well as talking with a financial adviser, make sure you talk to your lawyer and accountant too – together they'll help you find the best solution for your specific situation. Our knowledgeable financial advisers are here to help. Check out our website for the details about our financial advisory services in our disclosures  https://www.velocityfinancial.co.nz/disclosure-statement. 

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