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Preparing for bushfires in Australia

You can’t control some elements of bushfires, such as the weather. But you can significantly increase the survival chances of your family and your home if you plan ahead and prepare.

When bushfires occur, your family’s safety comes first. Contact 000 in any emergency.

Precautions you can take ahead of a bushfire

Around the house

  • Clear leaves from gutters, roofs and downpipes; mow your lawn; and trim low-lying branches around your home.
  • Fit steel wire mesh screens to windows, doors and vents.
  • Seal gaps in external cladding on the roof and walls.
  • Close off open areas under decks and floors.
  • Ensure that the pressure relief valves of LPG cylinders installed in your home face outwards.

Around the yard

  • Tidy your back yard and move flammable material such as piles of wood, paper, boxes, crates and garden furniture away from your home.
  • Ensure that garden hoses are long enough to reach the perimeter of your property.
  • If you plant trees and shrubs around your home, choose those that have a lower oil content. They are less likely to catch fire.
  • If you have a swimming pool or water tank, consider using a portable pump that will help you fight the fire.

Things to do

  • Obey directives and regulations on the use of barbecues and open fires during Total Fire Ban days.
  • Draw up a Home Emergency Plan that includes where you and your family will go if you have to evacuate your home and how you will contact each other if separated.
  • Keep a list of emergency telephone numbers within easy reach – local/state emergency service, police, ambulance, hospital, gas and electricity – plus details of local relief centres and evacuation routes.
  • Put together an “emergency pack” containing tinned food, a tin-opener, water, a first-aid kit, blankets, warm clothing, spare batteries, matches and gloves.
  • Equip yourself with a battery-powered portable radio and torch so that you can stay updated on power restoration and evacuation alerts if the power is cut.
  • Gather sentimental, important and valuable items, documents and photos that you can take with you should you need to evacuate.
  • Consider keeping valuables items and documents in a fire-resistant safe or metal cabinet.

Precautions you can take during a bushfire

Around the house

  • Avoid going into the bush if there is smoke or fire in the vicinity.
  • Patrol the outside of your property
  • Ensure that you have ladders, shovels and metal buckets to enable you to extinguish embers and spot fires.
  • Bring your garden hose inside so that fire will not melt it and move any fire fighting equipment to a place where it will not get burnt.
  • Close windows, doors and shutters.
  • Block the downpipes on your house with a sock filled with sand or soil and fill the roof gutters with water.
  • Block gaps beneath doors, using wet blankets or towels.
  • Collect water in buckets or the bath.

Things to do

  • Draw up a Home Emergency Plan that includes where you and your family will go if you have to evacuate your home and how you will contact each other if separated.
  • Keep a list of emergency telephone numbers within easy reach – local/state emergency service, police, ambulance, hospital, gas and electricity – plus details of local relief centres and evacuation routes.
  • Put together an “emergency pack” containing tinned food, a tin-opener, water, a first-aid kit, blankets, warm clothing, spare batteries, matches and gloves.
  • Equip yourself with a battery-powered portable radio and torch so that you can stay updated on power restoration and evacuation alerts if the power is cut.
  • Gather sentimental, important and valuable items, documents and photos that you can take with you should you need to evacuate. Consider keeping valuables items and documents in a fire-resistant safe or metal cabinet.

Support for all our customers affected by bushfire

Our first priority is your safety. Please keep yourself and your family out of harm’s way until the bushfire risk is over. Then, when it’s safe to do so, contact us when possible.

If you have been affected by the recent bushfires you can claim online or call us on 13 10 13.

Our Claims Team is here to help you 24/7. You don’t need your policy documents. Our Claims Team can locate these details for you.

Wherever possible, we have on-the-ground support for customers from our Assessment and Claims Teams, working in coordination with the Insurance Council of Australia.

Our support doesn’t stop here

Our policy provides temporary accommodation for Home and/or Contents Insurance customers whose properties have been lost or made uninhabitable*.

Our policy also provides fast-tracked emergency funds and financial assistance for affected customers to help with immediate needs such as food, clothing and accommodation*.

*Eligibility criteria, limits and exclusions may apply.

Any advice here does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Terms, conditions, limits and exclusions apply. Before making a decision about this insurance, please consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS)/Policy Wording and Supplementary PDS (if applicable). Where applicable, the PDS/Policy Wording, Supplementary PDS and Target Market Determination (TMD) for this insurance are available on this website.

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Allianz Australia Insurance Limited ABN 15 000 122 850 AFS Licence No. 234708 is the general insurer except in respect of life insurance, in which case Allianz Australia Life Insurance Limited ABN 27 076 033 782 AFS Licence No. 296559 is the insurer.

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