A review of the ACT’s home warranty cover arrangements is underway to ensure the cover offered remains contemporary and fit for its purpose.
Announced by the Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction, Rebecca Vassarotti, the Territory’s Fidelity Fund provides insurance to consumers if things go wrong with their builders.
“Consumer protection is a fundamental element of a well-functioning building regulatory system and a priority as we progress this work,” Ms Vassarotti said.
“The ACT Government approved the establishment of the Fidelity Fund to offer home warranty cover at a time where the market for building insurance had failed,” she said.
“It is now one of the two operating schemes in the ACT, it continues to be an important mechanism to provide insurance to consumers where things go wrong with their builders.”
Ms Vassarotti said that while other States had seen their home warranty cover struggle to provide protection at times and faced rising costs, the ACT warranty scheme had remained sound.
“However, it’s timely to review it and ensure we can be confident that the ACT’s home warranty cover provides the right level of protection for people who are building and renovating their homes,” the Minister said.
“This was an issue that was explored in the inquiry into building quality conducted at the end of the last Parliamentary term, which provided recommendations on how the fund could be strengthened.”
She said the review was examining current application and approval processes for home warranty schemes; insurance settings; scope of building matters covered; settings in other jurisdictions; currency of the scheme’s prudential standards; and reporting obligations.
