Emergency Services Levy Reform: What Agencies Should Watch

The Emergency Services Levy has long been one of the charges that can add to the cost of selected insurance policies in NSW. Replacing that approach may eventually reduce one pressure point for insured households and businesses, while spreading funding more broadly across property owners. However, agencies should be careful not to treat levy reform as a guarantee that premiums will fall across every policy or every risk class.

Insurers still price for claims experience, building repair costs, weather exposure, reinsurance costs, security settings, business interruption risk and the type of activities being insured. A suburban sales office, a rent roll with hundreds of managed properties, a regional agency exposed to flood or bushfire risk, and a firm running multiple branded vehicles may each see different effects at renewal.

This matters because agency principals often buy cover across several categories: professional indemnity, public liability, office contents, cyber, management liability, business interruption and commercial motor. If one statutory charge changes, it is still important to review the whole programme rather than focusing only on the final premium. A cheaper invoice can still hide weaker limits, higher excesses or exclusions that become painful during a claim.

There is also a client-facing angle. Property managers and agents may receive questions from landlords, vendors and tenants about why insurance costs remain elevated even if a government levy is being reworked. Clear communication will help set expectations. Premium affordability is part of the discussion, but so are underinsurance, resilience works, claims history and the increasing cost of rebuilding after severe weather claims.

Practical steps for agencies include:

• Check whether the levy appears separately on current policy schedules or is embedded in the premium.
• Ask how future renewals may reflect the reform, especially for office, contents and business package policies.
• Review sums insured, indemnity periods and excesses rather than comparing headline premiums alone.
• Use renewal time to estimate their insurance sums insured and test whether limits still match the agency’s real exposure.
• Document advice, policy changes and renewal decisions so the agency can explain its approach if a dispute arises later.

For real estate professionals, the lesson is simple: tax reform may improve affordability over time, but risk management still depends on matching cover to the way the agency actually operates.