Termite Protection Warranty: What you need to know about protecting your home from termites
Your termite protection and warranty
If Bittn Termite + Pest installed the termite protection at your home, here’s how it works, what keeps your warranty in place, and what to do if it’s lapsed.
Termites and your home
Termites are found on around 1 in 3 Australian properties (CSIRO), and they cause an estimated $1.5 billion in damage to Australian homes every year (AEPMA). Standard home insurance doesn’t cover termite damage.
That’s why Australian Standard AS 3660 recommends a termite inspection at least once a year, and more often where termite risk is high. The manufacturer of your termite protection asks for the same: an annual inspection is a condition of your warranty.
How your termite protection works
The termite protection your builder put in doesn’t make termites disappear. It’s designed to stop termites and repel them away from your home, and where the system contains a termiticide, termites that try to chew through it don’t survive. Any that go looking for another way in are forced out into the open, where an inspection can find them. That’s why the system and the annual inspection work as a pair, and why one without the other leaves nobody watching.
Your manufacturer’s termite damage warranty
Your termite protection came with a manufacturer’s termite damage warranty when your home was handed over. If termites get through the protection and damage your home, the manufacturer covers the repair, with cover of up to $250,000 depending on the system installed (subject to the manufacturer’s terms). How long the warranty runs also depends on the system, and your builder’s handover documents set out the details. You can also check the Termite Protection Notice sticker in your meter box, which shows when your protection was installed and which system was used.
The warranty relies on two things: a termite inspection at least once a year, and the protection being left intact. The product manufacturers require the inspection to be done by the original installer (that’s us). Warranties generally don’t cover termites that find a way around the protection, for example over a raised garden bed or through new building work, which is why the steps below matter. If the inspections stop, the warranty lapses, and if you ever need to make a claim, the first thing the manufacturer asks is whether the annual inspections were done.
If your warranty has lapsed
It’s more common than you’d think. Depending on what was passed on at handover, or when the home changed hands, plenty of homeowners never knew they had a warranty. Others knew, but the yearly inspections dropped off along the way.
Either way, it’s fixable. Book a termite inspection with us, and if it comes back clear, we can reinstate your termite damage warranty, with up to $250,000 of cover depending on the system installed at your home. If we do find something, we’ll talk you through what we found and your options before anything else happens.
Looking after your home between inspections
Your Termite Protection Handover Information sets out the practical steps (ask us for a copy if you can’t find yours). The main ones:
- Keep garden beds, soil and mulch at least 75 mm below your termite protection, and paths or paving at least 25 mm below.
- Don’t stack timber, rubbish or stored items against your outside walls, and keep weep holes and vents clear.
- Fix leaking taps and dripping hot water or air conditioner drains near the base of your home.
- Check around the base of your home regularly for mud tubes.
- Planning a renovation, extension, pergola, deck or landscaping around the outside of your home? Talk to us first, as it can bridge your termite protection.
- Found live termites? Leave them undisturbed and call us straight away.