Home insurance news and advice

No place like home, hey? Movie houses can be iconic parts of cinema magic, from the cosy crush of Full House to the spooky nostalgia of Disney’s Haunted Mansion. Childhood memories abound of wacky hijinks and just so. Much. Property damage!

Those who bank with BOQ, rejoice! There’s an exciting new range of hi-tech home insurance products available to you exclusively from Australia’s first smart home insurance provider, Honey Insurance.

New research from Allianz Australia reports 68% of Australians do not have insurance for the valuables they take with them on holiday and 2 in 5 confess they didn’t know valuable items could be insured as an option under their home contents insurance policy.

Tenants and landlords both have rights and responsibilities in the aftermath of disaster. Since floods don’t discriminate, everyone should have a plan in place to protect their valuables – especially the one in five Australians at risk from elevated La Niña rainfall.

The 2022 NSW and Southeast Queensland floods have caused widespread damage and grief, with the Insurance Council of Australia reporting that 107,844 claims have been lodged in flood-stricken areas, totalling an estimated $1.62 billion.

Over the past three years, Australia has been embattled with the effects of climate change. Droughts, bushfires, and flooding in rapid succession have each endangered millions of lives and cost us billions of dollars.

For three years in a row, Australians on the east and north coasts have been deluged with unprecedented rainfall – mostly due to La Niña weather patterns and worsening climate change. This is especially impactful for the nearly one in five Australians at risk of flood damage.

Last week the Federal Government finalised the design of a reinsurance pool for cyclone and related flood damage that will dedicate $10 billion towards supporting affected residents and small businesses in northern Australia.

Major weather shifts present a range of risks for homeowners. Some – like bushfires, storms and flooding – can create easily observable turmoil, and could result in damages to your property which may need to be addressed by your home insurance coverage.

La Niña is now firmly established in the tropical Pacific, with climate modelling from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) suggesting severe wet weather and cooling temperatures may persist until early autumn 2022.