Flood insurance: How to prepare for the worst
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, not to mention driven up insurance premiums.
With more natural disasters looming on the horizon, we asked Allianz Australia to shed some light on how Australians can best prepare for storms and give their home insurance claims the best chance of success.
(Note: Interview has been edited for clarity and ease of reading).
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- How can homeowners prepare their properties for flood and storm damage?
- Flood emergency planning
- What areas or types of properties are really vulnerable to floods?
- What parts of your property are particularly vulnerable to flood/storm damage? How can you safeguard them?
- Flood resilient home design and renovations
- Does flood resilience and preparation help lower insurance premiums?
How can homeowners prepare their properties for flood and storm damage?
While we can’t prevent extreme weather, there are a few things Australians can do to protect their families and homes from flood and storm damage. The top three game changers?
- Emergency preparedness
- Flood resilient housing design
- Adequate insurance cover
Having all this decided well before disaster strikes makes the greatest difference to recovery.
Flood emergency planning
Allianz's National Manager, Claims Technical and Business Operations, Mark O’Connor recommends Australians “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.”
As part of this prep, O’Connor recommends assembling an Emergency Pack complete with:
- A first aid kit
- Food and water supplies
- Blankets
- Warm clothing
- Matches
- Spare batteries
- Portable charger.
This way, you have all the necessary supplies on hand when the worst happens.
What areas or types of properties are really vulnerable to floods?
Where you live and what kind of property you live in matters big time when it comes to natural disasters, including flooding.
“For those properties near waterways or at the bottom of a hill, your entire house may be exposed to rising water or flash flooding,” says O’Connor. “Every Australian should educate themselves about their area and evaluate their risk.”
Other factors such as drainage, vegetation, architecture, rainfall, and history of flooding can all give you an idea of your home’s vulnerability.
To find out if you live in a flood prone area, or accurately gauge a property’s flood risk, consult your local council or state emergency service.
What parts of your property are particularly vulnerable to flood/storm damage? How can you safeguard them?
Different homes and places in Australia will experience different kinds of damage. Location is the main factor to consider, as flood-prone areas will always be especially vulnerable to extreme weather events.
Some locations, such as coastal Queensland, compensate for this added risk with flood resilient building design (such as elevating homes on stilts). However, most average Australian homes will still have weaknesses to consider.
“Damage to roofs and leaking is a common vulnerability,” explains O’Connor. “Precautions you can take ahead of storms include ensuring gutters and downpipes on your home and other structures are clear so that heavy rain can flow freely off your roof.”
Allianz also encourages removing overhanging branches and securing items that may become dangerous if blown about in high winds.
Flood resilient home design and renovations
The NSW SES compiled a list of recommendations of how to reduce the vulnerability of buildings to flood damage – what they call “flood resilience”. This design principle can do a lot of heavy-lifting for your home’s defence against flood damage.
O’Connor suggests that homeowners considering flood resilience should start with a few key practical improvements:
- Dry flood-proofing, which makes homes watertight enough to withstand a large volume of water.
- Landscaping, which involves strategically planting trees and shrubs to mitigate erosion, slow down fast-flowing water, and divert water away from your home.
- Roof drainage, which directs overflowing stormwater away from your home or to strategic areas in the event of heavy rainfall.
However, for those looking to build a new house altogether, O’Connor invokes the realtor’s mantra: location, location, location. If you build in a spot with a high risk of flooding anyway, it might not matter what other preventative measures you take.
Does flood resilience and preparation help lower insurance premiums?
Insurance providers like Allianz, BudgetDirect, Huddle, Youi, and Virgin Money consider a number of factors when calculating home and contents insurance premiums.
Chiefly, O’Connor claims they look at a person’s risk profile and other factors such as, where you live, the amount and type of cover you require, relevant claim history, and compulsory government charges such as stamp duty and GST.
However, there may be some risks that will make flood insurance costly no matter what you do, or how well you design your home.
“Among other factors,” says O’Connor, insurance providers will assess, “the frequency and severity of weather events, particularly drawing on past claims experience.”
This means that while a single extreme weather event likely won’t impact your premium, rampant and repeated flooding in your area (as caused by climate change) will exert “upward pressure” on your premium over time.
However, it is still important to take every precaution you can to protect your home, and most insurance providers will offer flexibility to make their policies as affordable as possible.
“The fairest way to ensure Australians are not priced out of insurance is to ensure products provide customers options around their level of cover,” O’Connor explains. “Offering homeowners a choice of coverage means they are still able to secure insurance cover, at an affordable price, for the many other natural and other perils they face, such as fire, theft, hail and storm.”
Compare home insurance policies with flood coverage below, or read our guide on renter's flood insurance.
Compare flood insurance covers
Home Cover - Buildings & Contents
- Main events covered
- Fire
- Theft
- Storm
- Flood
- Monthly payments
cost extra - Yes
- Underinsurance protection
- Optional ExtraUp To 30% Of Buildings Sum Insured, Applied Automatically For Eligible Policies
- New for old
replacement - Yes
- General contents
- Yes
- Cash
- Up to $800
- Cd dvd and electronic files
- Up to $1,000 for electronic files and software
- Computer software hardware
- Yes - hardware. Up to $1,000 for software.
- Camera and accessories
- Yes
- Carpets
- Yes
- Antiques and valuables
- Up to $20,000 per item, set or pair of artworks or antiques. Up to $5,000 per collection.
- Jewellery
- Up to $2,500 per item, set or pair
- Replacement of documents
- Up to $800
- Tools of trade
- Up to $5,000
- Contents while moving
- Yes
- Lock replacement
- Up to $2,500
- Temporary accommodation
- Up to 24 months, up to 20% of buildings sum insured combined with temporary accommodation for pets
- Debris removal
- Yes, combined with building costs
- Demolition cost
- Yes, combined with building costs
- Accidental loss and damage
- Optional Extra
- Accidental breakage of glass
- Yes
- Lightning
- Yes
- Earthquake
- Yes
- Storm surge
- Yes
- Buildings and structural improvements
- Yes
- Building materials
- Up to $2,000
- Landscaping
- No
- Gates and fences
- Yes
Terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits may apply to any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. These terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits could affect the level of benefits and cover available under any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. Please refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and the Target Market Determination on the provider's website for further information before making any decisions about an insurance product.
Read reviews and learn more about QBE home insurance
Home & Contents Insurance
- Main events covered
- Fire
- Theft
- Storm
- FloodOptional Extra
- Monthly payments
cost extra - Yes
- Underinsurance protection
- Optional ExtraUp To 25% Of Building Sum Insured
- New for old
replacement - Yes
- General contents
- Yes
- Cash
- Up to $800 in total
- Cd dvd and electronic files
- Up to $3,000 combined with computer software
- Computer software hardware
- Hardware yes, software up to $3,000 combined with CDs/DVDs
- Camera and accessories
- Yes
- Carpets
- Yes
- Antiques and valuables
- Up to $5,000 per item for artwork, up to $12,000 in total, up to $2,000 for collections
- Jewellery
- Up to $1,000 per item or set, up to $5,000 in total
- Replacement of documents
- No
- Tools of trade
- Up to $2,000
- Contents while moving
- Up to 20% of sum insured
- Lock replacement
- Up to $1,000
- Temporary accommodation
- Up to 10% of sum insured, up to 12 months. Combined with temporary accommodation for pets.
- Debris removal
- Up to 10% of sum insured combined with demolition cost and emergency storage
- Demolition cost
- Up to 10% of sum insured combined with debris removal cost and emergency storage
- Accidental loss and damage
- Optional Extra
- Accidental breakage of glass
- Yes
- Lightning
- Yes
- Earthquake
- Yes
- Storm surge
- No
- Buildings and structural improvements
- Yes
- Building materials
- Up to $1,000
- Landscaping
- Yes, garden borders, pathways and paved areas.
- Gates and fences
- Yes
Terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits may apply to any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. These terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits could affect the level of benefits and cover available under any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. Please refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and the Target Market Determination on the provider's website for further information before making any decisions about an insurance product.
Read reviews and learn more about Budget Direct home insurance
Home & Contents Insurance
- Main events covered
- Fire
- Theft
- Storm
- Flood
- Monthly payments
cost extra - Yes
- Underinsurance protection
- No
- New for old
replacement - Yes
- General contents
- Yes
- Cash
- No
- Cd dvd and electronic files
- Yes, excludes electronic files
- Computer software hardware
- Yes
- Camera and accessories
- Yes
- Carpets
- Yes
- Antiques and valuables
- Yes
- Jewellery
- Optional Extra, select specific replacement value for each item of jewellery where the individual value is more than $15,000
- Replacement of documents
- No
- Tools of trade
- Optional Extra, up to $1,000 per item , up to $5,000 in total
- Contents while moving
- Up to 20% of sum insured
- Lock replacement
- Up to $1,000
- Temporary accommodation
- Up to 12 months, up to 12% of sum insured
- Debris removal
- Up to 20% of sum insured combined with demolition and professional fee costs.
- Demolition cost
- Up to 20% of sum insured combined with debris removal and professional fee costs
- Accidental loss and damage
- Optional Extra
- Accidental breakage of glass
- Yes
- Lightning
- Yes
- Earthquake
- Yes
- Storm surge
- No
- Buildings and structural improvements
- Yes
- Building materials
- Up to $1,000
- Landscaping
- No
- Gates and fences
- Yes
Terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits may apply to any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. These terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits could affect the level of benefits and cover available under any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. Please refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and the Target Market Determination on the provider's website for further information before making any decisions about an insurance product.
Read reviews and learn more about Youi home insurance
Home & Contents Insurance
- Main events covered
- Fire
- Theft
- Storm
- Flood
- Monthly payments
cost extra - No
- Underinsurance protection
- No
- New for old
replacement - Yes
- General contents
- Yes
- Cash
- Up to $300
- Cd dvd and electronic files
- Up to $5,000
- Computer software hardware
- Hardware yes, software up to $5,000 combined with CDs/DVDs
- Camera and accessories
- Up to $2,000
- Carpets
- Yes - limits apply for carpets over 10 years old
- Antiques and valuables
- Up to $2,000 per item, up to $12,000 in total
- Jewellery
- Up to $2,000 per item, up to $6,000 in total
- Replacement of documents
- Up to $1,000
- Tools of trade
- Up to $2,000
- Contents while moving
- Yes
- Lock replacement
- Up to $1,000
- Temporary accommodation
- Up to 12 months, up to 10% of sum insured
- Debris removal
- Up to 20% of sum insured combined with demolition cost
- Demolition cost
- Up to 20% of sum insured combined with debris removal cost
- Accidental loss and damage
- Optional Extra
- Accidental breakage of glass
- Yes
- Lightning
- Yes
- Earthquake
- Yes
- Storm surge
- Yes
- Buildings and structural improvements
- Yes
- Building materials
- No
- Landscaping
- Up to $1,000 for plants
- Gates and fences
- Yes - Up to 50% of the total cost, up to 2km
Terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits may apply to any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. These terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits could affect the level of benefits and cover available under any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. Please refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and the Target Market Determination on the provider's website for further information before making any decisions about an insurance product.
Read reviews and learn more about honey home insurance
Home & Contents Insurance
- Main events covered
- Fire
- Theft
- Storm
- Flood
- Monthly payments
cost extra - Yes
- Underinsurance protection
- Optional ExtraUp To 30% Of Building Sum Insured
- New for old
replacement - Yes
- General contents
- Yes
- Cash
- Up to $800
- Cd dvd and electronic files
- Up to $1,000
- Computer software hardware
- Up to $1,000
- Camera and accessories
- No
- Carpets
- Yes
- Antiques and valuables
- Up to $20,000 per item, set or pair
- Jewellery
- Up to $2,500 per item, set or pair
- Replacement of documents
- Up to $800
- Tools of trade
- Up to $5,000
- Contents while moving
- Yes
- Lock replacement
- Up to $2,500
- Temporary accommodation
- Up to 24 months, up to 20% of sum insured combined with temporary accommodation for pets
- Debris removal
- Yes
- Demolition cost
- Yes
- Accidental loss and damage
- Optional Extra
- Accidental breakage of glass
- Yes
- Lightning
- Yes
- Earthquake
- Yes
- Storm surge
- Yes
- Buildings and structural improvements
- Yes
- Building materials
- Up to $2,000
- Landscaping
- Yes - pathways
- Gates and fences
- Yes
Terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits may apply to any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. These terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits could affect the level of benefits and cover available under any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. Please refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and the Target Market Determination on the provider's website for further information before making any decisions about an insurance product.
Read reviews and learn more about Australia Post home insurance
* Terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits may apply to any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. These terms, conditions, exclusions, limits and sub-limits could affect the level of benefits and cover available under any of the insurance products shown on the Mozo website. Please refer to the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and the Target Market Determination on the provider's website for further information before making any decisions about an insurance product.
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