Home & Contents Insurance Tips and Traps
Whether you’ve built it from scratch or picked it up at an auction, our home is the most expensive thing we own. So the last thing you want is to find out you’ve forgotten to add or misjudged something on your home and contents insurance policy, like underinsurance.
That’s why we’ve pulled together this guide to make sure you’re understand all the ins and outs of home insurance, so you’re not left out of pocket. Check it out.
Tips
- Reading and then re-reading your policy Product Disclosure Statement will take a couple of hours out of your life that you’ll never get back, but it’s well worth it if it could spare you a financial disaster.
- Make sure you assess your level of cover regularly and take into account any changes you have made to your property, like renovations or installations.
- Avoid automatically renewing your policy. Get a few quotes (including one from your current insurance provider) and ask them to match the deal they offer for new customers. You can also often get discounts for buying your policy online, installing an alarm or being a senior!
- Check what insurance is counted as included and what counts as optional cover. Some policies allow you to buy extra cover for an additional amount to cover elements like burnout of electrical motors, temporary insurance or pet cover.
- A lot of insurance companies now include flood cover, regardless of where you live. But there are some insurance companies that still include it as an optional extra, so make sure you know where you stand.
- Keep good records by taking photos and compiling an inventory of your home’s contents and store it somewhere safe, so you can give them to an insurance assessor if you ever have to make a claim.
- If you're an investor, you've probably already encountered landlord house insurance. If not, it's time you did! Landlords insurance is more than straight home insurance minus the contents cover as it also protects you for a range of extras relating to lost rent or troublesome tenants.
- Think twice before you claim because claims, big or small all affect your future insurance quotes. In some cases it doesn't matter if you claim for $1000 or $100,000 - your premium will still rise by 10% or more.
Policies by different operators vary dramatically in terms of what they cover double check whether your policy includes:
- Accidental damage
- Smoke damage
- Property being renovated
- Impact (such as a car hitting a wall)
- Replacement locks if you lose your keys
- Earthquake damage
- Flood damage
Traps
- Many insurance providers won't cover events which occur if your home is unoccupied for more than 60 days. Be sure to tell your provider if your home will be left unoccupied for an extended time.
- Make sure your home is properly maintained - some insurance companies insist that you have deadlocks on your doors and windows.
- Not all contents insurance providers cover you when you’re moving house, some will, but only in certain situations, for example, if they’re damaged in a car accident.
- Consider what valuables you have in your backyard - that state of the art six burner barbeque might not be covered for theft or storm damage.
- Watch out for 'watery interpretations' - water damage is a really problematic area of fine print for home and contents insurance. Premiums are very expensive for flood-prone areas as insurance providers often know more than you do about the risks to your intended home. Check with the local council to see if flood maps are available. Also, leaky roofs are a common cause for claims-denial so make sure your property is properly maintained.
- Home insurance policies won’t always cover business activities and assets, so if you work from home, you may need a separate business insurance policy.
- If your property is underinsured - eg, if it would cost $500,000 to rebuild, but you've only insured it for $400,000, or 80% of its value - then the insurance company can apply averaging to any partial claim. This means that if your $10,000 shed burns down, your claim will be 'averaged' at 80%, and your payout will only be $8,000 - leaving you to pay the rest of the cost of rebuilding it.
Ready to find the policy that’s right for your home? Check out our home insurance comparison page to see what’s on offer.
Home Insurance Comparison Table - rates updated daily
Home & Contents Insurance
Get award-winning Home and Contents Insurance at a price you can afford from Budget Direct. Save a huge 30% ^ on your first year’s premium when you purchase a new combined Home and Contents Insurance policy online.
- 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
replacment - Yes
- General contents
- Yes
- Cash
- Up to $800
- 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
- No
- Gates and fences
- Yes
Read our Mozo Review to learn more about Budget Direct Home & Contents Insurance
Premier Care Residential
Save up to 25% when you purchase cover online. Westpac Premier Care Home & Contents Insurance covers your home and belongings in case of storms, floods, fire, theft and more. Mozo Experts Choice Winner in 2020.
- Main events covered
- Fire
- Theft
- Storm
- Flood
- Monthly payments
cost extra - No
- Underinsurance protection
- YesUp To 30% Of Building Sum Insured
- New for old
replacment - Yes
- General contents
- Yes
- Cash
- Up to $1,250
- Cd dvd and electronic files
- Yes
- Computer software hardware
- Computer software: Up to $3,000. Computer hardware: Yes.
- Camera and accessories
- Yes
- Carpets
- Yes
- Antiques and valuables
- Up to $20,000
- Jewellery
- Up to $5,000 per item, up to $20,000 in total
- Replacement of documents
- Up to $2,000
- Tools of trade
- Up to $3,000
- Contents while moving
- Up to 20% of sum insured
- Lock replacement
- Up to $2,000
- Temporary accommodation
- Up to 12 months, up to 10% of sum insured
- Debris removal
- Up to 10% of sum insured combined with demolition cost
- Demolition cost
- Up to 10% of sum insured combined with debris removal cost
- Accidental loss and damage
- Yes
- Accidental breakage of glass
- Yes
- Lightning
- Yes
- Earthquake
- Yes
- Storm surge
- Yes
- Buildings and structural improvements
- Yes
- Building materials
- Up to $2,000
- Landscaping
- Up to $10,000 for plants
- Gates and fences
- Yes
Read our Mozo Review to learn more about Westpac Premier Care Residential
Premier Care Residential
Save up to 25% when you purchase cover online. St. George Premier Care Home & Contents Insurance covers your home and belongings in case of storms, floods, fire, theft and more. Mozo Experts Choice Winner in 2020.
- Main events covered
- Fire
- Theft
- Storm
- Flood
- Monthly payments
cost extra - No
- Underinsurance protection
- YesUp To 30% Of Sum Insured
- New for old
replacment - Yes
- General contents
- Yes
- Cash
- Up to $1,250
- Cd dvd and electronic files
- Yes
- Computer software hardware
- Computer software: Up to $3,000. Computer hardware: Yes.
- Camera and accessories
- Yes
- Carpets
- Yes
- Antiques and valuables
- Up to $20,000
- Jewellery
- Up to $5,000 per item, up to $20,000 in total
- Replacement of documents
- Up to $2,000
- Tools of trade
- Up to $3,000
- Contents while moving
- Up to 20% of sum insured
- Lock replacement
- Up to $2,000
- Temporary accommodation
- Up to 12 months, up to 10% of sum insured
- Debris removal
- Up to 10% of sum insured combined with demolition cost
- Demolition cost
- Up to 10% of sum insured combined with debris removal cost
- Accidental loss and damage
- Yes
- Accidental breakage of glass
- Yes
- Lightning
- Yes
- Earthquake
- Yes
- Storm surge
- Yes
- Buildings and structural improvements
- Yes
- Building materials
- Up to $2,000
- Landscaping
- Up to $10,000 for plants
- Gates and fences
- Yes
Read our Mozo Review to learn more about St.George Premier Care Residential
Home & Contents Insurance
Making sure your home insurance is about where you’re at right now could save you lots. Start a quote with Youi today and see what you could save.
- Main events covered
- Fire
- Theft
- Storm
- Flood
- Monthly payments
cost extra - Yes
- Underinsurance protection
- No
- New for old
replacment - Yes
- General contents
- Yes
- Cash
- No
- Cd dvd and electronic files
- Yes
- Computer software hardware
- Yes
- Camera and accessories
- Yes
- Carpets
- Yes
- Antiques and valuables
- Yes
- Jewellery
- Optional Extra, choose $0 to $100,000
- 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 $500
- 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
- No
- Landscaping
- No
- Gates and fences
- Yes
Read our Mozo Review to learn more about Youi Home & Contents Insurance
^See information about the Mozo Experts Choice Home Insurance Awards
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