Home and contents insurance is an essential form of protection for homeowners and landlords. Contents insurance is also important if you’re renting. 

Both are a package of insurance covers that include building, contents, special valuables, temporary accommodation (as examples) as well as Legal Liability.

Insurers will pay the cost to repair or replace the damaged item(s). There are many types of covers and options, so it’s important to understand what type of cover you actually need, such as specified cover for high valued jewellery or sports equipment away from the home.

Home & Contents brief guide

Tips for Purchasing Insurance

Before you purchase insurance, we recommend checking:

• Will the home be your main residence, short term rental or holiday home
• How much cover is there for special valuables such as watches, jewellery or art, and will cover be needed away from the home
• Do you need cover for bikes, kayaks or other sporting equipment
• What is the condition of the home, most insurers don’t pay for pre-existing defects such as water leaks from cracked tiles or rusted gutters
• Use a free online rebuilding and Contents calculator to make sure that you have the right level of cover and avoid under-insurance, or invest in an independent insurance valuation
• The location of your home is it in a flood prone area as some insurers may not cover certain streets or suburbs or may impose a higher excess.

Four main sections of a homeowner’s package policy

1. Building – this covers the house and any carports or garages, as well as the fixtures and fittings, like pipes and carpets. Basically, anything that you wouldn’t take with you when you sell the home. 
2. Contents – this is anything you would take with you when you leave such as rugs, furniture, beds and sporting equipment. 
3. Valuables – Contents policies only provide very limited cover for the likes of jewellery, bikes taken away from the home or artwork. So, it is important to understand the difference between insurance policies and what suits you.
4. Legal Liability – covering personal injury to people that enter your property or damage to their property.  This also is important for those that are renting as the Contents policy will include a Legal Liability cover should you cause damage to the building.

Cover for other types of residential properties

Holiday homes or short/long term tenanted properties require a different type of policy to the standard home and contents packages.

If you're a landlord, you can purchase Landlord Home and Contents which provides similar cover, with extra options, such as loss of gross rental income and damage by tenants. 

Owners of Body Corporate/Strata buildings should have specially tailored packages, as they have different risks and cover needs. 

Working out the Sum Insured for Your Home and Contents

Working out the rebuilding costs of your home and value of the Contents is important.  If you don't have enough cover, you may not have enough money to repair or rebuild your home and replace the contents.  There are a variety of free sum insured calculators online or on insurance company websites. Alternatively, you can pay for an independent valuation from a qualified quantity surveyor or valuer specific to your property.

For information on what cover is available and best suited to your needs, as well as information on important exclusions that may impact you, contact your Insurance Advisernet adviser. They are specialists who can work with you to provide a tailored solution. 

General advice warning

This communication including any weblinks or attachments is for information purposes only. It is not a recommendation or opinion, your personal or individual objectives, financial situation or needs have not been taken into account. This communication is not intended to be a constitute personal advice. We strongly recommend that you consider the suitability of this information, in respect of your own personal objectives, financial situation and needs before acting on it. This document is also not a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) or a policy wording, nor is it a summary of a particular product’s features or terms of any insurance product. If you are interested in discussing this information or acquiring an insurance product, you should contact your insurance adviser to obtain and carefully consider any relevant PDS or policy wording before deciding whether to purchase any insurance product.