Household Insurance
Whether we own or rent, our homes and our possessions are precious. Choosing to insure them, and making sure you have the right insurance products for your circumstances, offers peace of mind and lowers the financial pain of repairing your home and replacing damaged or stolen belongings.
You can choose to insure your property, its contents, or both.
The most common forms of household insurance are:
Home insurance – covers financial losses associated with damage or loss of a property you own. Continue reading this section for more information
Contents insurance – covers financial losses caused by the loss, theft or damage of your possess
Home and Contents – policies that combine the features of both types of insurance
Renter’s or tenant’s insurance – a low-cost contents policy for tenants that provides limited cover for events such as fire and theft.
Landlord’s insurance – covers the risks associated with renting out a property.
Strata insurance – covers financial losses associated with damage or loss to a property that operates under a strata-title, company title or Torrens title arrangement with multiple units.
Home insurance
Home insurance (also called property or home building insurance) is essential if you own or are buying a home. This type of insurance can cover you for damage to your house or apartment and legal liability. Your lender usually requires you to have it if you have a home loan.
Most home insurance policies cover the main dwelling, garage and other outbuildings that can be locked up, home improvements at your site, and fixtures or items permanently flood insurance.attached or fixed to your home such as light fixtures and built in wardrobes.
Your home insurance policy may also cover other events that cause loss or damage, and may pay for costs such as rebuilding fees and temporary accommodation for home owners.
Many different types of home building insurance policies are available to suit a wide range of living circumstances.
Having enough home insurance
It’s important to make sure you’ve got the right amount of cover for your home so that you’re not under-insured. Your insurance cover should always match the replacement cost of your property. This means in the event of a claim your replacement cost will be matched by your sum-insured.
You should also consider if the sum insured is enough to cover any supplementary costs and expenses..
Under insurance can mean you end up paying the gap between your insurance payout and the costs of replacing or repairing your building, plus other costs – such as rental accommodation – while your insurance claim is assessed and finalized and rebuilding is underway.
Managing your insurance
A standard requirement of your insurance policy is to keep the property well maintained and repair any damage or deterioration. If damage occurs because you haven’t maintained your home properly, your insurer might not cover some or all of your damage or loss.
It’s important to review your policy each year and add any renovations or alterations that might affect the value of your property.
When protecting what most people would consider their most valuable asset, it’s important to remember the least expensive policy may not be the best one for your needs.