This information is for customers who buy a new policy. Our policies have changed over the years, so your cover may differ based on when you first purchased it. Visit our policy page for more information.
What is home and contents insurance?
Confused about what’s covered under your home and contents insurance?
Here’s what a typical home and contents policy may cover, along with tips to get the most out of your policy.
What you’ll learn:
What is home and contents insurance?
Home and contents insurance helps cover you financially in case something happens to the property you own and reside in (known as the building), or your personal belongings inside your home (known as the contents). A home insurance policy can include Building Insurance, or Contents Insurance, or both Building and Contents Insurance on the one policy.
Building insurance
Building insurance covers the physical structures that make up your home building. This includes the house itself, along with your garage, fences, paved driveways, and built-in fixtures like dishwashers, hot water systems and air conditioners. Learn more about building insurance.
Contents insurance
Contents insurance, covers the belongings you have in your home. This includes your furniture, curtains, internal blinds and carpets, as well as electrical appliances, white goods and clothes. Learn more about contents insurance.
Some insurers let you combine home and contents cover under one policy. With Allianz, you can save up to 10% when you buy both Building and Contents cover and combine them on the one Home Insurance policy.2,3
What events are covered by home and contents insurance?
Home and contents insurance covers loss or damage caused by ‘insured events’ (sometimes also called ‘defined events’). The list of insured events varies among insurers and policies. That's why it’s important to check your policy so you know what you’re covered for.
Generally, most home insurance policies cover insured events such as:
- Fire or smoke (including bushfires and grassfires1)
- Theft or burglary
- Storm and cyclone,1 rainwater
- Flood and/or run-off1
- Lightning
- Sudden escape of liquid
- Impact damage
- Earthquake or tsunami
- Breakage of glass or ceramic items
- Vandalism or malicious damage
- Explosion
- Riot or civil commotion
What else is included in home and contents insurance?
Here’s a summary of some of the Allianz Home and Contents Insurance inclusions:
Alternative accommodation
If you can’t live in your home because it's been damaged by an insured event like a bushfire,1 we’ll cover the cost of your temporary accommodation. We can cover you for up to an additional 10% of the buildings or general contents sum insured.4
Legal liability cover
This provides up to $20 million in cover if you’re found liable to pay compensation to someone because you’ve accidently injured them or damaged their property.
Environmental improvements
We’ll help with the cost of certain environmental or resiliency upgrades. This can include installing rainwater tanks and solar power systems. We can cover up to an additional $20,000 per period of insurance. This is after deduction of any government or council rebates.
Storage of undamaged contents
We can help pay to move and store your undamaged contents. If an insured event makes your home unliveable, we can cover you. We'll pay up to the remaining amount of your contents sum insured after we settle your contents claim.
Food or medicine spoilage
If your fridge or freezer breaks down and you lose your perishable food or medicine, we’ll cover the cost to replace it. We'll pay up to $1,000 per period of insurance.
Guest or visitor property
We’ll also cover property belonging to your non-paying guests, visitors or domestic helpers if it’s lost or damaged in the same insured event that you’re claiming for. We’ll pay up to $5,000 included in your sum insured.
This is a summary of some of the features available when you buy a new Home Insurance policy. Our policies have changed over the years, so your cover may differ depending on when you first purchased it. Visit our policy page for more information.
Home Insurance optional benefits
You can add optional cover for an additional cost to your Home Insurance policy. These include:
Portable contents cover
This covers your portable items, e.g. wallets, glasses, jewellery, cameras, and mobile phones, from accidental loss or damage outside your home. They may be lost due to theft or an accident. This is valid Australia-wide or for up to 90 continuous days worldwide.
Accidental damage
This covers you for accidental damage caused by sudden, unforeseen and unintended events.
Motor burnout
Motor burnout covers you if an electrical current damages your domestic household motors, such as your fridge, freezer or washing machine, up to 10 years old.
Rebuild safety net
If we approve a claim and your building sum insured is exceeded, the rebuild safety net provides up to an additional 30% to:
- repair or replace your buildings, or
- pay you the reasonable cost to repair or replace your buildings.
Contents in commercial storage
Contents in commercial storage covers up to $50,000 for loss or damage to your general contents while they’re in a commercial storage facility.
How much home insurance do I need?
When you take out a new home and contents insurance policy, you need to calculate the ‘sum insured’. This is the cost to rebuild your property and replace your contents.
It’s important to be as accurate as possible, factoring in the actual cost to repair, replace or rebuild at today’s prices. This can help you avoid underinsurance, i.e. not having enough cover – which is common problem across the country, according to theInsurance Council of Australia.
“If your estimate is too low, you may be underinsured, meaning you’ll need to pay for any shortfall out of your own pocket. On the other hand, being overinsured means you could be spending money on cover that doesn’t suit your needs.” – Richard Davies, Home Insurance expert at Allianz
You can use a home insurance calculator to help you estimate how much insurance you need. We also offer a rebuild safety net as an optional benefit.
Keeping receipts, photos and even serial numbers of your belongings, and storing them somewhere safe, e.g. digitally, is a great habit to get into. They can help you work out how much to insure for and may also come in handy if you need to make a claim.
What documents do I need to get home insurance?
To get a home insurance quote, have the following property details ready:
- Your address
- Property type
- Construction type, e.g. what the walls are made of
- Roof type, e.g. concrete tiles
- The year the property was built approximately
- Features your property has, e.g. a swimming pool
- The replacement value of your property or personal belongings, or both
- Your relationship to the property, e.g. owner, landlord or tenant
Next, we’ll ask you to select the type of insurance coverage you’ll need. At Allianz, we offer Home Insurance for your Building, Contents, or both.
You’ll need to provide us with the details of any previous home insurance claims you or anyone else who normally lives with you has made within a certain number of years.
Related Articles
Frequently asked questions
Building insurance covers the structure of your home and its fixtures, such as kitchens and bathrooms. Contents insurance covers personal items inside such as furniture, electronics, jewellery and clothing.
Yes. Fixed domestic appliances that are permanently connected to electricity, gas or water, such as an air conditioner, is considered part of the building. If your air conditioner is damaged by an insured event, the home building portion of your insurance may cover you.
The cost of your home insurance is based on many factors, including:
- Location: The area you live in, including the risk of natural disasters like floods, bushfires, or cyclones, and the risk of theft or vandalism
- Property type: The type of building materials used, the age of the home, and any special features like solar panels or a pool
- Size: The estimated cost to rebuild the home, including the floor area, number of rooms, and garage spaces
- Cover: The cover you've chosen, including any optional benefits.
If you’re renting the property you live in, you won’t need building insurance, but you can insure your belongings with Renter Insurance. Renter Insurance covers the cost of replacing your contents if they're lost or damaged in an insured event. This can include your furniture, electrical appliances, and your clothing.
Buying a property as an investment rather than a place to live is a great way to meet personal financial goals. Landlord insurance can help reduce the risks that come with owning an investment property.
If your investment property is damaged by an insured event, landlord insurance covers the costs of replacement or repairs to the building, and any contents you provide for your tenants to use. Learn more about the specific features of landlord insurance.
Want to find out more about our Home Insurance?
Disclaimer
Any advice here does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Terms, conditions, limits, and exclusions apply. Before making a decision about this insurance, consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS)/Policy Wording and Supplementary PDS (if applicable). Where applicable, the PDS/Policy Wording, Supplementary PDS and Target Market Determination (TMD) for this insurance are available on this website. We do not provide any form of advice if you call us to enquire about or purchase a product.
Allianz Australia Insurance Limited ABN 15 000 122 850 AFS Licence No. 234708 is the insurer of any general insurance products offered, and Allianz Australia Life Insurance Limited ABN 27 076 033 782 AFS Licence No. 296559 is the insurer of any life insurance products offered. Each entity is responsible for any statements and representations made about its products, on this website.
We're here to help
Explore our Help page for questions about your policy, claims, payments, and more. If you need to reach us, we're ready to connect.
*Conditions apply
- 72-hour exclusion period may apply
We may not provide cover for any loss of or damage to your property caused by cyclone, flood, flood water combined with run-off and/or rainwater, grassfires and bushfires during the first 72 hours after you first purchase a policy or increase your cover under an existing policy. Refer to PDS for when exclusion periods apply.
- Combined Discounts
A discount of up to 10% is applied to your premium when you combine Buildings and Contents on one Home Insurance policy. The discount applies to all optional covers except to optional Portable contents cover (if available and selected) and does not apply to Landlord or Renter Insurance.
- Minimum premiums may apply
Where discounts are applied, your premium is subject to rounding. If more than one discount applies, they’re applied in a predetermined order, so the later discounts apply to the amount already reduced by the earlier discounts instead of the total amount. Discounts do not apply to government taxes and charges.
Discounts won’t apply below the minimum amount payable for the policy.
- Covers weekly equivalent rent
This is an extra benefit we pay in addition to your sum insured. If you have buildings and contents cover and you make a claim for loss or damage to both due to the same insured event, we will pay up to 10% of the buildings sum insured.
Follow us on
Allianz acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we live and work across Australia. We pay our respect to First Nations Elders past and present.
Any advice here does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Terms, conditions, limits, and exclusions apply. Before making a decision about this insurance, consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS)/Policy Wording and Supplementary PDS (if applicable). Where applicable, the PDS/Policy Wording, Supplementary PDS and Target Market Determination (TMD) for this insurance are available on this website. We do not provide any form of advice if you call us to enquire about or purchase a product.
Allianz Australia Insurance Limited ABN 15 000 122 850 AFS Licence No. 234708 is the insurer of any general insurance products offered, and Allianz Australia Life Insurance Limited ABN 27 076 033 782 AFS Licence No. 296559 is the insurer of any life insurance products offered. Each entity is responsible for any statements and representations made about its products, on this website.