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Last updated on January 30, 2024

Your home is one of the biggest purchases you may ever make. You worked hard and saved for the deposit, and now the mortgage payments eat up a large portion of your take home pay.

Home Insurance is an important part of covering your asset, and your premium is the amount of money you pay either annually or monthly to cover your home. Here are six ways that may help reduce your home insurance premium so that you might have extra cash to enjoy other areas of your life.

1. Increase your excess

Your excess is the amount you contribute when you want to make a claim. Once your claim is accepted, your insurer covers the rest. For example, you’re paying $100 a month for home insurance when there’s an insured event, such as a fire. Your home is damaged in the fire, and it’s estimated to cost $100,000 to make the necessary repairs. According to your policy, you might need to pay $800 towards this claim – that’s an excess.

If you want to reduce your monthly $100 premium, you might be able to increase your basic excess within a given range, which could reduce your premium.1 However, increasing your excess could also mean that you're less likely to make claims for small amounts. There's little point making a claim to replace a $500 window if the excess is $1,500 – you'll need to pay $1,500 to get $500 back. Before making a decision, consider the benefits and costs of increasing your excess to reduce your premium.

2. Estimate the replacement value of your building and contents accurately

Try to make an accurate estimate of the replacement cost of your home building and your household contents. You may want to use Home Insurance Calculators as a guide to help you decide your sum insured.

If you overestimate the replacement costs, you’ll pay a higher premium but you’ll only receive the reasonable costs for repairs or replacements. If you underestimate your replacement costs you may not be able to replace the item for the amount it was insured under.

3. Install alarms

Home security is essential for many reasons, such as preventing an unwanted visitor from making off with your belongings. It can also mean reduced insurance premiums. That’s because your insurer may consider your home as being less at risk of a break in, so you’re less likely to make a claim. Installing security measures such as back to base alarms, may help to reduce your insurance premium as well as keep your home secure and your family safe.

4. Consider the area you're buying into

When you’re researching where to buy a home, some of the considerations you need to think about are:

  • Is there a risk of flood or bushfires?
  • What are the crime rates in the area?
  • Is there a risk of earthquakes (however remote)?

These are some of the factors that insurers use to calculate your insurance premium. So, investigating what risks your potential new home or neighbourhood might be subject to can be helpful.

5. Choose your cover wisely

Weigh up whether certain covers are essential for your circumstances. Review any optional covers on your Policy Schedule and decide whether they suit your current needs.

6. Combine your Building and Contents cover

If you have separate Building and Contents covers, consider combining them. Did you know that you can save up to 10% when you buy both Building and Contents cover and combine them on the one Allianz Home Insurance policy?2,3

There are many ways to reduce your insurance premiums. It pays to delve into the options available, and to find out how your insurer can help you.

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Disclaimer

This article has been prepared by Allianz Australia Insurance Limited ABN 15 000 122 850 AFSL234708 ("Allianz"). In some cases, information has been provided to us by third parties and while that information is believed to be accurate and reliable, its accuracy is not guaranteed in any way.

Any opinions expressed constitute our views at the time of issue and are subject to change. Neither Allianz, nor its employees or directors give any warranty of accuracy or accept responsibility for any loss or liability incurred by you in respect of any error, omission or misrepresentation in this article.

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*Conditions apply

1. Option to change your excess

Not available for any additional compulsory excess, imposed excess applied to the policy or to the Portable Contents excess. Any reduction in premium won’t be applied to government taxes and charges, or to optional covers, if available and selected: Domestic Workers’ Compensation, Flood or Portable Contents. Minimum premiums apply.

2. Minimum premiums may apply

Any discounts may be subject to rounding and only apply to the extent that any minimum premium isn’t reached. If you’re eligible for more than one discount, we apply them in a predetermined order. This means the effect of applying any subsequent discount will be reduced. For example, the aggregate effect of applying two discounts consecutively means that you won’t see the full benefit of both these discounts.

Discounts don’t apply to taxes or government charges. 

3. Combined discounts

A discount of up to 10% is applied to your premium when you combine Buildings and Contents on one Home Insurance policy, including for the following optional covers if selected: Motor Burnout and Accidental Damage cover. The combined discount doesn't apply to Landlord policies, Flood, Portable Contents, or Domestic Workers Compensation optional covers (if available and selected).

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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.