Building and Content Insurance Explained

Building and Content Insurance Explained

Home­own­ers in Aus­tralia can access two main types of cov­er­ages for their prop­er­ties – build­ing insur­ance and con­tents cov­er. Build­ing insur­ance cov­ers the phys­i­cal struc­ture of the prop­er­ty, while con­tents cov­er pro­tects the belong­ings inside the home. Here are some key points to con­sid­er when look­ing for an Aus­tralian home and con­tents insur­ance pol­i­cy:

Build­ing Insur­ance

• Cov­ers the phys­i­cal struc­ture of the prop­er­ty
• Offers finan­cial pro­tec­tion if the property’s phys­i­cal struc­ture is dam­aged or destroyed due to insured events such as fire, storm, or theft
• Cov­er­age for floods, acci­den­tal dam­age, and elec­tric motor burnout are often offered as add-ons and can raise pre­mi­um prices
• Prop­er­ty own­ers can also get legal lia­bil­i­ty cov­er­age for finan­cial pro­tec­tion against claims of bod­i­ly injury or prop­er­ty dam­age with­in their home’s premis­es

Con­tents Insur­ance

• Cov­ers the belong­ings inside the home, includ­ing fur­ni­ture, cur­tains, inter­nal blinds, car­pets, elec­tri­cal appli­ances, clothes, shoes, and hand­bags
• Most insur­ers have the abil­i­ty to com­bine home and con­tents cov­er under one pol­i­cy
• Con­tents poli­cies usu­al­ly set a lim­it for valu­able items, such as up to $1,000 per item and up to $5,000 in total for jew­el­ry. If you have items that exceed the lim­its, you need to list them sep­a­rate­ly with your insur­er
• Cov­er­age for floods, acci­den­tal dam­age, and elec­tric motor burnout are often offered as add-ons and can raise pre­mi­um prices
• Renters insur­ance is usu­al­ly cheap­er than con­tents insur­ance for home­own­ers and may cov­er acci­den­tal dam­age to the house and legal costs if some­one injures them­selves on the prop­er­ty

When choos­ing a pol­i­cy, it’s impor­tant to con­sid­er the val­ue of your belong­ings and the lev­el of cov­er­age you need. You can buy insur­ance for just your build­ing, just your belong­ings, or you can com­bine them. Many insur­ers offer dis­counts for com­bin­ing your cov­er. The cost of home and con­tents insur­ance depends on fac­tors such as loca­tion, lev­el of secu­ri­ty, and how much you’ve insured your prop­er­ty for. It’s also impor­tant to check what events are cov­ered by the pol­i­cy, as the list of insured events varies among insur­ers and poli­cies.

In sum­ma­ry, an Aus­tralian home and con­tents insur­ance pol­i­cy can pro­vide finan­cial pro­tec­tion for your prop­er­ty and belong­ings in case of dam­age or loss due to insured events. Home­own­ers can access two main types of cov­er­ages for their prop­er­ties – build­ing insur­ance and con­tents cov­er. When choos­ing a pol­i­cy, it’s impor­tant to con­sid­er the val­ue of your belong­ings, the lev­el of cov­er­age you need, and what events are cov­ered by the pol­i­cy.