What are covered events in home insurance? 

Covered events tell you which situations your home insurance covers. They're listed in your PDS, so always check it out.

Home Insurance

Want to know exactly when your home insurance will help? Easy. Just check your product disclosure statement (PDS) for covered events, sometimes called insured events.

Covered events tell you when your home insurance will kick in. Usually, insurers have roughly 10 categories of covered events. We've rounded them up below.


Fire

Fire

When your home is damaged by flames. For example, a bush fire, kitchen fire or electric fire.

Be careful though, if there is no direct flame, you might not be covered. For example, if a neighbour has a fire and your home is soot or smoke damaged. In those cases, you usually have to have accidental damage cover to claim.


theft

Theft and attempted theft

When items in your home are stolen or your home is damaged due to an attempted burglary.

You'll have to report the incident to the police for your home insurance to cover it. Unfortunately, you might not be covered if you or a family member invited the culprit into your home.


Spray paint

Malicious damage or vandalism

When your property is intentionally damaged by someone else. It could be graffiti, smashed windows, or even more serious damage due to a riot or civil commotion.

Again, you'll have to watch out. If you publicly post your address as the venue for a party, or you participate in the riot or civil commotion, damage probably won't be covered.


Broken window

Breakage of glass, ceramics or sanitary fixtures

Cracked toilets, sinks and shower basins are all covered by your home insurance. So are smashed windows, solar panels and pool fences.

It could also be handy to know the difference between fittings and fixtures in your home and how your insurance deals with it.


Thunderstorm

Storms and rainwater

Hail damage, wind damage and rain damage are all covered under the storms and rainwater category. Damage from drain overflow is also covered, as well as earth movement within a certain timeframe of the storm.

Watch out though, storms aren't covered when you first buy your policy. You might have to wait up to three days before storms are covered. That's to stop people quickly buying a policy as soon as they hear a big storm is on the horizon.


water

Escape of liquid

Sounds like a weird one, but this covers damage from sudden escapes of liquid or damage from liquid that escaped slowly over time, but there was no way for you to have known.

For example, your washing machine breaks and water floods your home or a broken pipe has been leaking without your knowledge.


lightning

Lightning

Pretty straightforward one, damage from lightning strikes are covered by your policy as long as it's a direct hit.

A home and contents insurance policy can help with the costs of damage to the physical structure of your home and to your belongings from lightning.


Explosion

Explosion

Damage from explosions is covered by your policy. For example, a boiler explosion, an electronic device exploding or a gas explosion.

This can sometimes include cover for earth movements that happens within a certain amount of time after the explosion. You'll need to check your PDS to see if this part is included.


Earthquake

Earthquake or tsunami

Damage caused by an earthquake or a tsunami, including earth movement that happens within a certain time frame of the event.

To be covered, the earthquake must be recorded by an Australian government geoscience organisation. The tsunami must also be recorded as arising from an earthquake.


Impact damage

Impact at home

Impact means when something hits your home or falls onto your home. That could be a falling tree, a car that's lost control, or even if a power pole collapses.

One big exception is damage caused by falling trees if you or a family member has given permission for them to be felled.


Flood

Flood

Flooding is when normally dry land is covered by water that has escaped from a lake, river, creek, reservoir, canal or dam.

Flood cover is usually an optional extra, so always check your insurance policy carefully to see if you're covered or not.

Protect yourself from bad things happening

Product AUFHO Finder Score Fire, Storm & Theft Damage Flood Accidental damage Escape of Liquid
Finder score
Optional add-on
Optional
Our verdict: The most popular insurer on Finder, Budget Direct prioritises low-cost cover and gives you up to 30% off your first year's premium for new combined Home & Contents policies purchased online.
Finder score
Optional
Our verdict: Good comprehensive cover (issued by QBE). Also, get $5 Kogan.com credit when you purchase a new combined Home & Contents insurance policy online. T&Cs apply.
Finder score
Optional
Our verdict: Honey gives you $250 smart sensors to reduce accidents and estimates your rebuild costs for you. Honey was a finalist for the comprehensive category in this year’s Finder Awards.
Youi Home Insurance logo
Finder score
Optional
Our verdict: Finder’s 2022 Insurer of the Year for Customer Satisfaction and our Top Pick for Fire Damage cover. It’s good if you want a tailored quote over the phone.
QBE Home Insurance logo
Finder score
Optional
Our verdict: Finder's Top Pick for Floods plus cover for other common claims such as fire and theft). Its discount is better than most – 20% off your first year with a combined policy.
Qantas Home and Contents Insurance
BonusFinder award finalist
Qantas Home Insurance logo
Finder score
Optional add-on
Optional
Our verdict: Earn up to 30,000 Qantas Points for joining by 2 April. Plus save 30% on your 1st year’s premium for purchasing a combined home and contents policy online. T&Cs apply.
Huddle Home Insurance logo
Finder score
Our verdict: Save up to 10% on your policy in the first year.
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Finder Score - Home and Contents Insurance

Each month, we get crunching on most every home insurance product in Australia to see how they stack up. We rank over 50 products on 16 different features, including price. We end up with a single score out of 10 that helps you compare home insurance a bit faster.

Read full Finder Score methodology

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Nicola Middlemiss is a journalist with nearly a decade of experience in personal finance and insurance. She has contributed to Domain, Yahoo Finance, Money Magazine and Insurance Business Australia, offering in-depth insights into commercial insurance in the Australian market. Nicola holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Leeds and a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification, which complies with ASIC standards. See full bio

Nicola's expertise
Nicola has written 242 Finder guides across topics including:
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2 Responses

    Default Gravatar
    WaiNovember 23, 2021

    Would all windows require a key lock?

    Would all entry doors require a double-sided key lock?

      AvatarFinder
      JamesDecember 1, 2021Finder

      Hi Wai,

      Those are interesting questions and lock usage can affect the cost of your premium. However in this case it’s best to get in touch with your insurer in order to confirm exactly what their requirements are.

      Regards,
      James

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