Home insurance with flood cover

Does home insurance cover flood damage?

Most home insurance will include cover for floods, or at the very least, have an option to add it on to your cover for an additional fee. This is typically the case for both home insurance policies and contents insurance policies.

Keep in mind, there is a waiting period that applies before your coverage for flood will be in effect. This is different between insurers but it's usually a few days and will be outlined in your product disclosure statement (PDS), which would have been emailed to you at the time you took out your policy.

How is 'flood' defined by home insurance providers?

Floods (water that escapes from its natural confinements)

For example, if a lake, creek, dam or river bursts its banks and it damages your home or contents, insurance can cover you.

Rainwater run-off

For example, if a large amount of rain falls and overflows into your home, you can be covered for the damage. Some insurers include this in flood cover, while others will cover rainwater in storm cover.

What is covered by flood insurance?

Home & contents insurance policies: If you hold a home and contents insurance policy then you can be covered for:

• Damage to your home (as in, the building) — this can help fix structural damages caused by the flood.
• Damage to your broader property - for example, if you have a shed in the backyard that's covered as part of your home policy, then cover would extend to that.
• Damage to your belongings inside the house — this includes rugs, lounges, carpets, even electronics if they were affected by flood water.

Home (building) only policies: If you hold a home only policy then only the building is covered. All your belongings inside the house are not covered.

Contents only policies: If you hold a contents insurance policy only then only your contents are covered. You won't be covered for damages to the actual house.

What isn't covered by flood insurance?

There are a few exclusions related to floods that you won't be covered for. These are some of the main ones. To find out more, it's worth looking at the exclusions section of your home insurer's product disclosure statement (PDS).

• Actions of the sea – for example, tsunamis or high tides.
• Water that's entered your home because of renovations.
• Water that has gradually seeped into your building.
• Earth movement that was not due to the flood or storm.

Flood insurance in action

"We had an above ground pool explode next door, which caused a tonne of water damage to our downstairs carpet. It was a nightmare. Luckily we had updated our home insurance earlier that year, and it was covered. It would have been a pretty costly situation for us if we hadn't, or we would have had to sue the neighbours, it would have been the worst. Home insurance really paid for itself that day."

Tim Bennett

Insurance expert

FAQs

• Is flood cover worth it?

  Almost always. If you live in a flood prone area then it's definitely something to consider.

• Does AAMI home insurance cover floods?

  Yes, AAMI includes flood cover as standard in their home insurance policy.

• Does Allianz home insurance cover floods?

  Flood cover is an optional extra for Allianz home insurance. This means that it isn't included by default, you would have had to opt to include flood cover when you were taking out your policy.

• Does NRMA home insurance cover floods?

  Yes, NRMA includes flood cover as standard in their home insurance policy.

• Is insurance more expensive in a flood zone?

  Most likely, yes. This is because being in a flood zone means you're more likely to be flooded and make a claim on your insurance policy. This means that home insurers will charge more for the policy to cover themselves for the expense of the risk that they're taking on by insuring you. Some insurers will opt not to cover those in flood zones.

To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Jason Loewenthal as part of our fact-checking process.

Written by

Peta Taylor

Publisher of Insurance

Peta Taylor is a publisher at Finder, working across all of insurance. She's been analysing product disclosure statements and publishing articles for over 2 years. Peta is passionate about demystifying complex insurance products to help users make well educated decisions with confidence. Peta is part of Finder's insurance awards team and works alongside editorial and insights experts to bring users the best insurance products every year. See full bio