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Flood insurance

Most home insurance policies can include cover for floods. Compare below.

Gary Ross Hunter's headshot
Peta Taylor's headshot

By

Gary Ross Hunter

&

Peta Taylor

Edited by

Jason Loewenthal

Updated

Fact checked

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Key takeaways

  • Most home insurance policies can cover floods. Either as standard or as an optional extra.
  • There is generally a waiting period for when you can claim for flood damage. Check your product disclosure statement.
  • Flood cover is available for building only policies as well as contents policies.

Compare home insurance with flood cover

1 - 7 of 130
Name Product AUFHO Finder score
Youi Building and Contents Insurance
Youi Building and Contents Insurance
4.5/5★★★★★
Best Rated Brand
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
4.5/5★★★★★
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.
Get a quoteView details
Budget Direct Home & Contents Insurance
Budget Direct Home & Contents Insurance
4.5/5★★★★★
Best Rated BrandBonusFinder Award Finalist
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
4.5/5★★★★★
Our verdict: The most popular insurer on Finder, Budget Direct prioritises low-cost cover and gives you up to 30% off your first year for new combined policies purchased online.
Get a quoteView details
QBE Home & Contents Insurance
QBE Home & Contents Insurance
3.5/5★★★★★
Green CompanyBonus
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
3.5/5★★★★★
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.
Get a quoteView details
Qantas Home and Contents Insurance
Qantas Home and Contents Insurance
4.5/5★★★★★
BonusFinder Award Finalist
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
4.5/5★★★★★
Our verdict: Earn up to 40K Qantas Points for joining by 29 January. Plus save 30% on your 1st year’s premium for purchasing a combined home and contents policy online. T&Cs apply.
Get a quoteView details
ALDI Home & Contents Insurance
ALDI Home & Contents Insurance
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
N/A
Get a quoteView details
Huddle Comprehensive Home and Contents Insurance
Huddle Comprehensive Home and Contents Insurance
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
N/A
Our verdict: Save up to 10% on your policy in the first year.
Get a quoteView details
Honey Home & Contents Insurance
Honey Home & Contents Insurance
4.5/5★★★★★
Bonus
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
Storm
Fire
Theft
Flood
Accidental Damage (e.g TV falls)
Impact to home (e.g falling trees)
Escaped water (e.g burst pipe)
Portable contents (e.g dropped laptop outside of home)
+ more insured events and other features
4.5/5★★★★★
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.
Get a quoteView details
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Does home insurance cover flood damage?

Yes, insurance can cover flood damage. Here's what that usually means:

flood

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

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 in flood insurance?

Flood cover can pay to repair or rebuild your home and your belongings if you have contents insurance. For example, it can cover:

  • Structural work to repair a flooded foundation
  • Replacing your television set if damaged by flood water seeping into the electronics.
  • Temporary accommodation and emergency evacuation costs if your home's too damaged to stay in.

What isn't covered?

Most home insurance policies won't cover you for flood damage if you make a claim within 72 hours of buying the policy. Put simply, if you take out cover while a flood warning is active, your insurance claim will be rejected.

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.
  • Damage to plants, trees and lawns.
  • Damage to swimming pool covers.

Flood insurance in action

Tim Bennett's headshot

"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."

Insurance expert

Frequently asked questions

Jason Loewenthal's headshot
To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Jason Loewenthal as part of our fact-checking process.
Gary Ross Hunter's headshot
Editor, Insurance

Gary Ross Hunter was an editor at Finder, specialising in insurance. He’s been writing about life, travel, home, car, pet and health insurance for over 6 years and regularly appears as an insurance expert in publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and news.com.au. Gary holds a Kaplan Tier 2 General Advice General Insurance certification which meets the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio

Gary Ross's expertise
Gary Ross has written 670 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Health, home, life, car, pet and travel insurance
  • Managing the cost of living
Peta Taylor's headshot
Co-written by

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

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