Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.

GIO home insurance review

GIO home insurance is good if you want one of the most comprehensive policies available.

4.1 ★★★★★ (40 reviews) Write a review

Our verdict

  • It's good for choice. GIO home insurance lets you choose from 3 levels of cover: Classic, Classic Extras and Platinum.
  • Classic Extras and Platinum Home and Contents comes with cover for things most insurers only have as optional extras like portable valuables cover, accidental damage at home, motor burnout, a sum insured safety net and higher limits.
  • If you don't want a comprehensive home insurance policy, it might be worth looking at more basic home insurance providers or GIO's Classic cover.
We don't currently have this brand on our panel. But don't fret! You can head to the GIO website or compare a bunch of other home insurance companies with finder.
Compare home insurance fast

What does GIO home insurance include?

GIO home insurance offers 3 different policies: combined home and contents insurance, home only insurance and contents only insurance. As well as choosing what you want covered, you can also select the level of cover you want. Each level offers different optional benefits and claims limits. These options are: Classic, Classic Extras and Platinum.

Here's a short overview of what insured events are covered:

All policies come with a 21-day cooling off period, which is the same as other insurers. You can cancel your policy within this timeframe for a full refund as long as you haven't made a claim. You'll also be required to pay an excess when you make a claim, and possibly more than 1 excess depending on what you're claiming for.

An overview of GIO home insurance features

Check icon

Standard features

GIO home insurance is one of the most comprehensive providers, with more features than most. Some of these include:
  • Make safe repairs and other rebuilding costs
  • Leak exploration costs
  • Lock replacement
  • Emergency accommodation
  • Environmental improvements
  • Mortgage discharge costs
  • Contents in commercial storage
  • Contents in transit
  • Paraplegia or quadriplegia assistance
  • Visitors' contents
  • Food and medication spoilage
  • Garden and plant damage

plus icon

Optional add-ons

GIO also offers more optional add-ons than many other insurers. You can pay extra to get the following included in your policy:
  • Motor burnout
  • Accidental damage at home
  • Safety Net Home Protection
  • Injury to pets

cross icon

Exclusions

GIO's general exclusions are similar to most home insurance policies. You won't be covered for loss or damage from:
  • Breaking the law
  • Building extensions, alterations or renovations
  • Bushfires, storms, floods or tsunamis within the first 72 hours of cover
  • Failing to take reasonable measures to secure your home and/or contents
  • Food spoilage
  • Tenants, paying guests or boarders

Read GIO's PDS for a full list of exclusions. You can also find out more about what home insurance doesn't cover on our general exclusions page.

GIO home insurance complaints

We looked at home insurance complaint data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) between July 2020 and June 2021. The data breaks down different underwriters and compares their business size to the number of complaints processed.

When comparing insurers, keep in mind that insurers with a larger market share serve more customers, so can potentially get more complaints.

Here's an overview of how GIO (AAI Limited) did:

  • AAI is considered a very large fund so it’s expected that it would receive a relatively high number of complaints.
    • Only 26.38% of complaints were resolved with the customer – most had to be escalated..

    Bottom line about GIO home insurance

    GIO home insurance is good if you want a very comprehensive insurance policy but not if you want an insurer with a good complaints record.

    To compare other policies side-by-side, head to our home insurance page.

    Why you can trust Finder's home insurance experts

    freeYou pay nothing. Finder is free to use. And you pay the same as going direct. No markups, no hidden fees.
    expert adviceYou save time. We spend 100s of hours researching home insurance so you can sort the gold from the junk faster.
    independentYou can trust us. We say it like it is. We aren't owned by an insurer and our opinions are our own.

    Frequently asked questions

    A note about GIO home insurance reviews

    If you've held or currently hold a GIO home insurance policy, we'd love to hear from you. Your reviews help other Australians decide if GIO is right for them. Some reviews are from a survey commissioned by Finder.

Gary Ross Hunter's headshot
Editor, Insurance & Innovations

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 729 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Health, home, life, car, pet and travel insurance
  • Managing the cost of living

More guides on Finder

Go to site