Accidental damage insurance

Protect your stuff against mishaps, breakages and spillages with accidental damage insurance.

Top pick: Unique features
  • Gives you $250 worth of smart sensors
  • Actively helps you prevent accidents and claims
  • Takes 3 minutes to sign up
How we chose this

Key takeaways

  • Accidental damage insurance covers your stuff if it gets damaged in an accident.
  • A policy can cover damage from spills and drops, as well as things like burst water pipes.
  • There are some general exclusions like deliberate acts, damage from tenants and clothing damage.
1 - 7 of 106
Name Product AUFHO Finder score
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.
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.
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's premium for new combined Home & Contents policies purchased online.
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.
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
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.
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.
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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

What is accidental damage in home insurance?

Accidental damage insurance does what it says on the tin. If your property, or items within it, are damaged accidentally, it'll help cover the cost of repair or replacement.

Sometimes it's included as standard in home insurance policies, other times it's offered as an optional extra.

Top pick for accident prevention: Honey

Honey insurance

What we like about Honey:

  • It gives you $250 worth of smart sensors when you sign up. They help detect household accidents and prevent you from having to make claims (stopping your premiums from increasing).
  • You can avoid big annual premium increases. Lots of insurers offer sign-up discounts but this often results in a significant price hike after the first year. With Honey, it's different – you get up to 8% off your premiums every year if you use the smart sensors. For example, Finder's Head of Editorial recently saved $1,415 by switching to Honey after 11 years with the same insurer.
  • Signing up is quick and straightforward. It removes a lot of the work you usually need to do when taking out home insurance by using third-party data to gather information about your property – for example, the materials used to build it, the area it is in and year it was built.

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What does accidental damage insurance cover?

Accidental damage insurance helps cover the cost of repair or replacement, if something in your home is damaged by a sudden, unintended or unexpected event.

A wide range of events falls under that umbrella, but it typically includes:

  • Broken or damaged furniture
  • Accidental burst water pipe
  • Spills and stains, such as red wine, paint or ink
  • Damaged decorative items, such as artwork or mirrors
  • Major tears or rips in soft furnishings
  • Damage caused by smoke or soot
  • Damage to fragile items, such as vases or ornaments

Accidental damage insurance for laptops

Laptops are usually covered under your accidental damage policy and depending on the insurer, you might even be covered if the damage happens outside of your home.

Accidental damage to your laptop includes dropping it or spilling liquids on it. Just remember, it won't cover scratches, dings and dents if they don't affect your laptop's performance. You should also check the product disclosure statement (PDS) to see whether or not cracked screens will be covered.

How do I get accidental damage insurance?

Accidental damage insurance will either come included in your home and contents policy or you will be given the choice to add the cover for an additional cost.

  • Included: Accidental damage is included as standard in your home insurance policy. The price you have been quoted includes cover for accidental damage.
  • Add-on: An additional feature which does not come as standard. If you choose to add accidental damage cover, it will increase the price of your premium.

How much does accidental damage insurance cost?

We requested quotes from four different insurance companies to see how price varies between home insurance policies with accidental damage cover as standard, accidental cover as an optional extra and without any accidental damage insurance at all.

The research found that, for the two companies that offer both options, add-on accidental damage is only an extra $11 a month.

The research also shows that it's possible to get add-on cover at a cheaper price than home insurance without accidental damage, which is why it's so important to compare home insurance policies carefully.

Is accidental damage insurance worth it?

It depends on the contents of your home, but accidental damage insurance can definitely be a worthwhile investment for lots of Australians.

For example, if you pay an extra $11 a month for accidental damage insurance, you'd be covered if your TV fell from the wall and smashed, if your dog knocked over an antique vase or you spilled red wine on your new cream sofa.

Remember, you'll have to pay an excess before you can claim on your accidental damage policy, but when you take into account how expensive many items in the home can be, the cover is definitely worth considering.

Which brands cover accidental damage?

InsurerPolicy
Budget direct home insuranceBudget Direct home insurance will cover the accidental breakage of glass, ceramic and sanitary fixtures. Contents insurance will cover fixed glass breakage in furniture, mirrors and pictures. Further accidental damage cover can be added on to extend your protection.
Coles insuranceColes offers accidental damage as an optional extra. If your claim is approved, you can get paid the actual cost for replacing the damaged item or up to your approved limit.
Huddle home insuranceAccidental damage cover is included in comprehensive cover only and will cover damage to your home and contents depending on your policy type.
Kogan LogoKogan's top cover includes accidental damage to your insured building and/or contents.
Real home insuranceWith Real Insurance's Top Home or Top Home and Contents cover, accidental damage is a standard inclusion at no extra charge.
St. George LogoSt. George's Premier Care policy covers accidental loss and damage.
Virgin money home insuranceAccidental breakage of glass, ceramic and sanitary fixtures is covered with the optional extra of further accidental damage cover.
Westpac logoAccidental loss and damage is already covered under Westpac's Premiere Care policy.
Youi logoYoui's contents accidental loss or damage cover and buildings accidental damage cover are optional extras that you can choose to include with your policy.
Allianz logoAllianz will cover the accidental breakage of glass or ceramic items in its contents insurance, with the option to add on cover for further accidental damage.
Bupa logo Image: SuppliedBupa's accidental damage home insurance policy gives you the option to choose between a home or contents policy or a combined policy of the two.
Picture not describedAccidental damage can be added as optional cover for an extra premium. This covers the breakage of glass, ceramic or sanitary fixtures, including any damage caused by animals kept at the insured address.
NRMA Logo Image: SuppliedAccidental damage cover is automatically included with Home Plus and can be added onto NRMA Standard Home Insurance.
QBE Logo Image: SuppliedQBE's standard home insurance policy does not give you accidental damage cover, but you can add it on for an additional cost to protect damage to glass. QBE's Home Prestige Insurance is its highest level of cover and will include accidental damage for your home and contents.

General exclusions: Things to watch out for

While accidental damage insurance covers a wide range of possible events, there are some core exceptions that you need to be wary of. Specifics will vary between different insurers but common exclusions are:

  • Intentional or deliberate acts
  • Cigarette burns
  • Damage from tenants or lodgers
  • Damage to drones
  • Items used in business, trade or profession
  • Everyday wear and tear
  • Damage caused by scorching, burning or melting
  • Clothing and accessories

Other exclusions will apply so please check your PDS carefully.

Frequently asked questions

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Senior writer

Nicola Middlemiss is a contributing writer at Finder, with a special interest in personal finance and insurance. Formerly a business and finance journalist, Nicola has written thousands of articles helping Australians better understand insurance and grow their personal wealth. She has contributed to a wide range of publications, including Domain, the Educator, Financy, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Insurance Business, MoneyMag, Mortgage Professional, Yahoo Finance, Your Investment Property, and Wealth Professional. Nicola has a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Leeds. See full bio

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