Pets are an integral part of the family for millions of Australians and we welcome our furry friends into our homes and hearts more than ever before. But living with pets doesn't always go so smoothly as we'd like. And it's important to know why your home insurance won't usually cover you if your pet causes accidental damage to your house or contents.
Not necessarily. In fact, many insurers don’t offer accidental damage cover as standard, and you’ll need to purchase it as an optional extra if you want to be covered for loss or damage caused by unfortunate mishaps. Even then, some policies will exclude damage caused by pets, so you’ll need to read the fine print to check whether this exclusion will affect your cover.
However, while you should never assume that pet damage is automatically included in your home insurance policy, it is possible to find the cover you need. Once you have a policy that covers accidental damage and doesn’t exclude damage caused by pets, you can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing your home and your contents can be covered if your dog or cat scratches the walls, for example, or knocks the TV over and smashes the screen.
Accidental damage is harm to your home or contents caused by an unforeseen, one-off incident. For example, if you spill red wine on the carpet or if a kids’ game gets out of hand and leaves you with a smashed computer, either of these would be classed as accidental damage.
While many people assume that accidental damage will always be covered by home insurance, this isn’t always the case. Many insurers only offer accidental damage cover as an extra-cost option, though there are some providers that include it as standard.
Exclusions also affect the type of situations and accidents that are covered – for example, you may not be covered if your pet urinates on a guest’s contents – so it’s important to read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) closely before buying cover.
No. Don’t expect your pet insurance policy to cover you when your pet accidentally damages your home or contents – it simply isn’t designed to provide this type of cover. Instead, pet insurance offers a similar sort of cover to what health insurance provides for people.
Pet insurance covers up to 80% of your vet bills when your pet suffers an illness or injury, while many policies also provide additional cover for routine care procedures like vaccinations and desexing.
How can home insurance cover you and your pet? There are a few key areas of cover that may provide important benefits for you:
As a landlord, you have the final say on what pets (if any) are allowed to live on your property. Deciding to make your property pet-friendly can allow you to attract a much wider range of potential tenants, but there are always risks associated with opening your doors to furry, feathery or scaly tenants. From soiled carpets to claw marks on the walls, pets can potentially cause a wide range of damage to your home.
However, if you do decide to allow your tenants to keep pets, there are several simple things you can do to minimise the risk of pet damage affecting your property:
Finding a rental property is often hard enough, let alone finding a pet-friendly rental property. Many landlords will automatically oppose requests to keep pets, but there are several simple things you can do to help convince them that you’ll be a responsible tenant:
Welcoming your pet into your home ensures that you and your furry friend will develop a strong and lasting bond. However, it’s worth ensuring that you have the right home insurance cover in place before you let your pet become your new housemate.
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