01.Introduction
The rankings and ratings in our review and compare report are accurate as of October 2010.
There may have been some changes to policies by individual insurers, however the information still provides a useful guideline to policy inclusions and exclusions and how to shop for insurance or check that you're well insured. We recommend you use this guideline and double check the details on the provider's website.
With the storm season upon us, the insurance industry has warned that home and contents premiums are likely to rise and keep on rising as insurance companies pass along the higher costs of insuring themselves against natural disaster payouts.
The Insurance Council of Australia has said that the costs of natural disasters "will inevitably have an effect on insurance premiums in the future as companies adjust their pricing to take account of individual risk levels and increasing costs of reinsurance".
In late 2010, CHOICE undertook an extensive market review of policies, including which ones offer flood cover as opposed to storm cover.
We have also followed policy developments closely and pushed for better disclosure and a more streamlined claims process. For more information on this aspect of the ongoing story, read our breakdown of the consultation paper on flood insurance reforms released by Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten on April 5, 2011, Flood insurance reforms.
CHOICE will undertake a new market-wide review and compare report for home and contents insurance later this year.
Here you'll find:
For more information on House and car insurance, see Insurance.
CHOICE's experts independently test a wide range of products and services to bring you unbiased reviews, product comparison tools and buying advice that is trusted by 140,000+ members.
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What you'll get in this report
- Step-by-step guide to home and contents insurance: we guide you through the process of buying insurance.
- Best buy list Policies are selected based on their premiums and features score for each state.
- Results of our insurance satisfaction survey
For this report we assessed common conditions and exclusions for home and contents insurance policies. For example:
- Underinsurance protection for home insurance.
- New-for-old cover for contents insurance.
- Flood cover for both types of policies.
We analysed 45 policies offering home and contents insurance and found differences between the premiums across Australia of about:
- $600 for home defined events policies
- $830 for home accidental damage policies
- $270 for contents defined events policies
- $400 for contents accidental damage policies
- AAMI
- ALLIANZ
- ANSVAR INSURANCE
- ANZ
- APIA
- AUSTRALIAN SENIORS
- BUDGET DIRECT
- CGU
- COMMINSURE
- GIO
- HBA
- HBF
- ONEPATH (FORMERLY ING)
- MUTUAL COMMUNITY
- NRMA
- QBE
- RAA
- RACT
- RACV
- REAL INSURANCE
- SGIC
- SGIO
- SHANNONS
- SUNCORP
- THE BUZZ
- WESTPAC
Note: RAC, RACQ and TIO declined our invitation to take part.
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