2026 Home and Contents Insurance Awards
About the Home & Contents Insurance Awards
Canstar's 2026 Home & Contents Insurance Awards recognise providers delivering outstanding value on home, contents, and combined home and contents insurance to Australian customers. We assess policies against 24 consumer profiles across eight states, territories, and regions to find those offering a strong combination of both price and features.
Home and contents insurance premiums vary significantly depending on where you live, so we award at both the state and national level. State awards highlight providers performing well in a particular state, territory, or region, while national award winners deliver consistent value Australia-wide.
2026 Winners
Home & Contents Insurance
Home Insurance
Contents Insurance
Numbers crunched
About the Winners
Home & Contents Insurance
AAMI — National, QLD
AAMI retains the packaged Home & Contents Insurance national award as well as a state award in Queensland. In our assessment, AAMI was found to pair competitive premiums, sitting below market average in every state, with optional inclusions like Complete Replacement Cover, which removes the sum insured cap on rebuilds, providing peace of mind in the event building costs exceed your original estimate. The policy also covers fusion of electric motors for both building and contents as standard, meaning if an electrical surge or burnout damages appliances like your fridge, air conditioner, or washing machine, repair or replacement is covered — provided the motor is less than seven years old.
Allianz — National, NSW
Allianz retains the combined Home & Contents Insurance national award as well as a state award in New South Wales. It made flood cover (previously an optional extra) a standard inclusion across its home and landlord insurance products from January 2025. An optional 30% building safety net extends cover beyond the sum insured if rebuilding costs exceed the original estimate — providing a buffer against underinsurance if building costs rise. Allianz's premiums sit below market average across most states, particularly in NSW.
Budget Direct — National
Budget Direct picks up a national award this year, offering some of the lowest combined premiums in the market. On building cover, we saw premiums sit 15% to 27% below market average, depending on the state, and on contents its premiums were 32% to 43% lower. Part of this is driven by the combined discount — eligible customers who combine building and contents cover can receive up to 15% off compared to purchasing separately. This is one of the most competitive bundling discounts in the market, especially if combined with the online discount.
QBE — National, NT, North QLD, SA, TAS, VIC
QBE retains its national award and receives state and regional recognition in North Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria this year. QBE includes the Buildings Sum Insured Safeguard feature as standard (which you can opt out of), which can pay up to 30% above your building's sum insured if rebuilding costs exceed the original estimate. Legal liability cover sits at up to $30 million, well above the $20 million common across the market. Temporary accommodation also covers your family and pets for up to 24 months or 20% of the building sum insured, offering you more time and support to get back on your feet after major damage.
Suncorp — WA
Suncorp picks up the packaged Home & Contents Insurance state award in Western Australia. It offers three levels of combined cover: Classic, Classic Extras, and Classic Advantages — letting you choose how much protection you need. In WA, Suncorp's building premiums sit well below market average, and are paired with features like Build it Back Better — which funds resilience enhancements if your home is rebuilt after major damage, from $7,500 for Classic up to $15,000 for Classic Advantages. This combination of pricing and cover is what drives Suncorp's performance in this state.
Westpac (incl. St.George Bank, Bank of Melbourne, and BankSA) — National, NSW
Westpac Group, which includes St.George Bank, Bank of Melbourne, and BankSA, retains the combined Home & Contents Insurance national award, as well as a state award in NSW. These providers allow you to pay monthly at no extra cost, for cover that includes temporary accommodation for your household and pets, debris removal, emergency contents storage, and up to $5,000 of cover for the property of your guests, visitors or domestic workers like cleaners or gardeners. They're also particularly competitive in NSW, where combined home and contents premiums sat 33% below the market average in our assessment.
Home Insurance
AAMI — National, QLD
AAMI picks up a national Home Insurance award for the first time, as well as a state award in Queensland. AAMI pairs competitive building premiums — sitting well below the state market average in Queensland — with Complete Replacement Cover as an optional add-on. With it, temporary accommodation extends up to 52 weeks of reasonable and necessary costs, compared to the standard 10% of the building sum insured, offering you more time and support after major damage.
Allianz — National, NSW
Allianz retains the national Home Insurance award as well as a state award in NSW. Competitive building premiums, particularly in NSW, are complemented by cover for environmental and resilience upgrades, such as solar panels, if your home needs to be rebuilt after flood, bushfire, or cyclone damage.
GIO — WA
GIO secures a state Home Insurance award in Western Australia, where its building premiums are among the most competitive in our assessment. It offers three levels of cover: Classic, Classic Extras, and Platinum. Higher tiers automatically include accidental damage, motor burnout, and a 25% safety net on the home sum insured — features that are typically optional extras available at an additional cost. It's this combination of competitive pricing and depth of cover that drives GIO's performance in WA.
QBE — National, NT, North QLD, SA, TAS, VIC
QBE retains the national Home Insurance award as well as state and regional awards in the Northern Territory, North Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria. Competitive building premiums across all of those states, territories, and regions are backed by strong standard inclusions. Motor burnout is covered for motors up to 10 years old, and costs associated with rebuilding, including professional fees, debris removal, and complying with building regulations, are covered with no fixed cap, so they don't eat into your sum insured.
Suncorp — WA
Suncorp receives a state Home Insurance award in Western Australia, where its building premiums are among the lowest in our assessment. This competitive pricing is supported by underinsurance protection that scales with each tier — from an optional 25% safety net on Classic, 25% included as standard on Classic Extras, and 30% on Classic Advantages.
Westpac (incl. St.George Bank, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA) — National, NSW
Westpac retains the national Home Insurance award with competitive building premiums across the majority of states. The policy covers up to $5,000 for costs to comply with building regulations and up to $5,000 for professional fees, which are both paid on top of the sum insured, so these expenses don't reduce the amount available to rebuild.
Contents Insurance
AAMI — National, QLD, SA, WA
AAMI retains the national Contents Insurance award as well as state awards in Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia. With some of the most competitive contents insurance premiums in the market, AAMI matches this with strong cover options, including portable items as an optional extra — covering items in Australia, New Zealand, and jewellery and watches for up to 30 days worldwide.
QBE — National, NT, North QLD, TAS, VIC
QBE picks up a national Contents Insurance award for the first time, as well as state awards in the Northern Territory, North Queensland, Tasmania, and Victoria. Competitive contents insurance premiums are backed by comprehensive cover, including temporary storage of undamaged contents up to the lesser of 24 months or 20% of your contents sum insured if your items cannot stay at the property. This is paid on top of the contents sum insured, so doesn't reduce the amount available to replace your belongings.
Suncorp — National
Suncorp retains the national Contents Insurance award. Its depth of cover drives its value, with accidental damage for contents automatically included on its Classic Extras and Classic Advantages policies, where it's typically offered as an optional extra by other providers.
Westpac (incl. St.George Bank, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA) — National, NSW
Westpac retains the national Contents Insurance award as well as a state award in New South Wales. Competitive contents insurance premiums in NSW are complemented by strong cover, including optional worldwide portable items cover for up to 120 consecutive days.
How we chose the winners
How we assessed value
The value of home and contents insurance depends on where you live and what you need cover for. That's why we assess policies across 24 consumer profiles, covering eight states, territories, and regions across three cover types — building only, contents only, and combined home and contents.
Each policy is scored on price (50%) and features (50%). The price score is based on the net cost of the policy, including both annual and monthly premium options, plus the policy excess. The feature score assesses the full customer journey from application to cancellation, as well as cover for building and contents which includes policy limits, underinsurance protections, and settlement options.
State and national awards
State awards recognise the insurer whose top-performing product achieves the highest total score within a given state, territory, or region profile, with each insurer's strongest product carried forward to represent it in the relevant category. In most cases one provider receives a state award, but where two providers deliver outstanding value within the same profile, both may be recognised.
If you're comparing policies, state awards are a good place to start. They reflect which providers are delivering the best combination of price and features considering risk factors that might be relevant to your home's location. National awards are useful if you're looking for a provider that performs consistently across Australia, rather than one that may be strong in a single state but less competitive elsewhere.
National awards apply the same assessment on a cumulative basis, combining scores across all states, territories, and regions. Each is weighted according to its share of the national population and the brands with the highest weighted average scores are recognised.
Who we looked at
To be eligible, a policy must be available directly to Australian customers, with a quote obtainable online for all addresses considered within the profile being rated. Some products in the market are distributed under different brands but share the same underwriting and policy structure. To be included in this assessment, the provider must underwrite its own insurance or be a wholly owned subsidiary of a general insurer, unless it offers sufficiently distinct value on price and features to warrant consideration. Insurers must have also been in the market for at least 12 months.
What to keep in mind
Check if flood cover is included. Most providers in our assessment include flood cover as standard, but not all. Some offer it as an optional extra at additional cost. Given flooding can be one of the most common and costly natural disasters in Australia, it's worth checking whether your policy covers it and, if not, whether you should add it.
Make sure your sum insured reflects current building costs. Building costs have continued to rise, and if you haven't reviewed your sum insured (a policy's maximum payout) recently, it may no longer reflect what it actually costs to rebuild your home. Some providers offer safety net features — like QBE's 30% Buildings Sum Insured Safeguard or AAMI's full rebuild protection — that extend cover beyond the sum insured. You can also use a building sum insured calculator to help estimate your rebuild cost. Cotality's Sum Sure calculator, for example, could be a great place to start.
Check whether paying annually could save you money. Many providers offer a lower premium when you pay annually rather than monthly (when annualised). In some cases, paying monthly can cost up to 27% more. If you can afford to pay upfront, the annual discount could save you hundreds of dollars a year. Some providers, like Westpac, Allianz, and NRMA, charge the same whether you pay monthly or annually, so if budgeting monthly works better for you and there's no extra cost, there may be no reason to change.
Adjusting your excess is one of the simplest ways to reduce your premium. Increasing your excess (the amount you contribute when making a claim) generally lowers your premium. Depending on your provider and location, moving from a lower to a higher excess could save you hundreds of dollars a year. The trade-off is you'll pay more at claim time, so it's worth choosing a level you could comfortably afford if you needed to make a claim.
What this award is and isn't
What it is:
- A like for like comparison of home, contents, and combined home and contents insurance policies assessed across consumer profiles covering different states and regions.
- Scored on both price and features.
- Awarded at both state and national level, with national winners required to perform consistently across all major states, territories, and regions.
What it isn't:
- Personal financial advice. The awards are based on modelled consumer profiles, not your individual circumstances.
- A guarantee of future pricing or coverage. The assessment takes into account first year premiums for new customers. Premiums, features, and policy terms can change at any time.
- A rating of every policy type. This assessment covers home, contents, and combined home and contents insurance for residential properties only.
- A list of every provider in Australia. Some that don't meet our eligibility criteria may not be included.
FAQs
Who decides the winners for Canstar's Star Ratings and Awards?
Canstar's expert researchers review the overall value offered by a provider for its products in a financial services category. We consider metrics such as price and costs against features and functionality, with all of the competitors in a category compared using Canstar's unique research methodology. The products or providers recognised as winners are those that offer the highest overall value proposition.
What other awards does Canstar give?
In addition to Canstar's Star Ratings that appear in our comparison tables, Canstar gives Outstanding Value Awards that identify providers with high-performing products. Separately, Canstar's Customer Satisfaction Awards reveal how content customers are with a particular financial institution or insurance provider.
What are Canstar's Outstanding Value Awards?
Canstar recognises financial institutions with annual Awards for outstanding value across a wide range of product categories. These Awards are given to the providers whose products are the strongest overall performers in our Star Ratings over the award period.
What are Canstar's Customer Satisfaction Awards?
Canstar's Customer Satisfaction Awards are for providers, recognising institutions with the most satisfied customers overall based on consumer surveys.
How does Canstar work out award-winning brands and providers?
Canstar compares over a thousand brands and products across multiple finance and household services categories, including banking, insurances, superannuation as well as energy and mobile. Each of Canstar's Star Ratings and Awards uses a unique methodology that is brought together by our expert Research team, with products analysed based on price and features. You can find out more about how Canstar's value-based rating system works.
Who do I contact for a media enquiry about Canstar's Star Ratings?
For media enquiries, commentary or analysis about Canstar's Star Ratings and Awards, including our Outstanding Value Awards or Customer Satisfaction Awards, please contact our Corporate Affairs team.