How much should I insure my house for?

From one-bedroom apartments to multi-million-dollar mansions, homes come in many shapes and sizes—and are a substantial investment for most Aussies.

But how do you put a price on your home for insurance purposes? It can be tough to estimate how much it would cost to repurchase items after a break-in, or even rebuild your house in the event of damage due a natural disaster, for example. It’s one reason why underinsurance is common in Australia.

Underinsurance is when your policy will not fully cover you for the value of your home and contents, which means you would be out of pocket for additional repairs and replacement costs if you need to make a claim.

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How much home building insurance do I need?

To get started in calculating how much insurance you need, the Insurance Council of Australia’s website has some helpful online calculators for both building and contents. Some insurance companies also have their own online calculators.

It’s a good idea to look into a combination of calculated costs and your own figures to estimate how much home building insurance you would need to rebuild your home from scratch.

There are two common methods for estimating the cost to rebuild a home, and they are very different:

1. Cost-per-square-metre: This method involves estimating the cost to rebuild based on the size of your home. This method is simplistic which means it may not represent how much it would actually cost to rebuild from scratch and could leave you underinsured.
2. Elemental estimating: This method is more intricate and takes into account many factors involved in repairing or replacing your home.

The Federal Government’s Moneysmart website advises using a calculator that uses ‘elemental estimating’ because it asks you for lots of details about your home. For example, you may consider:

• What would it cost to rebuild your home today, rather than the cost when the home was originally built?

• The style and age of the building

• The materials used in the building (e.g. is it predominantly timber, brick veneer, full brick?) and its finishes (linoleum floors versus marble benchtops)

• The structure of the building, how many levels and rooms, is there a verandah or deck?

• Whether there is a garage or carport

• Whether there is a pool

• The type of air-conditioning, solar power, or other modern conveniences in the building

• Whether the land is difficult to access as this could increase the cost of construction

• The cost of hiring professionals such as an architect, engineer, surveyor, and lawyer for the legal side

• Council approval plans, permits and fees

• Regional differences (building in Hobart may be cheaper than building in Sydney)

• Your home’s risk of being affected by natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones. Your local council may provide hazard maps, which can give you a better understanding of your local area’s risks

• If your policy covers demolition, debris removal, levelling or landscaping.

You should also check to see if your insurer will pay for temporary accommodation if your home is damaged and uninhabitable. This could be important if a bushfire or other natural disaster results in a shortage of available builders leading to lengthy delays in getting your home back up and running.

Total replacement vs sum insured

Building insurance policies come in two types: total replacement or sum-insured policies.

Total replacement

Total replacement cover includes all the costs to rebuild your home to the standard it was prior to the event that led you to make a claim, minus any excess amount listed in your policy.

An insurer will often conduct its own assessment of the damage or loss that occurred to calculate the amount it will pay.

The Moneysmart website says “you’re less likely to be underinsured with total replacement cover” but not many insurers offer such cover and it can also be more expensive.

Sum insured

Sum insured cover is where you specify the amount of cover you would like when you take out the policy. This introduces the risk that you may be underinsured.

Moneysmart advises to avoid being underinsured with this cover, check if your insurer offers a ‘safeguard’ or ‘safety net’. This means they add up to 30% to your sum-insured amount in the event of a total loss.

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How much home contents insurance do I need?

The amount of home contents insurance you need will depend on what you own. It can be overwhelming to think about everything that’s in your home, so it’s a good idea to break it down into a room-by-room list. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says creating an inventory or belongings ‘room-by-room’ can also assist in understanding how much it would cost to replace existing contents with new items, should they need to be replaced, and could prove useful if a claim needs to be made.

For example, your couch might be quite old and only sell for $100 online, but the replacement cost for a similar but new couch might be $1,000 or more.

Some items you may think have little or no value, could now be worth more than you think. That old vinyl collection may include some much sought-after—hence valuable—records.

How do you value your contents correctly?

When it comes to contents insurance, it’s important to have an accurate idea of the replacement value of your belongings, so that if they’re lost or destroyed, you’ll be able to replace them. Depending on the number of possessions you have, calculating their value could be an easy task—or potentially a daunting one.

To help out, one strategy might be to make a list of all the possessions you want insured, going room by room in your house and noting down anything of importance that you would want to be covered. Once you have this list, remember to update it every now and then, especially when you purchase a new item you might want insured. You can then review your cover, and if necessary, increase the amount you’re insured for. It can also pay to keep receipts for your purchases, so you can remember how much they cost.

Can an insurance calculator tell me how much cover I need?

Insurance calculators can be a helpful place to start when calculating the amount of cover you may need, but it’s a good idea to use the result as a guide only.

Some calculators may use the two different methods (mentioned earlier) to estimate rebuilding costs—a simple cost-per-square-metre or a more complex elemental estimating approach.

The more basic web calculators may be limited because they may apply an average figure to each home and its contents. The results may also vary greatly from calculator to calculator.

So it’s a good idea to treat any insurance calculator as a very general estimate of your needs and not a detailed or personalised assessment.

Will the insured value of your home be adjusted for inflation?

Labour and material costs can rise over time due to inflation, but the sum insured value of your home may not. Some home insurance providers, like Allianz, will increase the sum insured value (if you’ve chosen this method) of your home automatically each year in line with inflation. It’s worth checking with your home insurance provider to see what their process is for inflation-proofing your policy. If your policy doesn’t automatically increase, you can update your sum insured value annually to help better reflect current rebuilding costs.

Most insurers won’t change the sum insured value of your contents insurance though, including specified and portable contents, so this is something that can be worth checking and updating if required each year, especially if you own valuables that increase in value over time.

Why is underinsurance so common?

There are many reasons why underinsurance may be so common in Australia.

The set-and-forget is one factor. It can be easy to fall into the trap of taking out home and contents insurance when you first buy your home and move in, and then forget about it.

For example, you may forget to update your contents policy when you get an expensive gift or item that you keep at home, or forget to update your home building policy when any renovations increase the cost of rebuilding your home.

Another possible reason for underinsurance is that home insurance companies in Australia generally leave it to you to estimate how much it would cost to rebuild your home.

“Remember, your home’s sum insured amount is not the price you paid for the property, or what its market value is,” as GIO insurance explains. “It’s your estimate of how much it would cost to rebuild.”

The ICA says that “guessing the level of cover required” for both home and contents could lead to you being underinsured.

If you’re still not sure what level of building insurance cover you need you could always get an expert valuer to value your home.

Why should I compare different home insurance policies?

It’s important to not only review your cover regularly to make sure it’s enough to suit your needs, but to compare it with others on the market. Your home will more than likely be your most valuable asset, so it’s important to consider the level of insurance you’ll need.

The ICA suggests checking your cover regularly, and reviewing the sum insured on policies each time they come up for renewal.

Keep in mind that the cheapest policy may not always provide the cover you require, so it’s a good idea to read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) of any product you’re considering and compare home insurance policies before making a decision. Some home insurance providers may offer introductory deals and discounts when you take out a new policy or for the use of home alarms and other security systems, which is also something worth considering.

Additional reporting by Nick Whiting

Cover image source: zstock/Shutterstock.com