Fire insurance cover for bushfires & house fires

Does your home insurance include fire protection?

At the time of writing, all home and contents insurance policies on Canstar’s database include cover for loss or damage caused by fire, including bushfires and house fires, as standard.

While you may find your insurance does cover for fire, it could still be worth checking your policy’s Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) or contacting your insurance provider directly to determine exactly what’s covered, and what waiting periods apply.

For example, different insurers will likely have different definitions of what they consider to be fire damage. For instance, one insurer might cover most of the damage caused by a bushfire, but another may only cover damage caused by flames, and not water or smoke.

What insurance is available for fire damage?

Fire damage is typically covered under several types of home insurance policies, depending on what you own and your living situation.

Home (building) insurance

Also known as building insurance, this covers damage to the physical structure of your home and permanent fixtures like garages, sheds and fences. Depending on your policy, this can include cover for:

• Repairing or rebuilding your home
• Demolition and debris removal
• Temporary accommodation if your home is unliveable
• Professional fees (e.g. architects or surveyors)

Contents insurance

Contents insurance covers your belongings if they’re damaged or destroyed in a fire. This can include:

• Repairing or replacing furniture, electronics and personal items
• Removal of damaged goods
• Spoilage of food or medication (up to policy limits)
• Guests’ belongings damaged during the event (up to policy limits)
• Storage or moving costs for undamaged items if you can’t stay in your home

Home and contents insurance

Home and contents insurance are separate types of cover, although they are typically sold together as a package, and you may be able to get a discount for bundling them up.

Many insurers offer building and contents insurance as a combined policy. This can be a convenient option and may come with a discount, while ensuring both your home and belongings are protected under the same insurer.

Landlord insurance

If you own an investment property, landlord insurance typically includes cover for fire damage to the building, and may also cover loss of rental income if the property becomes unliveable after a fire.

Renters insurance

Also known as contents insurance for tenants, this covers your personal belongings if you’re renting and they’re damaged or lost in a fire. It doesn’t cover the building itself—that’s the landlord’s responsibility.

What is not covered under a home insurance policy?

When it comes to insurance and fires, it’s very important to be aware of some common exclusions. Depending on your policy, you could find that you’re not covered for damage from:

• Heat, ash, soot and smoke when your home or contents have not caught on fire, unless it’s caused by a burning building within a certain distance of your home
• Electrical arcing, scorching, or melting where there were no flames, unless a fire spreads from the initial burn spot
• Deliberate, malicious or criminal acts carried out by the policy holder and/or family members, or by guests to the house.

There may also be exclusions surrounding items which are designed to be exposed to heat, such as cooking appliances or home heaters. If these items are damaged or destroyed during normal use, then cover may not be available to replace or repair them.

If a fire starts from these items and that fire damages other items in your home or the home itself, then your insurance may provide cover. Read your policy documentation carefully or contact your insurance provider directly to find out if any of these exclusions apply to you.

Underinsurance protection: what to look for

With construction costs rising, one of the biggest risks for homeowners is being underinsured—where your sum insured isn’t enough to fully rebuild or replace what you’ve lost after a fire.

Some insurers offer underinsurance protection (sometimes called a safety net or sum insured safeguard), which can provide an extra buffer if your cover falls short.

Depending on the policy, this may include:

• A percentage-based buffer (for example, up to 10–30% above your sum insured) to help cover unexpected rebuild cost increases
• Automatic inflation adjustments to your sum insured each year
• Access to building cost calculators to help you estimate a more accurate replacement value

However, this protection isn’t unlimited and conditions usually apply. For example, you may need to have used the insurer’s calculator or reviewed your cover regularly for the benefit to apply.

Is there a waiting period for fire insurance?

Most home and contents insurers include a waiting period of around 72 hours from when you  take out the insurance policy to when you can make a claim. This is partly to prevent customers from taking out insurance as a fire or flood is already rolling in.

What types of home and contents insurance cover are available?

The two most common types of home and contents insurance cover are:

1. Sum-insured cover

These policies cover damage to or replacement of your home and/or contents from fire up to a fixed value, set by you and your insurer.

In the event of a total loss from a bushfire, you may be left underinsured if the agreed amount does not adequately cover the cost of rebuilding or replacing your home and contents. For this reason, it’s important to regularly assess your cover to make sure your sum insured amount is adequate, should your home be damaged or destroyed by a fire. 

Some insurers may also offer extended replacement cover, which will add an amount from 10% to 30% above the sum-insured amount. Extended replacement cover may be offered as an inclusion under your sum-insured policy, or as an optional extra for an increased premium.

2. Total replacement cover

These policies will typically cover the estimated costs to repair, rebuild or restore your home or contents to the state they were in before the damage or loss occurred from fire. To determine the sum owed to rebuild or repair, your insurer will typically need to do a full assessment of the damage or loss that has occurred. This type of cover generally carries a higher premium than a sum-insured policy.

How to make sure you have adequate fire cover

Having sufficient house fire and bushfire insurance could make a huge financial difference in the recovery process if your home and contents are damaged or destroyed by fire. To help ensure you have adequate fire cover, it may be worth considering the following:

• If you have a sum-insured policy, check if the amount covered matches the value of your assets. To help in valuing your home and contents, consider using an online calculator, or contacting a professional valuer for your property or items. You can also complete an inventory of your contents by doing a room-by-room evaluation.
• Carefully read your policy’s PDS to see what is covered and what exclusions apply. You can also speak to your provider if there is any part of the policy you don’t understand.
• If you think you may be living in a bushfire-prone area, check to see what building requirements are needed for your home in the event you need to rebuild, and consider factoring these costs into your policy.
• Shop around to find a policy that best suits your circumstances.

You can compare home insurance policies using Canstar’s comparison tables. These tables also allow you to filter for policies that provide coverage for fire damage, as well as damage caused by smoke or soot. It’s important to read all relevant policy documentation, such as the PDS and Target Market Determination (TMD), for any policy you are considering.

What to do when making a bushfire claim

If your home or contents are damaged or destroyed by a bushfire, once you and your loved ones are safe, contact your insurance company to seek advice about the claims process and make a claim. Avoid doing any repairs yourself unless you have written permission from your insurer to do so.

It’s also a good idea to take photos of any damaged contents or property (when it is safe to do so) to use as evidence for your claim before you remove or throw them out.

Also try to provide your insurer with as much information as you can regarding what’s been lost or damaged from the fire, and answer any questions they may have.