Home and Contents Insurance

The amount you insure your home and contents for (we call that the ‘sum insured’) should be enough to rebuild your home or replace your contents if you had to do it today.

Remember, when we talk about your home, we don’t just mean the building itself. If you have things like fences, sheds, in-ground pools, or covered car spaces, they count too.

There are a few things to think about:

• If you underinsure your home and contents, you may be caught short if you have to totally rebuild and replace them
• If you insure your home and contents for more than it costs to rebuild and replace them, you’ll only be able to claim the actual cost to do so
• Your building sum insured will be different to the market value of your home, which you might find on a property valuation, because it doesn’t include the land value
• Make sure you include demolition and debris removal costs to rebuild your home.

You can use our buildings calculator and contents calculator as a guide.* 

Your home and contents are covered for a range of events including fire, flood, theft or storm.

However, you’re not covered for:

• pre-existing damage to your building or contents
• wear and tear
• loss or damage that is deliberately caused by members of your household or guests
• damage caused by vermin or insects, including termites
• landslide or sinking, unless it happens as a result of an insured done weather event
• plants, trees and shrubs growing in the ground
• any vehicles kept on your property
• items used for a business or trade.

For full details of what is and isn’t covered, see the Product Disclosure Statement.

Yes, your phone will be covered for all listed events at home, if you include its value in your general contents.

You can also add accidental damage cover, to protect you for things like dropping your phone and cracking your screen when you’re at home.

If you want your phone to be covered if it’s damaged, lost or stolen while you’re away from home, you can add it to your policy as a portable item.

You can also add other types of portable technology like laptops, tablets and smart watches.

Buildings Insurance
This policy covers the buildings and structures on your property. That means that everything from fences and sheds to solar panels and garages are covered.

Contents Insurance
This policy covers the things you keep inside your home, including things like:

• furniture and appliances
• clothing and linen
• carpets and rugs.

You can also add optional cover for portable and valuable items.

Combined Building and Contents Insurance
Get the best of both worlds with a combined policy – you’ll be covered for both the structures on your property and your belongings.

Landlord Insurance
Choose between three options – contents cover, buildings cover or combined. Either way, you’ll be covered for damage by tenants, rent default and up to 12 months loss of rent.

Renters Insurance
You can get cover for the things you keep in your rental property – it’s just like Contents Insurance, but for tenants.

If you choose to add accidental damage to your Combined Building and Contents policy, you’ll be covered for any unintentional damage to your home or belongings.

So if you knock over your TV, put your foot through the ceiling while you’re in the roof, spill some red wine on a white carpet or a rogue tennis ball breaks your window, RACV Insurance will help you sort it.

Keep in mind that a $300 excess will apply for accidental damage claims.

Yes, you can. You’ll be paid the fair and reasonable amount that the repairs should cost, but you’ll need to manage and arrange the repairs yourself.

Plus, if anything goes wrong (like faulty workmanship), it won’t be covered by your policy. Any repairs organised by RACV Insurance will have a lifetime guarantee.

General contents
These are items that are kept in or around your home but aren’t permanently fixed to the house. Think furniture, carpets, electronics and clothes.

Valuable contents
You’re automatically covered for up to $2500 in each of these categories:

• Art
• Music, games and movies
• Collections
• Jewellery and watches.

If you want to insure items in these categories for more than this, you can list them as valuable contents.

When you take out Combined Building and Contents Insurance, we’ll ask you to tell us the value of your portable contents across different categories.

We’ll only ask for a description if your item is worth more than $10,000.

The categories include:

• electronics (including mobile phones, wearable technology, tablets or laptops)
• jewellery and watches
• glasses, sunglasses and hearing aids
• wheelchairs, scooters and prosthetic limbs
• camping, sporting and recreation equipment (including musical instruments)
• clothing and luggage (including handbags and wallets).

If you list these items on your policy, they will be covered anywhere in Australia and New Zealand.

Some of your general contents can be covered if they’re in storage in Australia.

Before you move them into storage, you need to tell RACV Insurance:

• the value of the items
• where you’ll store them (to make sure it meets our criteria).

To see what can be covered in storage, check the Product Disclosure Statement.

Call 13 72 28 to chat to the team.

It depends on the item.

Where possible, your items could be repaired or restored.

Some items like fridges, washing machines and electrical appliances can be replaced by a specialist supplier.

Other ways your claim can be settled are by giving you a store credit or a cash payout.

You can make a claim online or by calling 13 19 03.

To check the cover on your policy, call us on 13 72 28.