Apartment Insurance

What does apartment contents insurance cover?

Here are some of the main things in your apartment that contents insurance can help protect.

Your personal valuables

Includes damage or theft to your laptop, TV, designer clothes, jewellery and more.

Permanent fixtures

Covers additions to your apartment like bathroom vanities, stovetops and air conditioners.

Accidental damage

Cover for mishaps like spilled wine, a smashed TV screen or a burst water pipe.

Do I need home insurance for my apartment?

Legally, you're not required to have insurance for your apartment. However, it's a good idea to take out a policy if you have any expensive items that you'd like to protect.

I'm a tenant

Lots of renters could benefit from contents insurance. If your home is burgled or a water pipe bursts and ruins your things, contents insurance can help you foot the bill.

I'm an owner-occupier

Your apartment building is likely covered by strata, but you may want to add fixtures and fittings cover, as well as contents insurance. That way, you'll be covered for things like a damaged air-conditioner, as well as your belongings.

I'm a landlord.

If you're renting your apartment out, you should look at landlord insurance.

Why Tim should have had apartment contents insurance

"I recently had a bicycle stolen from the lock-up garage in my building's basement. The thieves were able to get into the basement, and then they literally bent back the door of my garage, so they didn't even need to break the lock! I would have had the bicycle covered if I had a apartment contents insurance policy, but I didn't. I figured that I lived on the 5th floor, so I would never need to worry about theft. I was incorrect!"

Tim Bennett

Insurance expert

Why is contents insurance important if you live in an apartment?

Contents insurance is important for anyone who has items in their home which would be expensive to replace. It doesn't matter whether you live in a studio apartment or a three-story townhouse, contents insurance is worth considering. It can protect everything from your TV and audio equipment, to expensive jewellery and designer clothing.

How to reduce the cost of apartment insurance?

There are many ways to reduce the cost of home insurance, like increasing your excess and taking advantage of discounts. If you live in an apartment, there are a few extra things to consider when trying to save.

• If your building has security. How secure is your apartment building? Are there gated stairwells? Can guests only gain access to the complex or to the lifts with a key or a card, or can anyone just wander in off the street at any time? The more secure your apartment is, the smaller the risk of theft or burglary and the more affordable your premiums will be.
• If doors lock automatically. Doors that lock automatically when shut are another simple measure that can greatly increase the security of a building and make it harder for uninvited strangers to get in.
• If you're on a higher floor. As a general rule, the higher up your apartment is, the less likely you are to be broken into. This can help lower your apartment contents insurance premium.
• If you don't have a balcony. Burglars gaining access to apartments through unlocked balcony doors is a lot more common than you might think, so apartments without balconies generally tend to be cheaper to insure.

What can I do to protect my apartment?

Insurance will only help cover you for accidents and the unexpected. It won't help if the damage is caused by your own neglect. Here are some tips to help prevent damage and loss to your apartment.

Regular maintenance of the apartment will help you identify areas of wear and tear before they cause problems.

Increasing security with security doors and surveillance cameras can help deter thefts.

Hiring professional handymen to help with more technical jobs can save you time and stress.

Compare apartment insurance now

Frequently asked questions

• How do I protect permanent fixtures?

  If you own the apartment, you may want to protect permanent fixtures. All you have to do is take out additional "fixtures and fittings" cover on top of your contents insurance policy. This will cover things like bathroom and kitchen cabinets, air-conditioners and anything fitted to your apartment. This type of cover is usually only available when there is a body corporate or strata insurance.

• What is body corporate insurance?

  The body corporate, which is sometimes referred to as the owners' corporation, is responsible for managing and maintaining the common areas of an apartment block. As the owner of an apartment or unit in the property, you become a member of the body corporate and can have a say in the decision-making process to do with all matters concerning common areas.

  The body corporate is made up of all lot owners in the strata scheme and performs the following important roles:

  • Ensuring that adequate insurance cover is in place for all the buildings, including cover against physical loss or damage to the building as well as public liability cover for common areas
  • Organising the repair and maintenance of common property, for example car parks, security gates and public lighting
  • Establishing and enforcing by-laws that set out what lot owners can and can't do, for example own a pet
  • Deciding how much each lot owner must pay so that the body corporate can perform all necessary tasks
  • Preparing financial statements and maintaining financial records

  The body corporate may vote to get a professional strata management team to manage the building on its behalf, or it may decide to take care of all management tasks itself.

• What is strata insurance and do I need it?

  Strata insurance covers any shared areas within the apartment building. So that could be things like the roof, lifts or pool. It's compulsory, so you and your neighbours will all be obligated to have strata insurance. You can learn more about what's covered, and how to find a policy, on our strata insurance page.

• Do I need home insurance if I own an apartment?

  Home insurance generally covers the building, while contents insurance covers your belongings. Because apartment owners are required to get strata insurance, you don't need home insurance. However, you may want to buy contents insurance and add on cover for fixtures and fittings.

• What if I want to rent my apartment?

  You'll need to consider buying landlord insurance. Landlord insurance covers all your fixtures and fittings in the apartment, which includes things like window blinds, carpets and light fittings.

  These policies also include financial protection against a number of other risks, such as if a tenant defaults on their rental payments or if a public liability claim is made against you. Some landlord insurance policies will even cover your loss of rent if the apartment suffers contents damage and becomes uninhabitable for a period of time.

  If you need cover for an apartment you want to rent out as an investment property, check out our guide to landlord insurance for more details on how this type of insurance works.

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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Tim Bennett as part of our fact-checking process.

Written by

Nicola Middlemiss

Senior writer

Nicola Middlemiss is a contributing writer at Finder, with a special interest in personal finance and insurance. Formerly a business and finance journalist, Nicola has written thousands of articles helping Australians better understand insurance and grow their personal wealth. She has contributed to a wide range of publications, including Domain, the Educator, Financy, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Insurance Business, MoneyMag, Mortgage Professional, Yahoo Finance, Your Investment Property, and Wealth Professional. Nicola has a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Leeds. See full bio

Nicola's expertise

Nicola has written 239 Finder guides across topics including:

• Personal finance
• Personal insurance, including car, health, home, life, pet and travel insurance
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