Flood insurance
Most home insurance policies can include cover for floods. Compare below.
Key takeaways
- Most home insurance policies can cover floods. Either as standard or as an optional extra.
- There is generally a waiting period for when you can claim for flood damage. Check your product disclosure statement.
- Flood cover is available for building only policies as well as contents policies.
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Each month, we get crunching on most every home insurance product in Australia to see how they stack up. We rank over 50 products on 16 different features, including price. We end up with a single score out of 10 that helps you compare home insurance a bit faster.
Does home insurance cover flood damage?
Yes, insurance can cover flood damage. Here's what that usually means:
Floods (water that escapes from its natural confinements)
For example, if a lake, creek, dam or river bursts its banks and it damages your home or contents, insurance can cover you.
Rainwater run-off
For example, if a large amount of rain falls and overflows into your home, you can be covered for the damage. Some insurers include this in flood cover, while others will cover rainwater in storm cover.
What is covered in flood insurance?
Flood cover can pay to repair or rebuild your home and your belongings if you have contents insurance. For example, it can cover:
- Structural work to repair a flooded foundation
- Replacing your television set if damaged by flood water seeping into the electronics.
- Temporary accommodation and emergency evacuation costs if your home's too damaged to stay in.
What isn't covered?
Most home insurance policies won't cover you for flood damage if you make a claim within 72 hours of buying the policy. Put simply, if you take out cover while a flood warning is active, your insurance claim will be rejected.
There are a few exclusions related to floods that you won't be covered for. These are some of the main ones. To find out more, it's worth looking at the exclusions section of your home insurer's product disclosure statement (PDS).
- Actions of the sea – for example, tsunamis or high tides.
- Water that's entered your home because of renovations.
- Water that has gradually seeped into your building.
- Earth movement that was not due to the flood or storm.
- Damage to plants, trees and lawns.
- Damage to swimming pool covers.
Flood insurance in action
"We had an above ground pool explode next door, which caused a tonne of water damage to our downstairs carpet. It was a nightmare. Luckily we had updated our home insurance earlier that year, and it was covered. It would have been a pretty costly situation for us if we hadn't, or we would have had to sue the neighbours, it would have been the worst. Home insurance really paid for itself that day."
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