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Compare Home Insurance in VIC
Written by
Tina Sendin
Edited by
Ellie Garran
Reviewed by
Adrian BennettOur Home and Contents partners
iSelect does not compare all providers in the market or all policies offered by our partners in your area. Not all policies or special offers are available to all customers. Learn more.
Why should I compare home insurance in Victoria?
Victorians want to feel that their home and belongings are safe and secure. Sure, they’re lucky to live in a state famous for top-notch coffee, epic culture, and world-class sporting events. But let’s be real – it’s also a state that cops bushfires, floods, and the occasional sticky-fingered thief.
Whether you’re living in a charming Victorian terrace or a sleek apartment right smack in the centre of Melbourne, comparing home insurance can give you peace of mind, save you cash, and make sure you’re covered for what you actually need. Policies can vary heaps, so shopping around could land you a better deal – and maybe even some perks you didn’t even know were out there!
Is home insurance mandatory in Victoria?
Home insurance isn’t mandatory in Victoria. But if you’ve got a mortgage, your lender might require it to protect their investment. And even if it’s not a must, it’s a smart move to cover your home and belongings – you never know when life might throw a curveball!
Whether you’re a homeowner, landlord or renter, you can think of home insurance as peace of mind in a package that you can gift yourself. You certainly deserve it! Especially if you’ve spent nights awake catastrophising about how you’d recover from hypothetical disasters, you might find researching home insurance quite reassuring.
What does home insurance typically cover in Victoria?
Combined home and contents insurance
Home and contents insurance combines the features of building insurance and contents insurance into a single policy. That means it can cover you for damage to both the physical structure of your house and the things you keep inside it.
Building
insurance
Building insurance can help cover you for repairs when your home is damaged. As well as the building you live in, it can also cover other physical structures on your property, like fences, sheds, or in-ground swimming pools.
Contents
insurance
You guessed it, contents insurance covers the contents of your home. That means if things like your furniture, clothing, whitegoods, or appliances are damaged or stolen, your insurance can help you replace them.
Landlord
insurance
Thinking of renting your property? Landlord insurance’s got you covered – from your property and belongings to lost rent if tenants don’t pay. It’s like building insurance, contents insurance, or the one-two punch combination of both – but made for landlords.
How to compare your home insurance
Get started
Tell us about your home and what you’re after, and we’ll get the ball rolling.
Compare your options
We’ll show you policies side by side, including their premiums, inclusions, exclusions, and extras you can add on, so you can easily compare.
Take your pick
Tell us which policy you fancy and we’ll lock it in for you. That means you can not only compare, but also get the new policy through us. And the best bit? There’s no extra cost from us – zilch!
Start fresh
The final step? Let your old insurer know you’re saying goodbye. It’s time to enjoy your new cover!
Why buy home insurance with iSelect
Our service doesn’t cost you a cent
Instead of charging you anything, we get a commission from our partners.
Same price, no mark-up
We don’t mark up the price of our products, so you’ll pay the same as buying direct.*
*Excluding corporate discounts and exclusive retail offers
Quick and easy online comparisons
The right coverage is only a few clicks away. You can compare home insurance policies in just a few minutes.
We’ve been around the block
We know our stuff, with over 25 years’ experience helping Aussies compare, switch, and save.
What are the average costs of different home insurance types in Victoria?
From July 2023 to June 2024, here’s the average premium that iSelect customers in Victoria paid:
- Combined home and contents insurance: $1,387
- Building insurance: $1,124
While no viable data is available for contents insurance in the same year, our data shows that people with contents-only insurance spent an average of $408 in the previous financial year (July 2022 to June 2023).
Helpful tip
The cost of home insurance in Victoria can vary based on several factors. To get the deal that’s right for you, take time to compare policies. Look for coverage that matches your needs and budget while keeping an eye out for discounts or perks insurers might offer.
But the story doesn’t end there. It’s also a good idea to review your policy every year. This way, you’ll only be paying for what you actually need at that exact period.
Adrian Bennett
General Manager for General Insurance
What factors can affect the cost of home insurance in Victoria?
Your level of cover
You can usually customise your cover by adding additional cover options. The more comprehensive your package, the more you’re likely to pay. Likewise, the higher the value of your home (and its contents if you’re also covering the stuff you own), the more it’s likely to cost to insure them.
Your claims history
Unfortunately, if you’ve made claims on your home insurance in the past, especially the recent past, it could make a difference here. Your claim history can be one of the factors insurance companies take into consideration when they work out your premiums.
The area you live in
To help calculate your premiums, insurers estimate the likelihood that damage will occur to your house and things. If you live in an area that’s prone to crime or severe weather, for example, that could mean your premiums end up higher.
The construction and features of your home
If your house is older – so theoretically more expensive to repair – you might pay higher premiums. On the flip side, if you have high-end security features installed or a relatively new house that doesn’t warrant heaps of rebuilds, you might pay lower premiums.
How can I reduce my home insurance premium in Victoria?
Want to trim down your home insurance premium? Here’s what many savvy Aussie homeowners (and renters) do:
Increase your excess
Bumping up your excess (the amount you pay if you make a claim) can lower your premium. But it’s worth making sure it’s still an amount you can afford if something goes wrong.
Bundle up
Combining your home insurance with contents or other policies, like car insurance, could score a discount.
Boost your home security
Adding things like deadlocks, security cameras, or an alarm system can make your home safer and might earn you a lower premium.
Compare and switch
Loyalty doesn’t always pay. Sticking with the same insurer yearly could leave you paying for stuff you may no longer need. It’s wise to shop around and regularly revisit your policy.
What are the risks to your home in Victoria?
Aussies aren’t strangers to scary weather. Plus, with naughty people wreaking havoc throughout the state, it’s worth looking into the right coverage for your home and personal belongings.
Bushfires
Victoria cops its fair share of bushfires, thanks to the state’s rugged terrain, flammable bushland, and those hot, dry, windy conditions. During the 2019–20 season alone, a massive 1.5 million hectares went up in flames, taking 420 homes with it.1Forest Fire Management Victoria – Past bushfires
Luckily, insurance policies can help you manage that risk. Home insurance often covers you for bushfire damage up to your insured sum. If you live in the inner city, you likely have a lower risk of bushfires, but you might still want to consider whether you’re covered for smoke damage.
Floods
Victoria also has a good number of flood-prone areas, with homes and businesses potentially at risk.
Between October 2022 and January 2023, the Victorian floods caused chaos across 64 of the state’s 79 local government areas.2Victoria State Government – Six months on from one of Victoria’s worst flood disasters on record Homes and properties copped a beating, along with farms, livestock, crops, and public infrastructure – leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
You often have the option to take out flood cover as an optional extra with your home and contents insurance plan. That means if you’re in a flood-prone area – or even just a potentially flood-prone area – you get peace of mind. And if you’re not, you don’t have to pay for it as an optional extra.
Theft and other malicious activities
It’s not just natural disasters that Victorians have to watch out for. There are also man-made risks. In 2022–23, residential property offences reached over 80,000, with almost 25,000 incidents of residential burglary and more than 40,000 incidents of property damage.3Crime Statistics Agency – Download data
Home insurance can provide coverage for this. Many policies can cover theft or attempted theft, as well as other naughty things people do like malicious damage, vandalism, riot, or civil commotion.
Frequently asked questions
What are the home insurance providers in Victoria?
There are heaps of home insurance providers in Victoria, but if you want to compare from a range of policies, we can help you find the right one with the iSelect comparison tool. Comparing could only take a few minutes – maybe quicker than whipping up a cuppa.
What are the most costly claims for home insurance?
The top three home insurance claims are water leakage, fire, and storm. Burst pipes and major water damage can also rack up a hefty bill. Basically, anything that causes widespread or severe damage to your home tends to be the priciest.
Can I get home insurance if I live in an apartment?
Absolutely! If you’re in an apartment, you can get contents insurance to cover your belongings. The building itself is usually covered by your strata insurance, but it’s worth double-checking what’s included with your strata fees.
How to compare home insurance in Victoria?
As you can see, what you want from home insurance can vary a lot depending on your location and circumstances. That’s why it makes sense to do some research. If that sounds like a lot of work, we can help! Try the iSelect comparison tool – it’s easy and quick.
Get started on comparing home and contents today!
Save time and effort by comparing a range of home and contents insurance policies with iSelect
iSelect General Pty Ltd (ABN 90 131 798 126. AFSL 334115) has partnered with Compare the Market (ABN 83 117 323 378. AFSL 422926) to compare a range of home insurers and policies. Not all providers in the market or all policies offered by the partners are compared and not all policies or special offers are available to all customers.
A number of our participating general insurance brands are arranged by Auto & General Services Pty Ltd ACN 003 617 909 on behalf of Auto & General Insurance Company Limited 111 586 353, both of which are related entities of iSelect Limited. Our relationship with those companies does not impact the integrity of our comparison service. Click here to view iSelect’s range of providers.
Any advice provided by iSelect is of a general nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You need to consider the appropriateness of any information or general advice iSelect gives you, having regard to your personal situation, before acting on iSelect’s advice or purchasing any policy. You should consider iSelect’s Financial Services Guide which provides information about our services and your rights as a client of iSelect. iSelect receives commission for each policy sold that is a percentage of the premium or a flat fee. Ask us for more details before we provide you with any services.