What is Property Insurance? 

Property Insurance covers the loss or damage to physical property after an insured event or peril, such as storm damage, fire, or impact from a truck. It’s often sold as part of a package – for example, together with Farm, Home, or Business Insurance.  

This type of insurance provides property owners with financial security and peace of mind – knowing that if the worst happens, like a fire or tree falling on your home, your financial loss will be minimised. 

What does Property Insurance cover?

Most properties can be insured – as long as you fully disclose your occupancy situation and the purpose of the property. Property Insurance covers personal property (such as your home), the household contents, and valuables like jewellery or sports equipment. 

This can be a:

• residential property
• farm
• unit
• strata building
• commercial strata
• retail store
• factory
• warehouse 
• manufacturing facility.

Loss or damage insured

All property policies cover specified perils, such as:

• fire
• theft
• storm
• rain
• wind-related events
• impacts by vehicles and trees
• vandalism

You can also add a cover at an additional cost for other accidents, like shelves falling or stock being damaged by a pipe leaking.

As with any type of insurance cover, Property Insurance policies have limits and exclusions. The limits may relate to the total amount payable in the event of a claim, the location where the property is insured, or how your claim will be paid out. Typical exclusions include damage by insects, pre-existing damage, intentional damage, lack of maintenance, and flood. 

Choosing your insurance policy

Choosing the right Property Insurance can be challenging as there are a few different packages:

• Home Insurance – includes cover for the house, contents and personal items taken outside the home.
• Farm Insurance – covers farm property. This can include the homestead, contents and personal items, also stables, barns, out-buildings, fencing, plant & equipment and grain in silos or livestock.
• Business Insurance – covers buildings, stock, contents, plant & equipment, and work in progress.

It’s essential to read and understand your insurance cover. Talk to your insurance adviser if you have any questions or don’t understand your insurance arrangements. We can provide you with advice on the best cover to suit your financial situation, needs and objectives.

Frequently Asked Questions

What insurance is best for a property? 

Choosing the right property insurance can be challenging, as there are lots of different types, including Personal Property, Home, Farm, Business, and Stock. The cover also varies between insurers – some will only offer specified perils, while others will also cover accidental loss or damage. Other factors to consider include the use of the property, whether it will be renovated, value, and key risks in your area.

Why do I need property insurance? 
Property Insurance is an easy way to manage your financial risk. When you buy insurance, you have protection against unexpected events damaging your property, such as fire, storm, or burglary. In exchange for an annual insurance premium, the insurance company promises to pay you in the event of loss or damage occurring. If you have no insurance, then you’ll have to pay for any loss, damage, or repairs from your own pocket. This is difficult to budget for, and may be outside your ability to pay.
 

What's the difference between homeowners insurance and other types of property insurance? 

All Property Insurance covers buildings, contents, and specified types of property. The use of the property usually tells you what type of property package you need:

1. Home Package – covers a number of sections, like public liability, glass and property (such as the home), contents, and personal valuables like jewellery. 
2. Farm Package – covers public liability and motor vehicles, with the property section covering the homestead, farm buildings, fencing and farm machinery. 
3. Commercial Package – usually covers theft, machinery breakdown, legal liability and property. Property for a business includes stock in process, finished stock, buildings, plant and equipment, and office contents.

What isn'tcovered by property insurance? 

Property Insurance cover differs from one insurer to another, so it’s best to review your policy and make sure it covers most of your risk exposures. In many cases, Property Insurance has limits on the amount per accident or per item. Certain types of damage may also be excluded – for example, flood damage in certain areas, leaving the home unoccupied for a long time, or bushfire damage in fire-prone areas. 

It’s worth taking time to read and understand what your insurance policy does and doesn’t cover. Your insurance adviser will make the whole process easier to understand.

What are the basic types of cover needed? 

Property insurance covers a wide range of events. The seven key ones are:

1. Fire
2. Storm
3. Impact By Falling Trees Or Vehicles
4. Wind
5. Vandalism
6. Explosion
7. Burglary

Other types of cover can be added – so speak to your insurance adviser to ensure you have the right cover in place.

What is Liability Insurance? 

Liability Insurance is a general term that covers multiple types of insurance cover that help people and businesses protect themselves from potentially large legal defence costs and any damages awarded by a court. 

The main types are Public & Products Liability, Professional Indemnity, Management Liability, Statutory Liability & Product Recall. These also specialist liability insurance for the aviation, marine, Care and finance industries. 

Why is Liability Insurance important?

Some Liability Insurance is mandatory, which means the government requires you to have it in place to operate the business – like Professional Indemnity for architects or CTP Liability Insurance for registered cars and trucks. Other types are optional, with the scope and amount of insurance cover chosen by the business owner.

Anyone who deals with the public, sells, imports goods, drives a car or truck or operates a plane or boat should have Liability Insurance, which has two main cover sections:

1. Public Liability – injury to the public or damage to their property on the business premises or caused in a truck or boat accident.
2. Product Liability – once the item you sell or repair leaves your control (for example, a plumber installing a washing machine), if it damages or injures someone then you could be legally responsible.

Additional covers include:

• Professional Indemnity – if you provide advice or a service, such as an accountant, care worker or building consultant, you could be legally liable for any advice you provide, which results in external clients or customers being financially worse off.
• Management (D&O) Liability – covers the personal liability of directors, officers and senior managers for mistakes they make in running the business. This may result in a loss to the company, its shareholders, or bank or an investigation by ASIC, EPA or other government agencies.

What does Liability Insurance cover?

Cover depends on the type of Liability Insurance you’ve purchased, as well as your business and your industry:

1. Public Liability Insurance – covers people, businesses, events and contractors for legal defence costs if legal action is taken against you or the business, whether it’s a genuine claim or a try-on from a disgruntled customer. This insurance will also pay any damages awarded by a court if found responsible for causing personal injury or damage to property, as well as any resulting financial loss. While Public Liability cover can be mandatory, like plumbers in some states, it’s mostly optional and a decision for the business owner.
2. Product Liability Insurance – If you make, import, sell, distribute or repair products, you can be responsible for personal injury, property damage or resulting financial loss due to faults in the product, product advice about the use, or even customer misuse. You are unlikely to be able to depend on the original manufacturer, importer or retailer to protect you and pay for your legal costs. So, it’s a good idea to take out Product Liability Insurance as protection against potentially having to pay expensive legal defence costs and any damages awarded by a court.
3. Professional Indemnity Insurance – provides cover for professionals which is any person that has expertise and is usually part of a trade or professional group, such as builders, designers, architects, IT consultants, and allied health professionals, as well as doctors and lawyers. It covers legal defence costs and any damages awarded from an act, error or omission arising from professional services you and your business provide to customers and clients.
4. Management Liability Insurance – covers directors, officers’ and senior managers against actual or alleged acts, errors or omissions arising out of the operation or management of the company. The cover is for personal legal defence costs, as well as any damages awarded for a breach of work-related duties and responsibilities. The policy will also reimburse the company for any legal costs advanced to the director or officer.

As you can see, there’s a wide range of Liability Insurance, with cover tailored to each industry and type of business. The better advice you get, the more informed your decision to ensure the best protection for you, your directors and managers and the business.

We’ll be glad to talk with you to understand your needs and provide advice on the best way to manage your personal and business liabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an example of liability insurance? 

There are mandatory and optional liability insurance covers required by government bodies or professional organisations.

1. Mandatory or Statutory Liability Insurance policies include Professional Indemnity (also referred to as PII or E&O insurance), Motor Vehicle CTP, Workers' Compensation and Builders Warranty.
2. Optional Liability Insurance policies include Property Owners’ Liability under a home or property insurance package, Protection & Indemnity insurance for boats, Public Liability for shop or office owners, and Product Liability for importers, wholesalers and builders.

What is covered by liability insurance in Australia?  

Liability Insurance covers a person or a business against claims (whether real or invented) that the person has been injured, their property has been damaged, or they’ve suffered a financial loss. All policies provide legal costs to defend against threatened or actual litigation, and also pay for damages if you or the business are found to have been responsible.

What kind of liability insurance do I need? 

Some occupations, such as builders or tax agents, must have Liability Insurance in place before starting a business. Talk to your professional organisation or industry association about what insurance you need. Other Liability Insurances are optional – for example, a large food producer may look at buying Product Recall, whereas retailers and property owners would purchase Public Liability. Motor Vehicle CTP and Workers' Compensation are required if you own or operate vehicles or have employees.