GUIDES & RESOURCES

Flood insurance

Depending on where you live, floods can be minor inconveniences or seriously destructive. If you live in a flood-prone area, you may have considered including flood cover as part of your Home and Contents insurance policy.
Flood insurance
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What is flood insurance?

If flood is covered in your Home Insurance policy it could typically help provide some cover for damage or loss to your home in the event of a flood

Flood is generally defined as the covering of normally dry land by water that has escaped or been released from the normal confines of: a lake, river, creek, or other natural watercourse.

It’s not normally offered as a standalone insurance policy, so many people who look for flood insurance apply for it as an extra under their existing Home and Contents cover.

What does it usually cover?

If you have Home and Contents insurance with appropriate flood cover, the flood cover could help you with costs for any loss or damage to your home as a result of a flood.

Some insurers may also help provide cover for loss or damage caused by landslides, mudslides, soil or ground movements as a direct result of floods.

For more specific information, check your policy’s product disclosure statement to see its inclusions and exclusions.

What’s not typically covered?

There are a few things that might not be covered, some of which we’ve listed below.

They’re normally identified as ‘exclusions’ in Home and Contents insurance policies and could include:

  • Loss or damage by extreme sea events like tsunamis or high tides.
  • Loss or damage by underground water leakage/pressure.
  • Hydrostatic pressure (pressure from a resting liquid against surrounding items or bodies).
  • Random soil movements (not caused by flood or rainwater)
  • Water that went inside your house because of renovation work.

Further loss or damage to things outside of your home may also be excluded from flood cover:

  • Unstable fences or gates
  • Gardens, paths or driveways
  • Pools or spas
  • Jetties or pontoons

Have you considered the structure of your property plus the fittings and fixtures that are attached when you’re comparing flood insurance cover?

What are the benefits of having flood insurance?

If you live in a flood-prone area, the last thing you’d want is for all those items tucked away in cardboard boxes in your garage to be ruined, or for your carefully chosen furniture to be soiled by floods . If this does happen, then flood insurance could help provide cover for some of the costs to repair or replace these things.

Depending on where you live, you may want to check in with your Home and Contents insurer and ask them if they can help provide cover for flood damage to your home and belongings.

You can also give your local council a call for flood maps of your area to get a better idea of where floods typically hit.

How do I find out if I live in a flood-prone area?

While you can definitely have a chat with your local council and get local flood maps sent from them, you can also do a bit of your own research to see if your area is usually affected by floods.

A great place to start is with the Australian Government’s Flood Risk Information Portal.

Can I apply for flood insurance cover if I don’t have Home and Contents insurance?

It is not common to have flood cover as a standalone policy. Flood is generally an extra you can add onto your Home and Contents insurance policy.

If you do have Home and Contents insurance, you can check the product disclosure statement of your existing policy to see if flood cover is included.

If you don’t want to apply for Home & Contents insurance but would prefer standalone flood cover, you may first want to consider whether or not you can go without protecting your home from other types of loss, damage or theft, which could also be covered by a general Home and Contents policy.

How much can flood cover add to Home and Contents policies?

Home and Contents Insurance premiums can very between providers and policies when adding on flood cover. Here are some other key factors you may want to consider:

  • The risk of flood at your property
  • How deep could a flood flow into your home?
  • What are the valuable items in your home that you’d like to protect?
  • Is your total insurance sum and excess amount something you’re financially comfortable with?

Once you’ve got a clear idea of how these circumstances apply to your home, you can start comparing options for flood cover.

Can iSelect help me compare options?

When you’re ready to compare Home and Contents insurance policies, including policy options that include flood cover, hop online with us at iSelect and see our range of products and providers*.

Last updated: 08/02/2022

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