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What type of home insurance do I need for an apartment?

What does home insurance for apartments not cover?

What apartment insurance do landlords need?

What apartment insurance do tenants need?

How much does home insurance for apartments cost?

Where can I find and compare home insurance for my apartment?

Long story short

Home insurance can help protect your apartment against life’s curveballs

Apartment insurance comes in all shapes and sizes – contents, landlord and strata insurance. These policies are big part of your safety net if life goes pear-shaped.

You can get optional extras if you want to get more cover

Add-on cover for accidental damage could take care of those ‘oops’ moments, like when you accidentally damage your favourite couch or when your tenant breaks your dishwasher.

The cost of apartment insurance can vary widely

The average price of contents insurance purchased through iSelect is $350 a year. Meanwhile, strata insurance sits at around $8,000 (depending on which state you live in).

What type of home insurance do I need for an apartment?

Contents insurance could cover most things in your apartment, like your furniture, appliances, carpets, clothing and valuables – and is available for both renters and owner occupiers. If you’re renting out the apartment, then you might want to consider landlord insurance. Strata insurance usually covers the building’s structure and is generally managed by the body corporate, rather than individual homeowners.

Contents insurance

Contents insurance is a type of home insurance that covers what’s mostly inside your apartment. We’re talking about personal belongings like your jewellery, furniture, TVs, appliances and even your clothes.

Contents insurance can be useful for both renters and owner-occupiers, as it can protect what’s inside your place from insured events like fire, a burst pipe or vandalism.

So, if your TV decides to take an unexpected dive, contents insurance could step in to cover the cost of repairing or replacing it.

Landlord insurance

Landlord insurance is a type of home insurance that could help cover malicious damage, injuries happening in your rental property and lost income if your tenants default on their rent.

If you’re renting your apartment out, then landlord insurance can come in handy if someone takes a tumble in your rental. Some policies could include legal liability, compensation and associated legal costs. Accidents happen, and if someone gets injured in your apartment, you might find yourself in a sticky situation.

Then there’s the matter of rent. Sometimes, tenants might face tough times, and they could struggle to pay the rent or break their lease early. Landlord insurance could help cover those losses, too.

And if you’re the type of a landlord that furnishes their apartment with appliances – we’re talking about washing machines, dryers and dishwashers – having landlord contents insurance could protect these from damage, too.

Strata insurance (also known as body corporate insurance)

Strata insurance generally covers common areas like gardens, lifts, pools and even building structures like floors, ceilings, outer walls and windows.

Most apartment buildings are strata titled, which means the owners of individual apartments share ownership of common property. So, owners pay regular strata fees, some of which go toward insurance for the building – this typically covers damage to shared property, building fixtures and potentially shared contents like gym equipment.

This means that you usually don’t need separate building insurance (the ‘home’ bit in the combined home and contents policy) for your apartment’s structure.

However, rules can vary, so it’s a good idea to confirm with your strata manager or body corporate.

Helpful tip

If you rent an apartment, contents insurance doesn’t just help cover your stuff. Some policies can also provide temporary accommodation if the apartment you’re renting gets so damaged that it’s uninhabitable. Just make sure you check the policy’s relevant Product Disclosure Statement if you feel like this safety net is a must-have.

Natasha Etschmann

Investor & Personal Finance Educator

What does home insurance for apartments not cover?

Contents insurance, a type of home insurance, generally won’t cover the apartment building’s structure and its shared areas – something strata insurance usually takes care of. It also comes with exclusions – or certain situations when your contents may not be covered – such as intentional damage or, in some cases, theft that happens because you forgot to lock your doors and windows. And there are certain things a standard contents insurance policy may not be able to protect you from, but optional covers – like add-on portable contents cover – could.

Let’s look deeper into some of these exclusions:

It’s a good idea to be your own detective and check those exclusions to see whether you want extra layers of protection.

What apartment insurance do landlords need?

Landlords could benefit from having landlord insurance, which helps protect them should their renters experience an injury in the apartment, stop paying their rent or abandon the property, or if the residence becomes uninhabitable due to an insured event. It could also protect what’s already inside the apartment, like carpets, blinds, fittings and appliances like a dishwasher and washing machine.

What apartment insurance do tenants need?

Contents insurance could help renters protect their personal belongings against insured events such as fire and theft, but renters typically don’t need to worry about building or strata insurance. If you decide to add on accidental damage cover then you could also be covered for the cost of repairing or replacing items around your apartment that are unintentionally damaged.

How much does home insurance for apartments cost?

iSelect customer data from May 2025 to April 2026 shows contents insurance costs an average of $350 a year, or roughly $29 a month.¹Based on iSelect contents insurance sales, May 2025 – April 2026 (across a variety of circumstances and contents sums insured). Average pricing is indicative only and will change based on your circumstances. Meanwhile, the average premium paid for strata insurance across most of Australia is $8,040.²Australian Competition & Consumer Commission – Insurance monitoring December 2023 Keep in mind that the cost of strata insurance is likely being shared across multiple owners.

The cost of home insurance for apartments – whether contents or strata insurance – can vary a lot depending on things like how much stuff you have and where you live.

• Contents insurance: If you’re in a spot prone to floods, cyclones or fires (including bushfires and grassfires), you might pay more for contents insurance than another location. That’s why it is always a good idea to shop around and get a few quotes to see what might work for you! An online contents calculator can also help you estimate costs based on how much stuff you have (and avoid being underinsured).
• Strata insurance: Factors like location, construction type and coverage could heavily influence your premium costs. If your apartment building’s a bit older and doesn’t have up-to-date safety features, your body corporate might be looking at even higher premiums because of the extra risk.

Where can I find and compare home insurance for my apartment?

Apartment living has its own special quirks – balcony gardening, close neighbours and trekking downstairs to take the dog out at the crack of dawn. If protecting that way of life is as important to you as everything inside your flat, then home insurance is worth considering.

You can find and compare a range of home insurance in Australia using online comparison sites – like us! If you’re looking for a variety of policies – whether home, contents or landlord insurance – you can use the iSelect comparison tool to explore your options.