Motor burnout insurance

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What is motor burnout insurance?

What appliances does motor burnout insurance cover?

What events are covered by motor burnout insurance?

What doesn’t motor burnout insurance cover?

How are consumer guarantees and warranties different to motor burnout insurance?

Is motor burnout insurance worth it?

Where can I find and compare home insurance?

Long story short

Motor burnout insurance is usually an optional extra with contents policies

Get covered for costly replacements and repairs with an additional premium.

Covered appliances can range from aircons to garage doors

Your policy may also include cover for spoiled food from a freezer fail.

It typically covers power surges and electrical fluctuations

Although lightning may already be covered on your standard home insurance.

What is motor burnout insurance?

Motor burnout insurance is an optional add-on to home and contents insurance to help protect your appliances or other household items powered by electric motors from insured events such as power surges, electrical current or overloading. Also called fusion damage’ or ‘electrical motor burnout’ insurance, it helps cover the cost of repairing or replacing the burnt-out motor, so you don’t have to throw out your whole appliance.

While some insurers may include it as standard on home insurance cover, it is more commonly offered as optional cover on top of building, contents, combined home and contents or landlord insurance policies.

If you’ve ever had a fridge or washing machine suddenly give up the ghost, you may have had your very own motor burnout experience. It’s also sometimes referred to as ‘fusion damage’ – although we think this sounds more like you’ve been messing around with nuclear physics instead of discovering your aircon conking out after the last storm.

What appliances does motor burnout insurance cover?

Motor burnout insurance generally covers the repair and replacement costs of electric motors found at your insured address that are damaged by electric current, power surges or both. We’re talking about motors from kitchen appliances (dishwashers, fridges, freezers, microwaves), other white goods (washing machines and clothes dryers) and even things like extractor fans, pool pumps, food waste disposal units and motorised garage doors. It could even include perishable foods that spoiled because of a motor dying. Keep in mind the electric motor usually has to be less than a certain age – although the age limit can vary depending on the policy.

There’s plenty at your place that relies on a motor to work. Depending on your policy, your cover could include:

So, if a summer storm knocks out your freezer and there’s 3kg of seafood in there, it could cover the cost of a new Christmas feast (but it unfortunately won’t magically make that smell go away).

If you want to be certain about what’s covered – whether it’s an appliance or food spoilage – you may want to check the relevant product disclosure statement or speak with your insurer.

What events are covered by motor burnout insurance?

Motor burnout insurance typically covers the cost of repairing or replacing electric motors found in your household appliances and white goods due to electrical currents and power surges. Electrical currents are usually fluctuations in electricity supply – like brownouts, voltage sags or your light flickering. Power surges are when you get a rush of electricity that can overload circuits and damage wiring.

What doesn’t motor burnout insurance cover?

Certain exclusions apply to motor burnout insurance, such as submersible pumps, if the motor lacks maintenance, or if it’s used for business or as transportation. There are also technicalities when it comes to motor burnout, including when and what is covered. For instance, if there’s a warranty on your motor, your insurer might say it’s a no-go. Or if the motor’s age exceeds your policy’s age limit, then it might not be covered.

Here are some of the times when you might not be able to make a home insurance claim:

Always check what the general exclusions are by reading your product disclosure statement.

Keep in mind that a standard home insurance policy could still have your back in applicable insured events, like fire, glass breakage, vandalism, theft, malicious damage or loss.

Just a heads up, too: Motor burnout doesn’t generally cover accidental damage. So, if you want to protect your valuables and precious white goods from clumsy hands, you also might want to consider a separate optional add-on cover for accidental damage.

Helpful tip

Your motor burnout insurance might only apply to motors that are relative spring chickens. For instance, it may exclude motors older than 10 years. If you like to hang on to your appliances that are essentially family heirlooms, or if you have a second-hand fan, be aware they likely won’t be covered even if you have added on motor burnout cover to your policy.

Adrian Bennett

General Manager for General Insurance

How are consumer guarantees and warranties different to motor burnout insurance?

Consumer guarantees and warranties differ from motor burnout insurance in that they’re promises made by businesses about their products – say in terms of quality, features, repairs and replacements – once the customer has bought them or satisfied the terms and conditions. Motor burnout cover is insurance that a customer has voluntarily paid for to protect their appliances, white goods and other eligible motorised items from damage due to electrical current, power surges or both. You might want to think of it as consumer guarantees and warranties being consumer rights and motor burnout cover being an insurance policy.

But just because your appliance is still under warranty or has a consumer guarantee doesn’t mean you’ve got a silver bullet for all types of situations. What if there’s a power surge or brownout that causes your fridge to conk out? Motor burnout insurance could help fill the gap and cover repairs or replacements.

Is motor burnout insurance worth it?

Yes, motor burnout insurance could be well worth it, especially if you have expensive electrical appliances or other motorised items at home. Adding motor burnout cover to your contents insurance can help protect you from repair or replacement costs hitting your budget hard.

For example, adding motor burnout insurance to a quote on the iSelect website for combined home and contents insurance based on a 4-bedroom freestanding house added an extra $57.26 to the yearly premium,¹Indicative pricing for combined home and contents insurance based on a 4-bedroom freestanding house built in the 70s in Geelong, Victoria – with building sum insured worth $800,000 and contents sum insured of $75,000, home excess of $1,000 and contents excess of $750, with extra coverage for motor burnout cover given 2 air conditioners and no swimming pool. Comparison conducted via the iSelect website, May 2026. but this figure is just a guide and could cost more/less depending on the details of your policy – say the type of property, how much your building and contents sum insured is, excess and what kind of motors you have at home.

If you’re uncertain about motor burnout insurance, there are a couple of things you could muddle over to see which side of the fence you land on. It’s all about balancing risk with the cost of an additional premium. Evaluate the likelihood of your appliances’ motors burning out and think about how you’d go about getting everything back to normal. Would you need to take out a loan or use your credit card? Or do you have the money ready to go?

Your policy’s product disclosure statement is always a good place to find information on coverage.

Where can I find and compare home insurance?

If you want to help protect yourself (and your wallet) against the risk of your hardworking clothes dryer throwing in the towel in the middle of winter, additional motor burnout cover could be worth considering. Whether you want plain home insurance or want to delve into optional extras like motor burnout insurance, iSelect can help. Use our comparison tool to quickly see how a selection of different policies measure up.