Top Five Tips to Help Save on Home Insurance

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Can home insurance help me hang onto my dollars?

1. Know your options and consider bundling up

2. Bump up your excess

3. Review your policy regularly

4. Boost your home’s security

5. Work out an accurate value for your home and stuff

Bonus tip: shop around and get to know the policies

Long story short

Some insurers give discounts if you bundle home insurance policies

Combining building and contents insurance can score you discounts.

Reviewing your policy regularly can help you avoid overpaying

Life changes, and so do your needs. Giving your policy a once-over now and then can help you ditch unnecessary extras and find some potential savings.

You can boost your home’s security and score discounts

Deadlocks, alarms, and back-to-base systems can reduce risks and premiums. Insurers love a secure home, and so will you.

Know the value of your home and stuff

Accurate replacement costs mean you’re not overpaying or running the risk of underinsurance. Use calculators or list your items and their value to get it right.

Can home insurance help me hang onto my dollars?

If it’s not quite stating the obvious, everything’s getting a bit dearer these days, isn’t it? Groceries, petrol, that cheeky morning flat white – it all adds up! And that pinch doesn’t care if you’re renting, already living in your own place, or saving for that first home.  

Home insurance might not sound like the hero here, but shaving a bit off your premium can go a long way to ease the squeeze. Whether you’ve got contents to protect, a home to look after, or you’re somewhere in between, making smart and intentional choices can help cut back your bills and keep you covered. 

Here’s how you can keep your home covered without breaking the bank. (I’ve tried some of these myself, and they’ve saved my family a fair bit!) 

1. Know your options and consider bundling up

First things first – there are different types of home insurance to choose from: 

Building insurance covers the structure of your home, like walls, roof, and fixtures. Even the outbuildings like granny flats and sheds!

Contents insurance protects your belongings, like furniture, electronics, and personal items. You can even look into add-ons like motor burnout cover if, say, a power surge leaves your appliance ‘cooked’.

Combined home and contents insurance is a one-two punch combo that covers both your home’s structure and your stuff (it’s essentially building and contents insurance combined into one policy).

Landlord insurance is designed for rental property owners, covering tenant-related dramas like damage caused by renters or loss of rental income. This ensures your investment property is covered. 

Now if you own a house, combining home and contents insurance can be a smart move, especially if you want your home, and everything that makes it a home, protected. Some insurers even offer discounts on your first year’s premium when you bundle them together.  

Some insurers also give discounts if you bundle your home insurance – yes, even just contents insurance (shoutout to the renters and those living in strata properties) – with other types of policies, like car or health insurance. 

Helpful tip

If you want to sleep a little better at night knowing you’ve got comprehensive cover, you can consider adding optional extras to your home insurance policy. 

For example, if your partner’s a bit clumsy or your toddler’s got a knack for getting into mischief (adorable – but a handful), accidental damage cover could help protect you from those unexpected ‘oops’ moments.  

Want to insure the camera you love to take on hikes? Portable contents cover might be worth a look. 

However, keep in mind that while a comprehensive home insurance policy is all well and good, loading up on every extra could also be blowing out your premium. So stick to the optional covers you actually need – you can always tweak your policy and shop around later if things change! 

At the end of the day, having adequate cover is a balancing act; it’s all about keeping cash in your pocket while looking after the things you’ve worked hard for. Whether it’s Mother Nature chucking a tantrum or some sneaky thieves prowling the neighbourhood, you’ll be ready for whatever comes your way. 

Adrian Bennett

General Manager for General Insurance

2. Bump up your excess

Your excess is the amount you chip in when making a claim, with your insurer covering the rest.  It’s a set amount you agree to pay when you take out your policy, and you’ll usually find this figure on your certificate of insurance. 

Now, the excess isn’t just some random number thrown into your policy for kicks – it actually serves a purpose. Having an excess helps keep your premiums (whether you pay them monthly or yearly) a bit more manageable.  

A lower excess usually means a higher premium, while a higher excess can reduce your premium. 

But keep in mind, a higher excess means you’ll pay more if something goes wrong. So it’s worth making sure it’s an amount you’d be comfortable paying if you ever need to claim. The last thing you want is to be caught short and unable to cover your excess when your home, belongings, or both cop it! 

‘When we signed up for our home insurance, we set our excess at $2,000 to keep our monthly premiums lower. It’s been saving us a bit each month! But then a wild storm came through and, before we knew it, our white ceiling was stained all over the house (let’s just say this new ‘abstract art’ won’t win any awards). We had to make a claim, and the insurer said fixing the ceiling would cost $4,000.

So, we had to cover $2,000 (our excess), and the insurer paid the other half. Not exactly ideal – it still set us back a couple of grand – but hey, at least we didn’t have to foot the whole bill!’

Tina Sendin
Digital Writer, iSelect

3. Review your policy regularly

Got a policy already? While ‘set and forget’ sounds tempting (because, let’s face it, most of us are flat chat with pretty much everything), reviewing your home insurance cover regularly can let you find some potential savings. Let’s look at it in two ways. 

First, if you took out optional cover last year, it might no longer apply in your current circumstance (and you might be paying for cover you don’t need anymore).

‘My family used to have a penchant for hosting watch parties (from Game of Thrones to footy finals). But because some of our mates weren’t exactly known for being careful (a few broken bits and bobs almost guaranteed every time we hosted), we chucked accidental damage cover onto our home and contents insurance.

This year’s been a whole different vibe, though. With a baby in the house, the watch parties have taken a back seat. That means keeping that accidental damage cover doesn’t make much sense anymore. That said, we’re planning to add it back down the track – especially when our little one turns into a curious toddler on the move!‘

Tina Sendin
Digital Writer, iSelect

Second, you might be overpaying by sticking to your old insurer.  

That’s because new customers often score cheaper premiums than those renewing, with insurers dishing out discounts to attract fresh faces, while usually keeping long-time customers on the same old rate. This is probably why some people consider switching insurers every year or so to keep snagging those first-year discounts. 

All these to say, it’s worth taking a gander at your current policy and comparing it to what’s out there – especially when renewal time’s looming. And if it turns out your current home insurance is still doing God’s work for your wallet, then no biggie – at least you checked!

4. Boost your home’s security

For many insurers, a secure home means less risk – and less risk often translates to cheaper premiums.  

You can consider starting with the basics: installing deadlocks, security screens on doors and windows, and a reliable security alarm. These features can make a big difference in not just protecting your home but also showing insurers you’re serious about security.   

Now if you want to take it up a notch, you can also look into installing a back-to-base security system. This type of system is professionally monitored by a security company 24/7, so if an alarm goes off, they’re on it straight away. Many insurers offer discounts for homes with active back-to-base systems, as they significantly reduce the risk of theft or damage.   

Just a heads up, though! Upping the ante on your home’s security could also mean you might need to update the sum your home is insured for. 

Which leads me to the next point. 

5. Work out an accurate value for your home and stuff

To make sure you’ve got adequate cover, it’s a good idea to know what your home and contents are worth. Try to figure out how much it’d cost to completely replace your home and everything in it if the worst happened.   

In insurance speak, this number’s called the sum insured. This dollar figure is something to be taken seriously, I reckon. Because getting closer to an accurate replacement value can save you some dosh.  

If you overestimate it, you could end up paying more on your insurance premium than you need to. But if you underestimate, you might find yourself out of pocket for repairs or replacements. 

Getting the replacement cost right can be a bit of a head-scratcher, but you can work towards an estimate in two ways.  

Going manual

First, you can go to each room of your house and list every single item you want to cover, along with what it would cost to replace the items at today’s prices. If you own the property, include its structures, fixtures, fittings, security systems, and even the garage, port, shed, and granny flats (if you have them). And then everything that makes your house uniquely yours – I’m talking about your precious vinyl collection, linens, jewellery, air fryer, robovac, and other stuff that’s dear to you.

If you’re renting and wanting a solid estimate of your belongings, the good news is you won’t have to worry about anything attached to your landlord’s property. Just the stuff you own and want to cover (Labubu collection included).

Using a calculator

An (easy) way estimate the value of your home and contents is to use home and contents replacement cost calculators. These are handy tools that can help you get a ballpark figure. They’re a great place to start if you don’t feel like listing every single item in your home.

Bonus tip: shop around and get to know the policies

If you’re like me who grabs the first nice coat I see because – thanks, Marie Kondo – it sparks joy, know that this doesn’t always apply to getting home insurance.  

Don’t just grab the first policy that pops up on Google or the one your mate swears by. Every insurer’s got different ways to cover your property.   

It’s worth taking the time to dive deep into what’s covered (and equally, what’s not) so you’re not left high and dry if things go sideways. Plus, you’ll likely have a clear idea of what you actually need, meaning you could avoid shelling out for cover you probably won’t use. 

It’s also a good idea to jump online and consider using comparison sites. Things like iSelect’s comparison tool can save you hours of research and your browser crashing from the sheer number of tabs opened. You might also be surprised how prices and inclusions can vary for the same level of cover!