‘Flood’ means the covering of normally dry land by water that has escaped or been released from the normal confines of a lake, dam, river etc. We do not cover loss or damage to retaining walls, sea walls, garden borders and free standing outdoor walls. Please check the PDS for more information on what constitutes a ‘flood’.
Home Insurance
Cover your home, including permanent fixtures and fittings, from a range of damaging events with Home Insurance.
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First Year Online Discount*
The content on this page applies to policies started or renewed on or after 24 May 2025.
What does Home Insurance cover?
Home Insurance covers the structure of your home. It includes cover for garages and sheds, as well as permanently attached fixtures and fittings, such as solar panels, fences and gates. A Home Insurance policy can provide cover for damage caused by events such as flood, storm, storm surge, fire (including bushfire), and more.
What’s covered
What’s not covered
What events are covered?
Storm, Storm surge and lightning
15% Home and Contents combined discount^
Save 15% on your policy when you combine your home insurance and your contents insurance into one policy with us.
For full details of the cover and for limits, conditions and exclusions, please refer to the PDS
LEVELS OF COVER
Compare Home Insurance options
GIO provides
We do not insure you for bushfire, storm, storm surge, flood or tsunami in the first 72 hours of your policy. Very limited exceptions apply. See the PDS for full details
Optional covers
WHY GIO
Reasons to choose GIO
24/7 Claims
Claim at any time online or over the phone. You can also track the progress of your claim online.
Guarantee on work we authorise
We offer a dedicated 24/7 claims service and we guarantee the quality of the workmanship for all authorised repairs if we have selected and directly authorised a supplier.
Est. in 1927
We've been a trusted insurer for over 95 years
HERE TO HELP
Building Calculator
Not sure how much to insure your home for? The replacement cost of your home may vary depending on your home’s design, features, fixtures and fittings. Estimate the cost of replacing your home building now with our handy Building Calculator and help set your sum insured with confidence.
Home Assist
Add optional GIO Home Assist to your Home or Home and Contents Insurance policy if GIO Home Assist is available at your insured address, to help support you after a home emergency — that is, a sudden and unforeseen incident that occurs to your home (but not your contents) and requires urgent attention from a plumber, electrician, locksmith, and/or carpenter.
Contents cover
Know that you’re covered against theft, loss and damage to your contents – because your house isn’t a home without the things inside it.
WAYS TO SAVE
Discounts we offer and things to check
10% multi-policy discount*^
You'll be eligible for a 10% multi-policy discount if you hold three or more eligible policies with us. These include Home Building, Contents, Landlord, Car, Motorcycle, Caravan or Boat Insurance. A GIO NSW CTP Insurance policy or GIO ACT MAI Insurance policy will count as an eligible policy, but the premium for these policies cannot be discounted. View T&Cs.
15% Home and Contents combined discount^
Save 15% on your policy when you combine your home insurance and your contents insurance into one policy with us.
10% online discount*
Get 10% Off Your First Year When You Buy Online!*
Your excess
You can choose to lower your premium by increasing your excess within a range we set. This means your premium will be cheaper, but you’ll face higher out-of-pocket costs in the event of a claim. It’s up to you to decide on a balance that suits your needs.
Payment frequency
If you pay your premiums annually, you’ll pay less than if you were to pay in monthly instalments for the same period.
Your property details
Double-check the property details listed on your policy. Things like the building materials and room sizes, which affect your premium. If there’s something that doesn’t seem completely accurate, or if you’ve made some changes or improvements, fixing that up may alter your premium. This may mean an increase or a decrease, but your policy will be accurate.
FAQs
People also ask
We provide cover for carpets under GIO Contents Insurance, but not GIO Home Building Insurance.
Safety net home protection – included in GIO Classic Extras and GIO Platinum home covers – provides a further percentage of the home sum insured toward the cost of repairing or rebuilding your home if the costs exceed your sum insured.
If your claim is covered we will pay up to a further percentage of the home sum insured towards either:
- repair or rebuild of the home by our builder, when our builder is repairing or rebuilding
- the amount of our builder’s assessed quote to repair or rebuild the home, when your claim is being settled on this basis
- the amount of your builder’s assessed quote, when your claim is being settled on this basis.
See PDS for full details.
If you are renovating your home or unit, we don’t cover loss or damage caused by, connected with, or arising from, or legal liability for or caused by, connected with, or arising from building works to the home or unit or parts of the home or unit (other than the cover available under ‘Legal liability’), including any of the following:
- damage caused by cracking, collapse, or subsidence, caused fully or partially by the building works
- damage caused by storm, flood, or water entering the home or unit through any openings (whether such openings were created by you or another person) in the walls or roof or other unfinished parts of the home or unit under construction, and whether or not they were temporarily covered at the time of the damage
- theft or damage by someone who enters or leaves through an unlockable part of the home or unit that’s under construction
We also don’t cover legal liability for or caused by, connected with, or arising from building works, including construction and demolition of building structures, being carried out at the insured address where the total cost of the building works is more than $50,000.
Our Home and Contents Insurance policies do not cover new buildings during construction.
There are some building works you must tell us about. Please refer to the ‘When you must contact us’ section of the PDS for more details.
No, GIO Home and Contents Insurance does not cover loss or damage caused by insects, vermin, or rodents – including termites. However, we’ll cover damage they cause if covered by insured events ‘Fire (including bushfire)’ or ‘Escape of liquid’.
If you’d like more information, please refer to the Home and Contents PDS.
Important information
*If you’re eligible for more than one discount, we apply them in a pre-set order to the discounted premium, before government taxes and charges.
^Discount not applicable to GIO Roadside Assist, GIO Home Assist or Excess-free Glass cover optional covers.
Flood
‘Flood’ means the covering of normally dry land by water that has escaped or been released from the normal confines of a lake, dam, river etc. We do not cover loss or damage to retaining walls, sea walls, garden borders and free standing outdoor walls. Please check the PDS for more information on what constitutes a ‘flood’.
Building Insurance Calculator
This calculator has some questions included that you may not find in other calculators, which will impact the estimate that is calculated.
Storm surge
Storm surge means a rush of water onshore associated with a low pressure system and caused by strong winds pushing on the ocean’s surface. It does not include actions or movement of the sea. The Loss or damage caused by storm surge must happen at the same time as the other insured damage caused by storm.
Flood
Flood means the covering of normally dry land by water that has escaped or been released from the normal confines of things like a lake, river or other natural watercourse. It doesn't include high tides, waves and other movements of the sea, or storm surges, and we don't cover loss or damage to retaining walls, sea walls, garden borders and free-standing outdoor walls.
Storm
We do not cover loss or damage caused by actions or movements of the sea even if they occur during a storm, flood or storm surge.
Lightning
Lightning, including associated power surges, will be covered providing a qualified repairer gives written confirmation to show lightning as the cause of loss or damage and the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology has a record of lightning in the area.
Fire (including bushfire)
Fire is considered burning with flames and also includes damage from heat, ash, soot and smoke that is the direct result of a fire within 100 metres of the insured address. Arcing, scorching and cigarette burns are not fire damage unless a fire spreads from the initial burn spot.
If there is a bushfire in your area, we will also cover the extra costs of replacing water in any tank, container, pool, spa or other storage vessel that has been used to limit the spread of bushfires in your area, and the cost of cleaning any fire retardant off your home. The most we will pay under this extra costs cover is $1,000 for any one incident.
Earthquake and Tsunami
We cover damage caused in the first 72 hours after an earthquake or tsunami. A tsunami is not considered an action or movement of the sea.
Theft or burglary
Theft or burglary occurs when someone enters the insured address without your consent and steals or intends to steal items. We don't cover loss or damage caused by anyone living at the address.
Escape of liquid
This covers loss or damage caused by sudden and unexpected liquid escaping from certain appliances, fixed pipes, drains and more.
We also cover loss or damage caused by liquid escaping from these items that has occurred gradually when the loss or damage that was occurring wasn’t easily visible to a reasonable person in the circumstances.
We do not cover the cost of fixing the item from which the liquid escaped, or loss or damage caused by liquid from a portable container. Other exclusions apply. See the PDS for more details on what we do and don't cover.
Impact
We cover damage which occurs at the insured address when hit by an object such as a tree, car and even space debris. It doesn't cover trees being cut back, cut down or moved by you or for you.
Temporary accommodation for tenants and strata title owners
If you can't live in your home or unit while it's being repaired or rebuilt as a result of it being damaged by an insured event, we’ll pay your reasonable temporary accommodation costs for you and your pets that you normally keep at the insured address. If you're a tenant who needs to temporarily move out, then we’ll pay for any reasonable extra rent costs for temporary accommodation. The most we'll pay for any one incident under this cover is 10% of your general contents sum insured. Conditions and exclusions apply, see the PDS for details.
Contents in commercial storage (Contents cover only)
If you have contents in a secure commercial storage facility we'll cover them during the period of insurance for loss or damage by an insured event as long as the facility is lockable, only accessible by you or someone authorised by you, and is fully enclosed by walls (including doors), floor and roof. Please read the PDS for limits and exclusions.
Cover for contents while moving to a new address (Contents cover only)
If you have contents cover and you’re permanently moving to a new address in Australia, we’ll cover your contents while they are being moved, for loss or damage during the period of insurance caused by:
- fire
- flood
- collision, overturning, accident, or theft of the vehicle carrying them.