Home & Contents FAQs
Payments
If you pay your premium by instalments and an instalment is overdue we will let you know, and we can cancel your policy
If your payment hasn’t gone through it may be because your credit/debit card details are incorrect in our system. To check them, you’ll need to log into GIO Online Services. From there, you’ll see ‘My policy list’ displayed, from which you can select the policy you want to update/check your details for.
Select ‘Update my policy’, then ‘Change payment Details’. Here you’ll see your current details, and have the option to change them, if necessary.
If this isn’t the reason for your payment failing to go through, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can help you rectify the issue.
Quotes
To help you calculate the replacement value of your home and contents, use our Building Calculator and our Contents Calculator.
Contents are household items that you own or are responsible for and use primarily for domestic purposes. That doesn’t include items permanently attached to your home or insured address.
Common contents refer to unfixed items that are contained within the common areas of your building.
General
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.
Yes, you can take out a GIO Home and Contents insurance policy for your holiday home.
If your home becomes unoccupied during the period of insurance and you have to make a claim under your policy for an insured event, you may need to pay an unoccupied excess. This excess applies in addition to any other excess if at the time of the incident covered by your policy, the home or unit has been unoccupied for more than 60 continuous days.
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.
There are a few reasons your belongings may be damaged or lost while they’re away from home for which we will cover you:
- while they’re in transit within Australia, for example, during a relocation to your new permanent address
- while they’re in commercial storage
- or while they’ve been temporarily removed from your home to another residence in Australia in which you are temporarily residing or a bank deposit box in Australia, for up 180 days (or for the period of insurance if stored in a bank deposit box).
If you’re referring to items that you normally carry with you when you’re away from home – such as your mobile phone, jewellery, camera, bike, or laptop – then these are referred to as ‘Portable Valuables’. Portable Valuables aren’t always automatically covered, but you can add optional cover to your policy for an extra premium.
We provide cover for carpets under GIO Contents Insurance, but not GIO Home Building Insurance.
Home Insurance provides cover for your home including garages, carports, outbuildings, fixed swimming pools, sealed driveways, gates and fences, along with any permanently attached fixtures like solar panels, walls, ceilings, and floors caused by a range of insured events at your insured address.
Whereas Contents Insurance is for the loss or damage to the contents in your home caused by insured events. Contents are household items that you own or are responsible for and use primarily for domestic purposes. These include things like furniture, furnishings, clothing, unfixed electrical goods and appliances (not housed in a cabinet), window coverings as well as carpet and rugs.
To learn about GIO Home Insurance and Contents Insurance, and what we cover as the home and contents, please refer to the PDS.
Ultimately, the level of cover you choose, and with who, is up to you. Comparing Home and Contents Insurance should be based on what you need cover for, like home, contents, personal valuables or landlord insurance. To compare Home and Contents Insurance, you can:
- Check what cover is automatically included in each policy you’re considering;
- Review any optional/additional covers available;
- Get a quote for the policy or policies you’re looking at;
- and Compare the quote and what it includes against other quotes you may have received.
No. While coverage is included for damage caused by animals - with some limitations and exclusions, as outlined in the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) - that coverage does not extend to damage caused by animals you own or for which you are responsible.
Updating Home/Contents Policy
GIO customers can easily update their policy details and some optional covers by logging into GIO Online Services. From there, you’ll see a list of your policies; simply select the policy you want to update and then choose the ‘Update my policy’ tab.
You’ll see various options to choose from for what you can update. Note that not all changes can be made online. If you’re unable to update online, please chat to us or call us on 13 10 10.
View a video explanation of how to update your policy online.
You can update your address and contact details easily by logging into GIO Online Services. From there, you’ll see a list of your policies under the heading ‘My policy list’. Select the policy you want to update your address/contact details for, click on ‘Update my policy’ tab, then edit the relevant field.
View a video explanation of how to update your details online.
Renew/Cancel
I'm sorry you're thinking of cancelling! You can cancel your car (excluding CTP or MAI), home or landlord insurance via the GIO virtual assistant. It's easy to get started, cancel your policy.
For all other policies, find help and support on our contact and help hub about cancelling.
If you do cancel, you may qualify for a refund of the unexpired portion of the premium less any non-refundable government charges. Minimum refunds apply. Contact us to learn more about policy cancellation refunds.
GIO Home Assist
GIO Home Assist is a 24-hour emergency assistance service that provides you with selected trade services in the event of a home emergency. It is not a general maintenance or preventative service (e.g. it does not cover painting, replacing light bulbs or tap washers) or a disaster response service.
If you need to lodge a claim you can do this online, through the GIO app or by calling us 24/7 on 13 14 46.
Terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. Please refer to the GIO Home Assist Terms and Conditions for more details.
A home emergency is a sudden and unforeseen incident that occurs to your home (but not your contents) and that requires the urgent attention of a tradesperson.
Some geographical limitations apply to availability of cover. That is, there are certain areas of Australia in which GIO Home Assist is not currently available. If you take out a quote online and the Home Assist optional cover is not available to select, it is unavailable at your location.
In the event of a home emergency, GIO Home Assist will be able to dispatch a plumber, an electrician, a locksmith, and/or a carpenter.
No. Only a qualified GIO Home Assist Tradesperson can be used.
You are entitled to receive three emergency call-outs during the period of insurance. Additionally, if it is determined that two tradespersons are required to attend to your single home emergency, then two emergency call-outs will be deducted from your entitlement.
No, a GIO Home Assist call-out is not identified as a claim under your policy. Therefore, there is no excess payable for GIO Home Assist.
GIO Home Assist can be contacted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our support team will be able to assess the emergency. Assistance will be provided as quickly as possible, but during certain hours there may be limited availability. The response time will depend on a variety of factors including severity, location, and the level of demand.
Excess-free Glass cover
This optional cover will apply in addition to the additional cover ‘Accidental breakage of glass’ and offers replacement following accidental breakage of:
- fixed glass in windows, doors, skylights and shower screens in your home
- mirrors fixed to your home
- other fixed glass (including glass tint if fitted).
When you have this option and the claim is only for the accidental breakage of the glass mentioned above, we cover the cost to replace it without you having to pay an excess.
Refer to the PDS for more information.
We will also cover the frame of any window, door or shower screen, but only if necessary to enable the glass to be replaced.
Refer to the PDS for more information
No, chips and scratches (and any breakage that does not extend through the entire thickness of the damaged item) are excluded.
Refer to the PDS for more information
Cover for accidental breakage of glass is automatically included under your policy. However, when you make a claim, you will need to pay the applicable excess. When you have optional Excess-Free Glass cover on your policy, and the breakage relates to the type of fixed glass listed under this optional cover (see question 1 and the PDS), you do not pay an excess when you make a claim.
Refer to the PDS for more information
No. Accidental breakage of glass in or of any contents is excluded under Excess-Free glass cover. It is only available with Home cover.
Refer to the PDS for more information
If you take out the Excess-Free Glass optional cover, it will appear on your Certificate of Insurance. You will need to pay extra for this optional cover.
Refer to the PDS for more information
Making a claim can be done online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
No. You can only claim under Excess-free glass cover when the only damage is the accidental breakage of glass listed in the optional cover. You will need to lodge a claim for storm damage, in relation to both the roof and windows. You will need to pay any excess that applies to your policy.
You can take out the Excess-Free Glass cover as part of your Building Insurance. If you have this optional cover and a window in your home is accidentally broken (and that’s the only damage), you can claim under this option and no excess applies. Refer to the PDS for the type of fixed glass that is covered.
Remember you can only claim for the window if there was no damage before you added on the optional cover.
Refer to the PDS for more information
