Home Insurance FAQs

AAMI offers a number of flexible ways to pay for your home and property insurance. Whether you’re a home owner, landlord, renter, or property manager, we’ve made payment simple with options to pay online (including debit/credit and BPAY), over the counter at your nearest Australian Post Office, by post, and over the phone.

Discover all the ways you can pay your home insurance policy.

Sometimes life can be a little unexpected, but if you find that you’ve missed a payment on your home insurance, it’s important to get back on track as soon as possible.

If a monthly instalment is overdue we will let you know. We can cancel your policy by giving you at least 14 days advance notice, but if a monthly instalment is overdue by a month, we can cancel your policy without advance notice.

Yes! There are a number of convenient options for renewing your home insurance online, including with your Visa, Mastercard, or American Express card, or via BPAY.

To make your life easier, you can make a number of changes to your home insurance policy online. Through your AAMI account, you can change the sum of contents you’re insured for, update the sum of your insured building, update the unspecified portable items included in your cover, and more.

Simply log in, click on the ‘My policy list’ link, and select the relevant policy you want to update. From the ‘Update my policy’ tab, you’ll find several options for making changes. Unfortunately, some things can’t be altered online, including changing your cover type (for example, from Property Owner to Landlord), and changing the specified portables listed on your cover. For these things please contact us - we’ll be happy to help you out.

You can update your address and other contact details through your online AAMI account. Simply log in, select ‘My policy list’, then ‘Update my policy’, then the ‘My personal details’ heading. Here you’ll find a link to ‘Contact details’, which allows you to update your postal address, phone number, and email address.

If you want for someone other than yourself (the policy holder) to be able to make changes to your car insurance policy, you’ll need to list them as a nominated representative. You can do that easily by calling us on 13 22 44.

You can also email us at aami@aami.com.au, although response time is generally longer, so if it’s urgent it’s better to call. In your email, make sure you include the following details:

• Your full name (first and last name)
• Your date of birth
• Your full address
• The full name, date of birth, and phone number of the person you want to add as your nominated representative

• Home Building Insurance: This covers your building, its permanent fixtures, and associated structures like sheds, garages and fences.
• Home Contents Insurance: This covers household items inside your home that aren't permanently attached to your building. This can include things like furniture, appliances and clothing.
• Home and Contents Insurance: This combines the two policy types mentioned above.
• Strata Insurance: This covers strata title properties, such as apartments or units that share a parcel of land. It includes cover for shared areas like driveways and stairways.
• Landlord Insurance. This covers properties that you own and rent out to tenants under a rental agreement that complies with applicable residential tenancy laws. It's available for building, contents, or both.

Your mobile phone is a contents item which is covered at the home for insured events. If you want to cover your mobile phone for accidental loss or damage at home and away from home, you will need extra cover for specified portable valuables. This is an optional cover you can choose.

If you insure your phone as a specified portable valuable and nominate its value your phone will be covered up to that amount for accidental loss or damage anywhere in Australia or New Zealand. The excess for portable valuables is $100 per claim.

Yep! Both AAMI Home Building Insurance and AAMI Home Contents Insurance — and, of course, our great value combined Home and Contents Insurance — include cover for damage caused by floods.

For policy purposes, ‘flood’ is defined as the covering of normally dry land by water that has escaped or been released from:

• any lake, river, creek, or other natural watercourse (whether or not altered or modified)
• any reservoir, canal, or dam.

Actions or movements of the sea and storm surge are not covered (unless storm surge damage occurs at the same time as damage caused by storm). Other exclusions apply. Check out the PDS for details.

If you've taken out a home loan to purchase your property, your provider may insist on adequate home insurance as a condition of the loan. If you're in this situation, you should check any requirements with your lender.

If you own a property that shares walls or property, such as an apartment or townhouse, you can consider Strata Insurance. Strata Insurance provides cover for damage caused by insured events to buildings with shared property, as well as shared areas like driveways and stairways. It can provide cover for up to 10 buildings on the same block.

You can learn more on our Strata Insurance page.

No. You can pay your AAMI insurance premiums annually or monthly.​

We suggest insuring your contents for the amount you think it will cost to repair or replace them, in case you ever need to. The amount you choose is known as your sum insured and, once you've taken out your policy, it will be listed on your certificate of insurance.

While specifying a lower sum insured may save you a few bucks on your premium, it could leave you out of pocket if you ever need to make a claim.

It can be difficult to estimate your sum insured, so we offer a Contents Sum Insured Calculator that can help you.

Calculate my contents sum insured

Your building is covered for damage by insured events including fire, storm, impact and malicious damage. You can also cover the building for accidental loss or damage by taking out our Optional Accidental Damage cover.​

You can also cover accidental damage to your portable items by taking out our optional portable valuables cover.​

Specified contents items are content items that you list individually on your policy that are only insured while at your home. These are usually valuable items, such as artworks and antiques, for which the policy limits that would otherwise apply are inadequate.

Portable valuables are those items that are likely to leave the house with you on a frequent basis, such as jewellery, watches and smartphones. Unless you take out extra cover for these sorts of items, they won’t be covered by your policy if they're lost or damaged while outside of your home.

The exact date on which responsibility for property damage passes from seller to buyer varies depending on which state you're in, and what terms are stipulated in any given contract.

If the risk of damage to the property passes to you before the property settlement, consider arranging home insurance as soon as you're able.

Loss or damage to jewellery caused by an insured event is covered by AAMI Contents Insurance, if the loss or damage occurs at the insured address. A limit of $2,000 per item (or set) applies and a total limit of $5,000 applies for jewellery and watches. However, you can ask us to increase this limit to a specific value, for an extra premium.​

If you want to insure your ring for more than $2,000, you will need to tell us about your ring and insure it as a specified contents item for an extra premium.​

If you want to ensure that your ring is insured for accidental loss or damage while you're away from home, you can buy Extra Cover Portable valuables, for an extra premium.

As long as you've taken out the optional 'Portable Valuables' cover on your Home & Contents Insurance, and told us that you want to cover your mobile phone, then yes, it is covered. As a mobile phone is a high risk item, you will need to specify it on your policy to ensure it is appropriately insured. It will be shown on your policy under ‘Extra cover for Portable Covers Option'.

No need to sweat; when you’re filling out your online quote we’ll give you the tools you need to understand what counts as contents. We’ve also got a handy contents calculator to help you work out the value of your home contents.

Congratulations, buying your first home is a big deal! It can also be a bit of an overload of information, which is why AAMI has put together a complete guide to home insurance for first home buyers.

AAMI offers total building replacement cover. Our Complete Replacement Cover is an optional cover that can be added to your home and landlord insurance policies. This level of cover can give you peace of mind that we'll repair or rebuild your home as it was — or pay you the amount of the assessed quote to do so — without you having to set a specific sum-insured limit. We provide you peace of mind if you're uncertain as to how much it will cost to rebuild your home.

If you choose Sum Insured, you can specify a sum insured on your policy. If the house is damaged in an insured event, this amount is the maximum we’ll pay to rebuild or repair it (plus any additional cover provided for by the PDS).

You can make updates to your sum insured or choose Complete Replacement Cover at renewal, just log in to My Account.

No, you don’t need to tell us about your solar panels. AAMI Building Insurance provides cover for damage to your home itself and any outbuildings and permanent fixtures which includes your solar panels. It also includes your domestic shed, decks and verandas and fences (limit applies). When you’re reviewing your sum insured, it’s important to keep these details in mind. Refer to the PDS for more info.

You can make updates to your policy online, just log in to My Account.

Insurance premiums can change from year to year, based on a range of factors. External factors, like the increasing weather events, fluctuating repair costs, and market forces have an effect.

If you’ve tried to organise a reno recently then you know that materials are scarce, tradies are flat out, and prices are up. This has a knock-on effect that’s visible in renewal premiums.

Don’t let your home insurance be a set-and-forget type thing. When renewal time rolls around, log in to My Account and check your details are up to date. Making updates to your excess, amount covered, optional covers and other details can make a big impact on your price.

Thanks for continuing to choose AAMI for your home insurance needs! We’ve made it super easy to renew online, using your AAMI account. Simply log in, click on ‘My policy list’ and choose the policy you want to renew, and select the ‘Renew now’ button.

We’re sorry you’re thinking of cancelling. For policy cancellations or to discuss your situation further, please call us on 13 22 44.

You have 21 days from when your policy begins (including on renewal) to change your mind. If you choose to return your policy within this period and haven’t made a claim, you can get a full refund (including GST).

Outside of the 21 day cooling off period, can cancel your policy at any time and receive a refund of the unexpired portion of the premium (including GST), less any non-refundable government charges. We will not give a refund if the refund is less than $10 (GST inclusive).

AAMI Home and Contents Insurance can cover home office equipment, like a desktop monitor and desk, up to $10,000. If the total value of your office items doesn’t exceed this amount, you won’t need to update your cover. For more information, please read the Product Disclosure Statement.

If the total value of your office equipment exceeds $10,000 or if you’re unsure, please call 13 22 44 or click the chat icon to speak to someone online.

If you’ve taken a laptop home from your employer’s office, it’s then considered your responsibility while it’s away from the insured address (say, the office). This means the laptop will then be covered under your AAMI Home and Contents Insurance while you’re using it from home. This only extends to cover at home, so please contact us by calling 13 22 44 or click that chat icon to speak to someone online if you’re using your laptop elsewhere and would like cover for it.

If you’re working from home during COVID-19, you won’t need to let your insurer know. AAMI Home & Contents Insurance includes cover for up to $10,000 for home office items, like a desktop monitor and desk. Although, if you’ve recently bought new items to beef up your home office setup, you should ensure that your sum insured is enough to account for the increased value of your contents.

Fire & Theft Contents Insurance is our low-cost Contents Insurance for renters or home owners wanting cover for their belongings - furniture, appliances, electronics and so on – up to $25,000 against fire and theft.

“Renters insurance” is another way of referring to Contents Insurance — that is, insurance that covers the stuff inside a house but doesn’t cover the house itself or its permanent fixtures. We often refer to it as “renters insurance” since, while it’s not exclusively renters who take out Contents Insurance ( as opposed to Contents Insurance along with Home Building Insurance), they may find it especially useful.

Your insurance premiums — that is, the amount you’ll pay for your policy — will be influenced by many different factors, including where you live, the value of your contents, and whether you select any optional extras. It will also depend on whether you choose the Fire & Theft Only option.

The best way to get an estimate of how much a policy will cost you is to get a quote. It’s obligation-free, and only takes a few minutes.

There’s no legal requirement for you to have renters insurance in Australia. Whether you take out a policy may depend on factors such as the value of your contents, your ability to replace them should you ever need to, and your budget.

When you first take out your policy, you’ll agree to a sum insured, which is the maximum amount we’ll pay if you ever need to make a claim. If an insured event covered by your policy— such as a storm, fire or burglary — affects your contents, you can make a claim. If we accept the claim, we’ll arrange to repair or replace the item or items, or offer a cash payment so that you can do so yourself.

If you have a home emergency at your insured address and you’ve added AAMI Home Assist to your policy at least 24 hours prior, we’ll dispatch a selected trade service to your insured address for a period of up to two hours to provide assistance.

A home emergency is a sudden and unforeseen incident that occurs to your home that requires the urgent attention of selected types of tradespersons.

In the event of a home emergency, AAMI Home Assist will be able to dispatch the following tradies:

• Plumber
• Electrician
• Locksmith
• Carpenter

No, as part of the agreement only a qualified AAMI Home Assist tradesperson can be used. AAMI Home Assist will provide a qualified tradesperson to attend to any callout.

You are entitled to receive three emergency callouts to the insured address during the period of insurance, only one for the same home emergency. If it’s determined that two tradespersons are required to attend to your single home emergency, then two emergency callouts will be deducted from your entitlement.

No, an AAMI Home Assist callout is not identified as a claim under your policy. Therefore, there is no excess payable for an AAMI Home Assist callout.

AAMI 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 of your insured address and the demand for AAMI Home Assist at that time.

Some geographical limitations apply to availability of cover.

Most home emergencies are able to be fixed (to the extent that no further damage is being caused) within the 2 hour allocation. It is at the discretion of the tradesperson to identify what they are capable of doing and to provide options to you if the repair exceeds the 2 hour limit and/or more than $50 of materials is required.

AAMI Home Assist is an optional cover that you can pay extra for. Get help from a plumber, electrician, locksmith or carpenter in the event of a home emergency. So, if you come home to something unexpected like a burst pipe or blown fuse, AAMI Home Assist can help get it sorted ASAP.

Some geographical limitations apply. AAMI Home Assist is only available 24 hours after adding the option to a new or existing policy. Learn more about AAMI Home Assist.

You can make updates to your optional covers at renewal, just log in to My Account.

This option provides cover for accidental breakage of:

• fixed glass in windows, doors, skylights, and shower screens in your home; and
• mirrors fixed to your home.

When you have this option, and the claim is only for the accidental breakage of the above glass items, we cover the reasonable and necessary cost to replace that glass without you having to pay an excess.

Refer to the PDS for more information.

No, chips and scratches are excluded.

Refer to the PDS for more information.

Yes, accidental glass breakage is automatically covered under your policy. However, when you make a claim, you will need to pay the excess that applies to your policy.

When you have Excess-free Glass cover, you do not pay an excess when you make a claim for certain fixed glass in your home.

Refer to the PDS for more information.

No, accidental breakage of glass in or of any contents is excluded under Excess-free Glass cover. This cover is only available with Home Building cover.

Refer to the PDS for more information.

Making a claim can be done online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Make a claim

You will need to lodge a claim for the storm damage, which will cover both the roof and windows under the one claim. You will need to pay any excess that applies to your policy.

Make a claim

If you have Excess-Free Glass cover as part of your building insurance and a window is accidentally broken, you can claim under this option and no excess applies.

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.

Portable Valuables Cover is available as an optional cover with AAMI's Home Contents Insurance. For an extra premium, it provides additional cover for items you're likely to take outside your home such as, but not limited to, your handbag, jewellery, laptop, and mobile phone.

However certain items including your laptop and mobile phone, need to be individually specified on your policy to be covered. Insuring these items will increase your premiums, but they will be covered for accidental loss or damage at and away from your home.

If you're an existing AAMI customer, simply log in to your account online or via the AAMI App to add Portable Valuables Cover to your Home and Contents Insurance. Or if you have a specific item (like a mobile phone, laptop or high value portable item) you would like to insure, speak to one of our call centre agents on 13 22 44.

More detailed information is available in your Product Disclosure Statement.

Your mobile phone will be covered at the home for loss by an insured event, like fire, storm, theft.

If you want to cover your mobile phone away from the home and for accidental loss or damage, you need to ask us to insure it as Specified Portable Valuable (which is optional cover).

To make your life easier, you can make a number of changes to your home insurance policy online. Through My Account, you can:

1. change the sum of contents you’re insured for
2. update the sum of your insured building
3. and much much more.

Simply log in, click on the ‘My policy list’ link, and select the relevant policy you want to update. From the ‘Update my policy’ tab, you’ll find several options for making changes.

Some of the things that can’t be altered online include:

1. changing your cover type (for example, from Property Owner to Landlord), and
2. changing the specified portables listed on your cover.

For these things please contact us - we’ll be happy to help you out.

Portable jewellery under $1,000

If you have added the extra Portable Valuables cover (for an extra premium), jewellery will be covered when it follows you out of your home. All items (or pair, set, or collection) worth over $1,000 will only be covered up to the value of $1,000.

Portable jewellery above $1,000

If you have added the extra Portable Valuable cover (for an extra premium) and you have an item of jewellery worth over $1,000, you may want to specify it to us (for an extra premium). All you need to do is provide a value and full description when you insure the item.

At claim time, the level of proof you need to provide us varies depending on the value of your jewellery.

An excess will generally apply to all jewellery claims.

If you’re a new customer, select the AAMI Extra Cover Portable Valuables optional cover when you get an AAMI Home Contents Insurance quote.

If you already have an AAMI Home Contents Insurance policy, call us on 13 22 44 to add Portable Valuables and/or Specified Portable Items.