The best home insurance for you will depend on your budget and personal circ*mstances. Our experts have chosen a bunch of picks that will suit a range of people, but these should only be used as a guide. You should always read the PDS to know if a product is a good fit for you.
Best home insurance in September 2024
- Best for customer service: Youi home and contents
- Top pick for variety: Budget Direct home and contents
- Top pick for floods: QBE home and contents
- Top pick for unique features: Honey home and contents
- Best comprehensive policy: Australia Post home and contents
- Best for value: AAMI home and contents
- Top pick for no claims bonus: Allianz home and contents
Expert picks selected by Gary Ross Hunter – insurance and innovations editor at Finder
Best for customer service: Youi home and contents
Our verdict:
Sick of bad customer service? Check out Youi. It won Finder's Customer Satisfaction Award, voted by over 6,000 Aussies, is one of the only insurers with really good online reviews and received very few complaints to AFCA for its size.
Pros & cons:
- 94% said they would recommend Youi to a friend.
- Being able to call them up to negotiate price.
- Really solid cover and an easy to understand website.
- You often need to call to get a quote price.
- It's more expensive than some budget insurers.
- You need to pay extra for accidental damage cover (an add-on with most insurers).
Why we like it
Youi won the Finder 2023 Customer Satisfaction Award. We asked 6,116 homeowners to rate their home insurer based on value for money, customer service, ease of application, features and benefits, and whether they would recommend the insurer to a friend.
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Top pick for variety: Budget Direct home and contents
Our verdict:
Good if you want a cheap policy that comes with lots of optional add ons. You can add features like flood cover and accidental damage if you want or keep it basic and pay a lot less for cover compared to the majority of insurers.
Pros & cons:
- The flexibility to add more based on your budget.
- Its price. Our research shows it's one of the cheapest home insurers.
- Getting up to 30% off your first year.
- Going without flood cover can be risky.
- Some insurers automatically include flood cover.
- The discount only applies for the first year.
Why we like it
Budget Direct was highly commended in the value category of the 2024 Finder Home Insurance Awards. We picked Budget Direct because it's one of the cheapest home insurers on the market, according to our research of 44 insurers, and offers lots of optional benefits so you can tailor the policy to your needs and budget.
To determine our award winners, we got 430 quotes for 44 home and contents insurance policies. We got quotes in every major state of Australia. We then scored each insurer based on 16 commonly covered features.
The final score was based on a combination of features and price. The value weighting was a 40/60 split of features and price.
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Top pick for floods: QBE home and contents
Our verdict:
QBE automatically covers flood damage. It's included in the 'insured event' storm, storm surge, rain, hail or flood. This makes claiming a little simpler. With most insurers, storms and floods are considered 2 separate insured events. This means if there is storm and flood damage to your home, you may need to pay 2 excesses – but not with QBE.
Pros & cons:
- Can pay for temporary accommodation for up to 2 years.
- One of the only insurers to cover forced evacuation by a government authority.
- Very comprehensive cover across the board – storms, fire, theft, flood and more.
- It's competitively priced but not as cheap as some budget insurers.
- Like other insurers, QBE won't cover damage due to lack of maintenance.
- Paying extra for accidental damage cover (an add-on with most insurers).
Why we like it
We looked at 44 home insurers and selected our top pick based on who offered all of the following benefits: flood cover (that is automatically included), temporary accommodation (including evacuation), debris removal and temporary storage.
We also looked at AFCA complaints data to see which insurers performed best.
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Top pick for unique features: Honey home and contents
Our verdict:
Honey gives you $250 worth of smart sensors when you sign up. They alert you to avoidable mishaps like fire, water damage and theft. This is on top of really solid cover for fire, storm, theft and more.
Pros & cons:
- The home sensors help detect risks and prevent claims.
- Up to $20,000 covered for your home office. We couldn't find a brand that offered more.
- The sign up process is incredibly easy (it takes around 3 minutes).
- $500 for guest contents. Some brands cover up to $5,000.
- No cover for environmental upgrades when replacing items.
- Paying extra to get cover for electrical burnout.
Why we like it
We looked at 44 home insurers. Honey was the only insurer to offer home sensors when you take out a policy.
It also undoubtedly has the fastest sign up process. It uses third party data to estimate the rebuild cost of your home. If you've ever tried to calculate this yourself, then you probably already know how convenient a feature this is.
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Best comprehensive policy: Australia Post home and contents
Our verdict:
You get a lot for your money. Aus Post's policies are issued by QBE, one of the world's biggest insurers. Our research shows it's much cheaper though – a bit like getting a Michelin star meal for the price of a Big Mac.
Pros & cons:
- It covers storms, storm surges, rain, hail, lightning and flood damage.
- It covers fires, bushfires and burnout of electric motors.
- The sum insured safeguard helps you avoid underinsurance and out of pocket expenses.
- You need to pay extra to cover items aways from home aka portable contents cover.
- The discount. It's only 10% off. Some will knock 30% off your first year.
- There's cheaper insurers out there (e.g. Budget Direct and AAMI).
Why we like it
Australia Post won the 2024 Finder Home Insurance Award for best comprehensive policy.
To determine our winners, we got 430 quotes for 44 home and contents insurance policies. We got quotes in every major state of Australia. We then scored each insurer based on 16 commonly covered features.
The final score was based on a combination of features and price. The comprehensive weighting was a 70/30 split of features and price.
Top 3 policies in Home insurance - Comprehensive
- Australia Post Home & Contents Insurance
- Kogan Home and Contents Insurance
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Best for value: AAMI home and contents
Our verdict:
AAMI is hard to beat on price for new customers. It offers cheap home and contents cover with the essentials included, which is why it won the 2024 Finder Value Award.
Pros & cons:
- Its price. One of the cheapest insurers for new customers.
- Cover for fires, bushfires, storms, storm surge, theft and more.
- Lots of options for different house types.
- The negative customer reviews and complaints.
- The $50 off when you buy online is pretty measly compared to other insurers.
- You need to pay for accidental damage cover (an add-on with most insurers).
Why we like it
AAMI won the 2024 Finder Home Insurance Award for best value policy.
To determine our winners, we got 430 quotes for 44 home and contents insurance policies. We got quotes in every major state of Australia. We then scored each insurer based on 16 commonly covered features.
The final score was based on a combination of features and price. The value weighting was a 40/60 split of features and price.
Top 2 policies in Home insurance - Value
- AAMI Home & Contents Insurance
- Budget Direct Home and Contents Insurance
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Top pick for no claims bonus: Allianz home and contents
Our verdict:
Allianz is one of the biggest and most trusted insurers in the world. You get up to 30% no claim bonus – great if you've never made a claim – and really solid cover, including making your home more environmentally friendly if it's damaged.
Pros & cons:
- Up to 30% no claim bonus.
- Pay monthly at no extra cost.
- Alternative accommodation for you and your pets.
- No cover for storm surge.
- Like all insurers, wear and tear isn't covered.
- You need to pay extra for flood cover.
Why we like it
Allianz was the only insurer we found to offer up to 30% no claim bonus.
We also included Allianz because of its track record as an insurer. It's one of the largest in Australia (and globally). In the latest financial period, it received fewer AFCA complaints compared to other very large insurers including AAI Limited and Insurance Australia Limited.
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Helping you get the best home insurance in Australia
You've probably noticed that your home insurance has increased a lot in the last 12 months. (Our research shows it's gone up by 19% thanks to climate disasters and the cost of living crisis).
We do a lot at Finder, but we can't single-handedly fix the climate. We can help you keep prices down though.
That’s why our insurance team has hand-picked 7 home and contents insurance policies. They’re based on 2024 Finder Awards data, AFCA complaints, customer reviews and a bunch of other important factors, such as flood and bushfire cover.
All the policies can pay to repair your home and its contents if damaged by an insured event such as a fire, bushfire or storm. Not all cover floods though – we've highlighted which ones in each of our reviews.
Why you can trust our research
44 home and contents insurance policies analysed
6,100+ customers surveyed
430+ prices gathered
80+ hours of research
"We've had a leak in our home before, and even though repairs were covered by insurance, fixing the actual issue fell to us – which cost over $16,000. So, the home sensor pack Honey sent us gave us extra peace of mind that we don't have any sneaky leaks or hidden issues."
Sarah Megginson
Head of editorial
Top 10 home insurance companies in Australia
Want to know what people actually feel about their insurer? We asked over 6,000 Australians (6,116 to be exact) to rate their home insurance provider based on value for money, ease of application and customer service.
| Brand | Overall satisfaction rating |
|---|---|
 | ★★★★★ 4.39/5 |
 | ★★★★★ 4.30/5 |
 | ★★★★★ 4.30/5 |
 | ★★★★★ 4.25/5 |
 | ★★★★★ 4.23/5 |
 | ★★★★★ 4.20/5 |
 | ★★★★★ 4.17/5 |
 | ★★★★★ 4.12/5 |
 | ★★★★★ 4.05/5 |
We've also researched and reviewed a bunch of home insurance companies to help you decide.
- AAMI
- ahm
- Allianz
- ANZ
- Apia
- Australia Post
- Australian Seniors
- Budget Direct
- CHU
- Coles
- CommBank
- CommBank
- Defence Service
- Domain Insure
- Everyday
- GIO
- Huddle
- Hume Bank
- ING
- Kogan
- NAB
- NRMA
- Qantas
- QBE
- Real
- ShareCover
- St.George
- Suncorp
- Virgin Money
- Westpac
- Youi
If the brand you're looking for isn't here, check out our directory.
Frequently asked questions
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As much as we'd love to tell you there's a specific home insurance company that's best, it really depends on your needs. We've researched 44 home and contents insurance policies to help you get started.
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Youi won Finder's Customer Satisfaction Award, voted by over 6,000 Aussies. It also received very few complaints to AFCA.
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Youi home insurance won Finder's Customer Satisfaction Award. We asked over 6,000 Aussies for their opinion. Youi earned 4.39/5 overall. Budget Direct home insurance came in second place. Everyday home insurance came in third place.
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You should insure your house for the amount it would cost to rebuild your home if it was completely destroyed. This is really hard to figure out yourself but calculators can help.
Honey home insurance also has a really great calculator that uses third party data to estimate your rebuild costs. You can use it for free when you get a quote.
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For your building insurance - the value should be calculated based on what's required to rebuild, not the sale value. There are calculators available to help with this estimate but they're designed to give you a guide only.
For your contents insurance - the value should be calculated by summing up the cost to replace everything you own from laptops to kitchen equipment and everything in between. -
Your home insurance premium will be determined based on many factors. Some of the main ones include; how risky your suburb is, how big your house is, how much it costs to rebuild your house, the value of your contents, if you've claimed before and how old you are.
Gary Ross Hunter was an editor at Finder, specialising in insurance. He’s been writing about life, travel, home, car, pet and health insurance for over 6 years and regularly appears as an insurance expert in publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and news.com.au. Gary holds a Kaplan Tier 2 General Advice General Insurance certification which meets the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio
Gary Ross's expertise
Gary Ross has written 695 Finder guides across topics including:
- Health, home, life, car, pet and travel insurance
- Managing the cost of living
