Insurance prices are generally going up, leaving people wondering what’s behind the rise in home insurance costs when it’s time to renew.
Your premium may have changed based on factors including economic trends and the climate, as well as details about you, who’s on your policy and what you’re insuring.
Economic trends – inflation and shipping delays are contributing to higher costs for repairs, labour, materials, building supplies and the cost of contents throughout the home. This means it’s more expensive to rebuild homes and replace the items inside, and these higher costs can increase insurance prices.
Climate trends – weather events like bushfires, floods and storms are happening more frequently and severely. This increases the level of insurance risk alongside rising costs associated with managing claims, like the cost of skilled trades and raw materials needed to repair and rebuild.
Reinsurance costs – as Australia continues to experience more severe weather events, reinsurance costs have gone up. Reinsurance is insurance for insurers – it helps guarantee our ability to pay out claims after a major weather event.
Your home, property or contents – insurance premiums generally reflect the likelihood of claims occurring in the future and the anticipated costs of a claim, if one were to occur. As a consequence of estimating future costs, these estimates can change from year to year even if your personal circumstances have not changed.
It can be easy to compare home insurance policies on price alone, but it’s even more important to make sure your policy covers what matters to you, from a brand like NRMA Insurance - Australia’s most trusted insurance brand, 3 years in a row1.
Here are a few things to consider when reviewing your cover. If you’d like to update your policy, you can make most changes in your online account or the app, but you can also call us on 132 132 to make updates over the phone.
Have you reviewed the sum insured of your buildings and contents?
You can use our home building and contents calculators to get an estimate of what it might cost to repair or rebuild your home, and repair or replace the items you’ve covered in it. Having an accurate sum insured means you won’t be over or underinsuring.
Have any life events or changes meant your cover needs have changed?
Have you made significant renovations to your home? Perhaps your living situation with your spouse has changed? Make sure you’ve got the right people listed on your policy and that you have adequate coverage to suit your life stage or home updates.
Have you considered what level of coverage best suits your needs, budget and life stage?
We have a range of home insurance policies to help you find one that suits your needs.
Have you reviewed which items you’re covering and are the maximum limits appropriate?
Make sure you’ve checked the limits for any items you’re insuring like jewellery or hearing aids and that these are right for you. Check your policy for what you’re covered for and not covered for.
Here are some ways you might be able to control the costs of your home insurance policy.
Consider your excess – often a higher excess can mean lower premiums which could help you manage your insurance costs month to month or year to year. An excess is your contribution to the claim.
Our customer discounts – we offer a range of discounts that could apply to eligible insurance policies:
Change how you pay – for most policies, you can change the frequency you pay your premiums to fortnightly, monthly, quarterly or annually at no additional cost. This could make it easier for you to manage your budget and insurance costs.
As Australia’s most trusted insurance brand 3 years in a row1, we’ve been protecting what matters most to Australians for almost 100 years.
But what do you get for renewing your home insurance policy with NRMA Insurance?
We strive to be the first insurer in and last insurer out during major disasters. That means you’ve got real people to talk about what to do after a major event and how to recover.
Whether you want to give us a call, use our app or manage your insurance online, we’re here to help wherever you are.
With our Help Hub, you can get access to offers and discounts, discover safety challenges to help reduce your risk in and outside of the home, and get Priority Assistance.
We provide a lifetime guarantee on the workmanship of all authorised repairs to your home’s buildings.