Insurance in Australia
Please Note: The information provided here is general information only that is freely available. Move to Australia, MovetoAus.com.au and its directors are not licensed insurance brokers and the information provided should not be taken as insurance advice. For advice on insurance in Australia, taking your personal circumstances into account, please contact a licence insurance broker, or someone qualified or approved to provide advice on insurance products.
Types of Insurance in Australia
Insurance in Australia is similar to that found in most developed countries in that there are a range of different types of policies available to protect you from unforeseen events. The most common categories and generally what they cover are:
- Motor Vehicle – comprehensive vehicle cover, third party or third party, fire and theft are some of the common cover types.
- Home Contents – generally referred to as contents insurance, covers the contents of your home against theft, fire, breakage, and other unforeseen events. Does not cover items regarded as part of the property though.
- Home Insurance – building insurance covers the physical building and in many cases the fixtures that form part of a building and protects against unforeseen damage or loss.
- Personal Protection Insurance – this is made up of different policies such as income protection, life insurance, disability cover, that protect you from unforeseen events and either pay a lump sum or a percentage of your income if you cannot work.
- Pet Insurance – cover for unforeseen veterinary bills as a result of illness or accident.
- Marine Insurance – cover for boats and personal water craft (e.g. jet skis).
- Business Insurance – including personal liability, staff or employee cover, business premises, business contents and stock.
Important Policies When You Arrive
Home Contents (goods shipped to Australia):
Depending on when your furniture and personal effects arrive, you may want to get some quotes to insure your home contents, though this can wait until you find a home to rent or buy as many policies are based on the suburb, type of property (house, unit, building constructions and location) and security of the property (alarms, door and window security, etc.) Most people insure their goods during the shipping process and this generally cover you until your personal effects and household goods are delivered by the shipping company or their locally appointed agent.
Car Insurance:
When you buy a car, you will need to consider if you would like comprehensive car insurance or a third party policy (generally popular on older, not vintage, and cheaper cars <$5,000 in value). If you financed the car purchase through a secured loan that uses the car as security, then it is generally a condition of the finance agreement that you have a comprehensive insurance policy for the duration of the loan. This makes sense too as you wouldn’t want to owe money to a finance company if the car is a total loss in an accident. Can insurance policy costs also vary between makes, age of the vehicle and type of vehicle and if there is finance owing on the car too. Insurance premiums with the same company also vary from state to state, depend on the age of the youngest driver, where you live (area, suburb, town) and park the car at night (garage, driveway or street, etc.), your driving history, accessories or extras fitted to the vehicle (and if they are covered at all), modifications or performance enhancements, and so on. Most good companies will ask you these questions, and if they don’t, be wary.
If you imported your vehicle(s) into Australia, you must disclose this to the insurance company as many have a disclaimer that they do not cover imported vehicles (meaning personal as opposed to “official” imports) though will still take your premium and not pay out in the event of an incident. The common thread is, do your research and ask as many questions as possible!
It makes sense to call a few car insurance companies for a quote, some of the major companies offering car insurance in Australia include:
GIO Insurance
Allianz
AAMI
Suncorp
SGIO
RAC
NRMA
SGIC
Shannons (specialise in insuring rare and vintage cars and motorcycles)
