Home insurance - what to look for?

Hi!

We're close to handover and the bank needs to see that we've got appropriate cover before they hand over the final bank cheque.

So, does anyone have any tips, ideas, recommendations for easy-to-deal with and reliable insurers?

I know the value of the house, given that's it's just been built, but I was told to also include for removal of debris, redesign and inflated tradie prices in the event of total replacement. So I have added another 30K on top of the house value.

Premiums have increased following the fires and floods, but I am not in an area prone to that those events so I hope my premiums aren't too affected.

I'm doing a lot of those online quotes, but the price is not the only factor. I also want an insurer that looks after us, is reasonable and provides good cover.

Thanks!

Choice has a good report on picking home insurance.
They make recommendations based on state.
They suggest including accidental damage and make sure flood is covered.
I got a bunch of quotes yesterday ranging from 500-2600!! I need to sit down and read what they all include.

Unfortunately it comes down to going through all of the fine print to see what they do and don't cover and if there are any limitations. I'd be adding more than 30 grand to the cost of the rebuild though. Some insurers like youi will give you an extra 20% (something like that don't quote me) of what you insure your building for just for clearing the site etc. Other insurers you need to take that into account. Youi and some other insurers don't cover floods and they won't insure you in a flood risk area. We went with rac and the only bad thing I found was the 1500 limit for outdoor items under their contents cover. I'd recommend doing your home and contents under the same policy. If you have expensive jewelry then you really need to go through the limitations in the pds and see if it covers enough. Some of the building insurance policies I looked at even had restrictions on tall trees being near the house?!

If you have expensive Jewellery you can have it valued and then pay an additional premium to have it covered as well

Thanks all. We've found an insurance plan, Comminsure, seemed the most reasonable for what we wanted.

If you're sure you're not in a flood-prone area, don't take out flood cover. Could save you somewhat, depending on the insurance company (the smarter ones of course shouldn't charge much at all for flood cover in an area that's not prone to flooding).

We will be doing this with my engagement ring and weddings rings!