More Australians than ever are living in apartments, which has put a new spin on the Great Australian Dream of owning a house on a large block.1
Over the 25 years from 1991 to 2016, the number of occupied apartments in Australia rose by 78%.2 Apartments now make up nearly one in every six residences nationwide,3 according to the latest census data – and demand is climbing.4
There are plenty of reasons why millions of Australians are choosing to live in apartments, including lifestyle, location and affordability.4
Whether you own or lease, it can be easy to assume that living in an apartment also equals fewer risks. After all, someone else insures the building, right?
Assuming this would be ignoring an important insurance gap that some apartment dwellers may not realise exists until it’s too late: cover for your personal belongings. Or, in other words, apartment contents insurance – a form of contents cover that falls under the umbrella of home insurance.
“While strata insurance typically covers the building itself, most things inside your apartment– including your furniture, clothing, electronics, valuables and sometimes even fixtures – will not be covered,” explains Mervyn Hartley, Youi’s Head of Product – Home.
To help you make a more informed decision about covering what’s yours, we’ve created this guide to answer questions you might have about apartment insurance. Read on to learn what is – and isn’t – covered by home and contents insurance for apartments, liability risks for renters, and how to calculate the value of your possessions to avoid underinsurance.5
What is apartment insurance vs home insurance for apartments?
“Apartment insurance and home insurance for apartments are essentially the same thing – contents cover. The physical structure of the property, the building, will most likely already be covered by strata insurance,” explains Hartley.
“And at Youi, that apartment contents cover is offered as Contents insurance under our Home insurance product category.”
Still confused? Understanding home insurance in Australia can sometimes be confusing because the term “home insurance” is often used by insurers and customers as a broad catch-all to alternately refer to:
- Building insurance – for the building itself
- Contents insurance – for personal items inside your home
- Home and contents insurance – for those who want to cover both their building and contents in one policy
What does apartment contents insurance cover?
If you’re among the millions of people living in an apartment in Australia,6 you might be interested in insuring the valuables and other belongings inside your home.
While policies vary between insurers, apartment contents insurance generally covers household items and personal belongings if they’re damaged, lost or stolen in an insured or defined event.7 Covered items commonly include:
- Furniture7
- Clothes7
- Computers7
- Televisions7
- Tools7
- Fitted carpets8
- Curtains and blinds9
- Dishwashers, dryers, fridges (appliances not hard-wired to the building)10
Jewellery may also be covered under contents insurance.11
However, most contents policies will typically set limits around how much they’ll cover your jewellery for, and high-value items, such as engagement rings may need to be specified separately to be insured for their full replacement value.11
“With Youi contents insurance, you can nominate a total lump sum to cover your jewellery. However, if you have any items worth more than $15,000 — whether that’s an individual piece, pair or set — these need to be listed separately” says Hartley.10
To help you weigh up the benefits of having apartment contents insurance as an owner-occupier or renter, here are some of the “insured events” included in a Youi policy:10
Theft
“If you have the misfortune of someone breaking into your apartment, our contents insurance covers loss or damage to the insured property caused by theft, attempted theft, or burglary at the premises," says Hartley.10
Fire or smoke damage
There are more than 17,000 residential fires in Australia each year,12 with electrical faults among the main causes.13 Youi’s contents insurance covers damage caused by accidental fires – including those caused by mechanical, electrical or electronic breakdown or failure – as well as damage from bushfire soot or smoke.14
Earthquake
While earthquakes might seem relatively rare in Australia, they’re actually more common than you’d think15 – and they’re also an insured event covered by Youi.10
Storms and flood
Extreme weather, on the other hand, is far more common in Australia and was responsible for 264,000 insurance claims – tallying almost $3.5 billion – in 2025.16
Damage or loss caused by storm, lightning, wind, hail, snow and stormwater overflow from roof gutters and downpipes, as well as flood, are also classified as insured events at Youi.14
“Even as an apartment resident, it’s important to know that you’re still at risk of wild weather, so it can be a good idea to brush up on some basic preparation to help reduce the chances of your belongings being impacted,” says Hartley.
Water damage
Water that comes out in a sudden burst – such as from a burst flexi hose – is a common cause of home and contents insurance claims.
“At Youi, we call this ‘escaping water’,” says Hartley. “It’s an insured event and usually involves water spurting out suddenly and without warning. – for example, you may be covered by your contents insurance if a sudden leak occurs from your washing machine and damages any of your other contents items.”17
And what about other types of leaks in your apartment?
“Whether or not your contents are covered by your insurance if they’re damaged will depend on what caused the damage,” explains Hartley. “For example, at Youi, contents insurance doesn’t cover damage to you belongings caused by water escaping from a leak in a shower base or due to splashing from a bath, shower or basin while it’s in use.”17
Worried about dealing with water damage in your rental property? If your lease makes you responsible for insuring your landlord’s fitted carpets, fixtures and fittings, Youi’s Tenant’s Liability extra cover, included with a Youi Contents policy, can cover these items if they’re damaged due to an insured event.10
Intentional damage
Say a vandal throws a rock through your apartment window and smashes your home entertainment system. You may be covered for the damage incurred to your insured contents under “intentional damage”.10
“Just be aware that this doesn’t apply if the damage has been caused intentionally by a flatmate or a visitor, or someone else you’ve invited into your apartment – unless they’re there to carry out a commercial service. Contents insurance generally won’t cover that,” says Hartley.10
Are the valuables in my apartment covered for accidental damage?
Insurers often offer additional cover options to their standard policies, including when it comes to apartment contents cover.
Youi’s Contents Accidental Loss or Damage optional cover, for example, applies if your contents are accidentally lost or damaged. It may also cover your portable contents – the personal belongings you routinely leave home with, such as a mobile phone, musical instrument or bicycle.
“Optional covers essentially extend the list of ‘insured events’,” says Hartley.10
“Let’s say your personal laptop falls off the kitchen table or your handbag gets stolen on the train – those events could be covered with Contents Accidental Loss or Damage.”10
What does body corporate or strata insurance cover in apartments?
As a general rule, body corporate insurance covers damage to apartment buildings and their common areas.18 Some permanent features within individual apartments, such as internal walls, skirting boards, built-in cabinetry, cooktops and ovens, and fixed tiling may also be covered – although requirements and inclusions for strata or body corporate insurance differ from state to state.19,20 It’s not always obvious which party is responsible for maintaining parts of apartment buildings – and therefore for taking out insurance.
Susan Chandler, General Manager of the Strata Community Association, Victoria, recommends checking with apartment management to help determine which cover you might need.
“It’s a bit of a grey area sometimes, especially in regards to maintenance and repairs, because it depends on the plan of subdivision and what’s classified as common areas and private areas,” says Chandler.
“My advice to someone getting contents insurance for their apartment is to contact the strata manager, and they can go through everything with them.”
Does contents insurance include liability cover?
Yes, contents insurance in Australia does typically include legal liability.7
Legal liability offers a vital financial safety net if an accident happens inside your apartment and you are found to be legally responsible for damage or personal injury to a third party or their property.7,21 For example, if a guest trips and is injured or a mishap in your home damages your neighbour’s property, legal liability can help cover the resulting medical bills, repair costs, and even your legal fees if you’re found legally responsible for the incident.21
“With Youi, our contents insurance and building insurance policies include $20 million in legal liability cover,” says Hartley.22
“If you rent your apartment, you might assume that the only motivation for taking out contents insurance is to safeguard your personal belongings. That’s obviously very important, but from an insurance standpoint, legal liability cover can also be a valuable part of a contents-only policy.”10
How much should you insure your contents for?
When you take out a contents insurance policy, you’ll typically be asked to provide a “sum insured” amount for your belongings. That’s the estimated total value of your contents – and therefore the maximum value of your policy.23
“In insurance speak, ‘sum insured’ means how much the insurer agrees to cover the insured property for. It is the most the insurer will pay if you claim for an incident covered by your policy,” says Hartley.
To help avoid contents “underinsurance” – that’s when the level of insurance wouldn’t cover the cost of replacing or repairing what’s been lost or damaged24 – you might like to take steps to correctly estimate the value of your belongings.23
Underinsurance is very common in Australia and most people don’t know they’re underinsured.24 Here are some tips for accurately calculating the value of your contents:7,24
- Make a list of your belongings and how much each item would cost to replace – at today’s prices. Include as many details as possible, such as serial numbers, receipts, warranties, photos, condition of the item and date of purchase.
- Use your phone to take a detailed video of each room to show your belongings.
- Use an online calculator to estimate the sum value of your contents.7,24
"It really can be worth taking the time to tally everything up – and not just the bigger-ticket items like furniture and jewellery," says Hartley.
"When you add it all up – from clothes and sporting equipment to wall art and kitchen gadgets – you may be surprised by how valuable your personal belongings really are.”
If you’re thinking about contents insurance for your apartment – or wish to review your existing home insurance policy – you can start a quote online with Youi or give us a call on 13 96 84.
Home Insurance issued by Youi Pty Ltd. Consider the Home PDS and TMD to decide if this product is right for you.
1 Source: Australian Financial Review – The ‘Australian Dream’ is looking more like an apartment than a house, December 2024
2 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia - Stories from the Census, 2016
3 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – Housing: Census, June 2022
4 Source: realestate.com.au – Apartment approvals surge to five-year high as the Australian housing dream shifts, January 2026
5 Source: ABC News – If your home is underinsured it comes with big risks, experts say, March 2026
6 Source: ABC News – Aussies love a house party – but could the rise of apartment living see that change?, May 2024
7 Source: Moneysmart – Contents insurance, n.d.
8 Source: Canstar – What is Contents Insurance and What Does it Cover?, March 2024
9 Source: TasAlert – Fact Sheet 5: Home insurance and contents insurance, n.d
10 Exclusions, limits and additional fees may apply. See the Home PDS for full details.
11 Source: Canstar – Engagement Ring Insurance, January 2025
12 Source: Science Direct – Comparison of causes, characteristics and consequences of residential fires in social and non-social housing dwellings in New South Wales, Australia, August 2022
13 Source: Country Fire Authority – About House Fires, March 2026
14 Exclusions and limits may apply. Where you have increased your cover or reduced your excess within 72 hours of a flood, storm, hail or bushfire occurring, cover will be limited to the amount that was effective prior to the change. Loss, damage or legal liability caused by, resulting or arising from flood, storm, hail or bushfire during the first 72 hours of your policy first being purchased is excluded unless certain conditions apply. For full details see the PDS, TMD and your policy schedule.
15 Source: ABC News – What causes earthquakes? How common are they in Australia?, August 2025
16 Source: Insurance Council of Australia – Extreme weather cost $3.5 billion in 2025, January 2026
17 Cover available for loss or damage to the insured property caused by escaping water that occurred suddenly and without warning, or slowly over a period of time and you could not reasonably have been aware of it. Exclusions apply. See the PDS for full details.
18 Source: Canstar – Body Corporate Fees – what do they cover?, April 2024
19 Source: Stratacare – Body Corporate Insurance: Factsheet, January 2024
20 Source: Strata Community Association – Everything You Need to Know About Strata Insurance – A Complete Guide, May 2024
21 Source: Insurance Council of Australia – The benefits of contents insurance – protection for renters, March 2023
22 Legal liability cover under your building and contents policy includes your legal liability arising from an accident that occurs during the term of the policy and if the accident arises in connection with you owning the premises, or arises in relation to you or your contents. Limits and exclusions apply. See the PDS for full details.
23 Source: Insurance Council of Australia – Calculators, n.d.
24 Source: Moneysmart – Underinsurance: What it is and how to avoid it, n.d.
