Interactive explainer
Contents sum-insured estimator
Tell us how big your home is, how many people live there and which big-ticket items you own, and the estimator builds an indicative replacement-cost total. That figure is the sum insured to aim for, because it reflects what it would cost to re-buy your contents at today's prices, not a round number you guessed.
Estimate your contents sum insured
Indicative only, based on average re-buy values. Walk through each room with the policy and itemise high-value goods for an accurate figure.
Indicative sum insured
to $
This is the re-buy value of your contents, which is the figure to insure, shown as a range of plus or minus 10%. Set your sum insured around the middle of it, not below, or you risk underinsurance. Ticked high-value items must be listed separately on the policy to be fully covered, because they sit under per-item limits.
Assumptions: indicative new-for-old replacement values per room and per person, scaled for furnishing level; clothing and effects at roughly $4,000 a person; whitegoods only counted when they are yours; specified items added at indicative per-category amounts. 2026 retail estimates, anchored to ABS data showing average household contents near $70,000. Your true figure depends on what you actually own, so itemise.
| Room or category | What it usually includes | Indicative replacement value |
|---|---|---|
| Living room | Sofa, TV, media unit, console, rugs, decor | $6,000 to $12,000 |
| Each bedroom | Bed, mattress, wardrobe contents, linen, lamps | $4,000 to $8,000 |
| Kitchen | Small appliances, cookware, crockery, pantry | $3,000 to $6,000 |
| Home office | Laptop, desk, monitor, chair, peripherals | $2,500 to $6,000 |
| Clothing and personal effects (per person) | Wardrobe, shoes, bags, everyday items | $3,000 to $7,000 |
| Whitegoods (if yours, not the landlord's) | Fridge, washer, dryer, dishwasher | $2,500 to $5,000 |
| Item type | Why it needs itemising |
|---|---|
| Jewellery and watches | Often capped at a low per-item limit unless specified. |
| Bicycles and e-bikes | Frequently excluded or limited, especially away from home. |
| Laptops, cameras and portable tech | May need "personal effects" cover to be insured outside the home. |
| Art, collectables and musical instruments | Valuations and receipts make a single-item claim far easier. |
The short answer
What renters insurance is, and what it is not
Most renters in Australia assume that the landlord's insurance also covers their belongings. It does not. Landlord insurance and the building cover behind it protect the structure and the owner's financial interest, never the tenant's furniture, electronics, clothes or appliances. So if there is a fire, a flood, a burst pipe or a break-in, an uninsured renter can lose an entire household with nothing to claim against. The cover that fills that gap is renters contents insurance, and it is yours to arrange, not your landlord's. The second trap is quieter but just as costly: underinsurance. People pick a round number for the sum insured that is far below what it would actually cost to replace everything at today's prices, then discover at claim time that the payout falls short. This page explains why the landlord's policy stops at your front door, how to set a sum insured that actually reflects your contents, and where the per-item limits and exclusions hide.
Here is the core takeaway in one line: your landlord's insurance covers the building and the owner, never your belongings, so the only thing protecting your contents is your own renters contents insurance, set to a realistic replacement value. That reframes the question from "do I need it" to "how much should I insure for". The danger is not only going without cover, it is buying a policy with a sum insured so low that a claim still leaves you thousands of dollars short. Estimate your contents room by room, insure for that re-buy figure, and list the high-value items separately.
Reframe the assumption: "the landlord has insurance" tells you nothing about your own risk. Building cover and your contents cover are two separate policies protecting two separate parties. Until you arrange contents insurance in your own name, every item you own is uninsured, and the sum insured you choose is the ceiling on any payout.
The blind spot
Where the cover for a renter's belongings disappears
Most "renters insurance" advice does one of three unhelpful things, and each one leaves a renter exposed without realising it.
First, it blurs the line between the landlord's policy and yours. It says "make sure the place is insured" as if one policy covered everyone. It does not. Landlord and building insurance covers the structure and the owner's financial interest, so when a fire or flood hits, that policy rebuilds the walls and the tenant still has to replace every stick of furniture, every appliance and every wardrobe at their own cost.
Second, it treats the sum insured as a formality. It tells renters to "pick a number" without explaining that the number is the cap on the payout. A renter who insures a $60,000 household for $25,000 because it felt like enough is underinsured by more than half, and on some policies an average clause can shrink even a partial claim in proportion to how far short the cover was.
Third, it ignores the per-item limits. It implies that once you have contents cover, everything is covered to its full value. In reality jewellery, bicycles, laptops and similar goods sit under low per-item sub-limits, so the engagement ring or the e-bike you assumed was protected can be paid out at a fraction of its worth unless it was listed separately.
How the cover is actually structured
Expert analysis: how renters insurance really works in Australia
Two policies, two parties: building versus contents
The market splits a rented home into two insurable interests. The owner insures the building, often alongside landlord insurance that protects rental income and the owner against tenant-related loss. The tenant insures the contents, meaning the movable belongings they brought in. Neither policy reaches across the line: the landlord's cover never pays for your sofa, and your contents cover never pays to rebuild the wall. This is why "is the place insured" is the wrong question. The right one is whether your contents are insured in your name, because that is the only policy that responds when your possessions are lost.
The sum insured is a ceiling, not a guess
Contents insurance pays up to the sum insured you nominate, so that figure is the single most important decision you make. Set it too low and the payout is capped below your real loss, even in a total destruction. Worse, many contents policies carry an average (co-insurance) clause: if you insured for materially less than the true replacement value, the insurer can reduce even a partial claim in the same proportion. Insuring a $60,000 household for $30,000 can therefore halve a small claim, not just a large one. The defence is a replacement-cost estimate built room by room at today's retail prices, which is exactly what the estimator above models.
Per-item limits and specified valuables
A contents policy does not insure every item to its full value automatically. High-value goods sit under per-item sub-limits: a policy might cap any single piece of jewellery, or limit bicycles, or treat portable electronics as covered only inside the home. To insure a $5,000 engagement ring or a $3,000 e-bike for what it is worth, you usually have to specify it on the policy, sometimes with a valuation. Renters who skip this step are technically insured but practically underpaid on the items they care most about, which is why itemising the valuables is as important as setting the overall sum insured.
New for old versus indemnity, and what changes the premium
Two settlement bases exist. New for old replaces a lost item with an equivalent new one, so an old laptop worth $300 second-hand is replaced with an $800 new model. Indemnity pays only the depreciated value, so you get the $300. New for old costs more in premium but is what most renters actually want, because the whole point is to be able to re-buy. On top of the settlement basis, the premium moves with where you live (theft, flood and bushfire risk by postcode), the sum insured, the excess you choose and any specified items. Higher excess and better security pull it down.
What this looks like in real homes
How the cover gap catches Australian renters
The structure above is not theory. It is exactly how renters end up unprotected or underpaid:
The "the landlord's insured" assumption
A tenant never arranges contents cover because the agent mentioned the property was insured. A kitchen fire guts the unit; the landlord's policy rebuilds it, and the tenant is left to replace a whole home of furniture, clothes and appliances out of their own pocket. The cover they assumed protected them only ever protected the building.
The round-number sum insured
A renter insures for $25,000 because it sounded sufficient, when a room-by-room tally would have shown closer to $55,000. A burglary takes the electronics and jewellery, and even before per-item limits, the payout is capped well below the loss. The number was a guess, and the guess was the ceiling.
The unspecified valuables
A couple hold contents cover but never listed the engagement ring or the e-bike. Both are stolen, and each is paid out at the policy's low per-item limit rather than its real value. They were insured, just not for what those items were actually worth.
The indemnity surprise
A renter on a cheaper indemnity policy loses a five-year-old laptop and a TV in a storm. The payout reflects depreciated value, not the cost of new replacements, so re-buying equivalent gear costs hundreds more than the cheque. The premium was lower; the shortfall was not.
The insider insight
The sum insured matters more than the brand on the policy
Here is the part most renters insurance advice never puts plainly. Once you have decided to insure your contents at all, the brand and the headline price matter far less than the number you write in the sum-insured box and the items you specify. A cheap policy set to a realistic replacement value, with the ring and the bike listed, will serve you far better in a claim than a premium policy left at a lazy round number. People obsess over the monthly premium and skim past the field that actually determines whether they can rebuild their household, which is the sum insured.
The non-obvious truth: the renters who come out whole after a fire or burglary are not the ones who bought the most expensive policy, they are the ones who estimated their contents honestly, set the sum insured to that figure, chose new-for-old, and listed their valuables. The single biggest mistake is not which insurer you pick, it is insuring for less than your stuff actually costs to replace.
The practical consequence: do the room-by-room estimate before you compare quotes, because it tells you what cover you are actually shopping for. Then compare like for like at that sum insured, with the same valuables specified, rather than comparing two different amounts of protection on price alone.
Grounded in the analysis
What you should actually do as a renter
Specific moves that follow from how the cover is structured, not generic advice.
Estimate your contents, room by room
Walk through every room and add up what it would cost to re-buy each item new at today's prices, not what you paid. Use the estimator above as a starting point, then adjust to what you actually own. That total, not a round number, is your sum insured.
Insure for the real figure, new for old
Set the sum insured to your replacement estimate and choose a new-for-old policy so you can actually re-buy. Insuring below the real value risks an average clause scaling down your claim, so do not trim the number to shave the premium.
Specify valuables and read the limits
List jewellery, bikes, cameras and similar high-value goods separately so they are covered for their real worth, not a low per-item cap. Photograph items, keep receipts or valuations, and check the exclusions in the product disclosure statement before you sign.
Settling into a rental? See our guide to renting in Australia, run through the moving checklist, and sort your utility connections for the new address.
Current figures, last updated 2026-06-16
Indicative renters contents insurance figures for Australia, 2026. Sources: the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for household contents value and published premium estimates for around $50,000 of cover. Premiums vary widely by postcode, sum insured, excess and specified items, so treat every figure as a ballpark and read the product disclosure statement.
The bottom line
Why the sum insured is the decision, not the premium
Renters insurance is genuinely affordable, but its value depends entirely on getting two things right that most people skip. First, recognise that the landlord's insurance protects the building and the owner, never your belongings, so the cover for your contents is yours alone to arrange. Second, set the sum insured to an honest, room-by-room replacement estimate rather than a comfortable round number, and specify the valuables that sit under per-item limits. With Australian households holding close to $70,000 of contents on average and replacement prices climbing, the renters who actually recover after a fire, flood or burglary in 2026 are the ones who insured their own stuff, for what it really costs to replace.
Common questions
A Selectra expert answers your renters insurance questions
No. This is the single most common and costly misconception for renters. Your landlord's insurance, and the building or strata insurance behind it, covers the structure and the owner's financial interest in the property. It does not cover your furniture, your electronics, your clothes or any of the contents you brought in. If there is a fire, a flood, a burst pipe or a burglary, the landlord's policy pays to repair the building, and you are left to replace everything that was yours with no claim. The only way your belongings are protected is your own renters contents insurance, which is entirely your responsibility to arrange.
Enough to re-buy everything you own at today's prices, which is almost always more than people guess. The reliable way to set it is a room-by-room replacement-cost estimate: walk through each room and add up what it would cost to buy each item new, not what you paid or what it is worth second-hand. Australian households now hold close to $70,000 of contents on average, so a $20,000 or $30,000 round number is often a serious underestimate. Set the sum insured to that realistic re-buy total, then check the per-item limits, because jewellery, bikes, laptops and similar high-value goods usually need to be listed separately to be fully covered.
Underinsurance is when your sum insured is set below the real cost of replacing your contents. It matters because the payout is capped at that figure, so even a total loss leaves you out of pocket. Worse, some contents policies apply an "average" or co-insurance clause: if you insured for far less than the true value, the insurer can scale down even a partial claim in proportion. So insuring a $60,000 household for $30,000 does not just halve your protection on a total loss, it can reduce a smaller claim too. The fix is to base the sum insured on an honest replacement-cost estimate and to review it whenever you make a big purchase.
It varies by where you live, how much you insure and your excess, but indicative annual premiums for around $50,000 of contents cover sit roughly in the $310 to $440 range across the states, which works out to about $25 to $40 a month. Premiums run higher in postcodes prone to theft, flood or bushfire, and rise with the sum insured and any specified high-value items. Choosing a higher excess, improving security like deadlocks and alarms, and not over-insuring all bring the premium down. Weigh that modest annual cost against the tens of thousands it would cost to replace a household from scratch.
A standard contents policy covers your personal belongings against insured events such as fire, storm, theft and attempted theft, malicious damage, and often accidental damage and damage while moving house. Many policies also include extras like temporary accommodation if the home becomes uninhabitable or limited food-spoilage cover. What it does not cover is the building itself, which is the landlord's responsibility, and it applies per-item limits to high-value goods. Always read the product disclosure statement for the insured events, the exclusions and the sub-limits before you sign, because the gaps are where renters get caught.
Yes, but contents cover is usually arranged for the household rather than for a single room, and policies often exclude theft by a person who lives with you. The practical approaches are either one shared policy where everyone contributes and each person's valuable items are listed, or each housemate insuring their own belongings under a personal contents policy. If you only want to protect your own gear, make sure your items are clearly identified on the policy, and read the housemate-theft exclusion carefully before relying on the cover, especially if you do not know your housemates well.
