WJ INSURANCE
Home, Contents, Landlord & Strata

Home insurance for Melbourne, without the guesswork.

Whether you are buying your first apartment in Carlton, refurbishing a Victorian terrace in Hawthorn, or building a portfolio of investment properties, we arrange the right home cover from over 230 insurers — and we explain it in plain English, Mandarin or Cantonese.

What we arrange

Cover for the home you have actually built.

No two homes are the same — and a $300,000 sum insured that worked for your neighbour does not necessarily work for you. We take the time to understand your home, your contents and your situation before recommending anything.

Building insurance

Building insurance covers the structure of your home — walls, roof, floors, fixed kitchens and bathrooms, garage, driveway, fences, pools and outbuildings. The most important number on the policy is the sum insured, and the most common mistake we see is setting it based on market value rather than rebuild cost. We work through a proper rebuild estimate with you so the figure actually means something.

Contents insurance

Contents covers what you would take with you if you moved — furniture, electronics, clothing, art and personal effects. We help you set a realistic sum insured by walking through each room, paying close attention to high-value items like jewellery, watches, cameras and bicycles, which often need to be specified separately to avoid sub-limits.

Landlord insurance

If you let out a property, landlord cover sits alongside the building insurance and protects you from tenant-related losses — accidental damage, malicious damage, theft by tenants, and loss of rent if the property becomes uninhabitable. We arrange landlord cover for single houses, apartments and growing portfolios.

Strata & owners corporation

Strata insurance is the responsibility of an owners corporation, not the individual unit owner. It covers the building, common property and statutory liability for an apartment block, townhouse complex or mixed-use development. We work with managers and committees across Melbourne to benchmark existing strata policies against the wider market.

Specialty covers

We also place cover for short-stay rentals, holiday homes, heritage and period properties, off-the-plan purchases under construction, vacant homes between settlement and renovation, and prestige homes that exceed the limits of standard retail policies. Each of these has its own quirks, and most standard policies fall short.

Read the fine print

What home cover typically does and does not include.

Standard home and contents wordings are written by insurers, not by you. Knowing where the policy responds — and where it does not — is the difference between a smooth claim and a frustrating one.

Typically covered Included

  • Fire, smoke, lightning and storm damage
  • Theft and attempted theft
  • Burst pipes and accidental escape of water
  • Glass and ceramic breakage
  • Impact from vehicles, animals or falling trees
  • Temporary accommodation while the home is uninhabitable
  • Legal liability as the owner or occupier of the home
  • Removal of debris and demolition costs

Often excluded Check the policy

  • Wear and tear, gradual deterioration and rust
  • Faulty workmanship and design defects
  • Mould, pests and infestation
  • Flood, in some postcodes and with some insurers
  • Tree root damage to drains, paths and foundations
  • Theft by tenants on a non-landlord policy
  • Items kept outdoors or in unlocked sheds
  • Jewellery and high-value items above sub-limits
Common situations

Where Melbourne homeowners often get caught out.

Patterns we see again and again. If any of these sound like your situation, it is worth a conversation.

  • Under-insured rebuild cost — Melbourne construction costs have risen sharply over recent years. A sum insured that was right two renewals ago is often well short today.
  • Renovation in progress — major renovations change the policy needs entirely, and many home policies exclude or limit cover during works above a certain value.
  • Short-stay listings — listing a property on Airbnb or similar platforms is excluded under most home policies. Specialised cover is needed.
  • Vacant between tenancies — most landlord policies restrict or exclude cover after a property has been unoccupied for 60 to 90 days.
  • Family heirlooms and jewellery — engagement rings, watches, art and collectibles often exceed the unspecified items sub-limit and need to be scheduled separately.
  • Home offices and side businesses — running a business from home can affect both the contents cover and your liability section.
  • Heritage overlays — period and heritage homes can cost significantly more to repair, and policies must reflect that.
Common questions

Home insurance, in plain language.

How much does home and contents insurance cost in Melbourne?

Premiums depend on suburb, building sum insured, contents value, construction, age of the home, claims history and the excess you choose. Inner-city apartments are typically rated lower than period homes in bushfire or flood-prone areas.

Pricing is set by the underwriter and confirmed at quotation. We compare across more than 230 insurers and walk you through the differences before you decide.

What is the difference between sum insured and total replacement cover?

Sum insured cover pays up to a fixed amount you nominate when you take out the policy. If your home costs more to rebuild than that figure, you absorb the gap.

Total replacement (or extended replacement) cover commits the insurer to rebuild the home as it was, even if the cost exceeds your nominated figure. Total replacement is more expensive but offers better protection against under-insurance, which has become a serious issue in Melbourne since construction costs jumped.

Is contents insurance worth it for an apartment?

Strata covers the building structure but not your personal belongings inside the apartment. Contents cover replaces clothes, electronics, furniture, jewellery and other personal effects after fire, theft, water damage or accidental loss.

For most apartment owners, $50,000 to $150,000 of contents cover is appropriate; we walk through the maths with you before you decide.

Do I need landlord insurance if my tenant has contents cover?

Yes. Your tenant's contents cover protects their belongings, not your investment. Landlord insurance covers the building, your fixtures and fittings, loss of rent and tenant-caused damage. It also includes liability cover specific to your role as a landlord.

Does home insurance cover flood?

Most insurers include flood cover by default in their home policies, but some allow you to opt out, and a few price flood very high in known flood zones.

We check the flood section in every quote and explain the difference between storm, stormwater and riverine flood — three perils that are commonly confused and treated differently in policy wordings.

What is strata insurance and who pays for it?

Strata insurance covers the common property and building of an apartment, townhouse complex or owners corporation development. It is paid for by the owners corporation through quarterly fees, not by individual owners directly.

Other ways we can help

Related services.

Take a proper look at your home cover.

Send us your current policy and a real broker will benchmark it against the market — line by line, with no review fee and no obligation. If you choose to place cover through us, we may earn commission from the insurer as set out in our Financial Services Guide.

Send for a review Call 0478 978 888