Luxury and high-value home insurance, in one form

High-value home insurance is home and contents cover for a house that costs more to rebuild than most policies are built for. Past a few million, fewer insurers will take it, and some send it to an underwriter. Gary puts it to every one that can.

Gary with a clipboard on the path of a large modern home beside a long swimming pool

Where standard home cover runs out

Every insurer sets a ceiling on the building it will cover online. We measured ours by asking at rising figures, or read them from the insurer’s own rules. By the rebuild cost of the house, here’s who on our panel can take it:

Up to $3 millionEvery mainstream home insurer on our panel can price it online, where the rest of its rules fit.
$3m to $5mThe mainstream insurers price it, and the high-value specialist is asked too. It sends every home to its underwriters.
$5m to $7mOne mainstream insurer still prices it online. The specialist is asked beside it.
Over $7mThe specialist alone. A broker brings you its underwriter’s terms.

Building sums insured. One mainstream insurer’s limit is $5 million for building and contents together, with contents up to $500,000. Limits move; the quote always says why an insurer didn’t price.

What high-value home insurance costs

In November 2026 we priced one house through our form: two storeys, a pool, top-of-the-range fittings and $250,000 of contents. In Melbourne, taking the building from $2 million to $2.9 million raised the price by only 24% to 31%.

The same house at $2.5 million cost at least 76% more in Sydney, partly because New South Wales charges an emergency services levy on the premium. The full story and figures. At $8 million, the mainstream insurers declined on their limits, and the specialist’s underwriters were the route to a price.

The premium follows the rebuild figure, so getting that figure right matters more than anything else on the form. Our home insurance page has the spread across ordinary homes too.

Same house, two insurersNov 2026

$2.0m, Melbourne: $5,662.18 to $7,603.75
$2.5m, Melbourne: $6,667.98 to $8,633.88
$2.9m, Melbourne: $7,403.61 to $9,456.44
$2.5m, Sydney: $11,760.95 to $12,020.82

Building sum insured. Annual prices from the two mainstream insurers that priced it, including GST, stamp duty and the NSW levy, before our broker fee. Test quotes through our own form; insurers unnamed because the panel changes.

Six things a standard policy caps

Each card names the part of the policy that responds, from three home wordings on our panel. Every quote links its own PDS.

It was built to your own plans

Custom-built homes

A one-off design is rebuilt to its own plans, not a builder’s standard rate. Insure it for what that rebuild would cost, architect and engineer included.

The lace and the leadlight

Heritage homes

One insurer on our panel doesn’t write heritage-listed homes. The wordings we read pay for matching materials only up to a limit, so original detail belongs in the sum insured.

The pool house and the tennis court

Grounds and outbuildings

Pools, tennis courts, fences, paved driveways and landscaping count as part of the home in the wordings we read, so they belong in the rebuild figure. Some carry fixed limits.

The painting and the ring

Art and valuables

Unlisted jewellery is limited to $5,000 or $10,000 an item in the wordings we read. Listing a piece, with a valuation, is how it’s insured for what it’s worth.

It’s on the water

Waterfront homes

Storm and flood are defined separately, and each insurer prices the address. The quote shows which ones take it and what each PDS says.

The renovation starts Monday

Building work

Large works change the cover. The wordings we read need telling before work over $75,000 or $150,000, and one excludes work on the roof, outside walls or structure.

Insure for the rebuild cost, not the sale price

The building sum insured is what it would cost to clear the site and build the same house again, with the same finishes, fees and today’s building rules. The land isn’t in it.

Enter the address and we show a rebuild range from public records under the building question. It works from floor area and a standard rate, so it can’t see imported stone, custom joinery or a hard site. For a house like that, a quantity surveyor’s figure is the one commonly relied on.

If the rebuild costs more than the sum insured: The three wordings we read pay up to 10%, 25% or 30% more, each on its own conditions. None has an 80% clause.
Demolition, fees and today’s building rules: Paid on top of the sum insured by some policies and out of it by others, so the figure may need to carry them.
Living elsewhere while it’s rebuilt: Commonly 20% of the building sum insured, up to 24 months in two of the wordings. A big rebuild can take that long.

What the form asks

Start with the address. We look the property up, you check it, and the form goes to every insurer on our panel whose limits reach. Rent it out? That’s landlord insurance, in the same form.

Questions owners of high-value homes ask

How much is luxury home insurance?

For one two-storey house with a pool and $250,000 of contents, our panel returned $5,662 to $9,456 a year in Melbourne for building sums of $2 million to $2.9 million, in November 2026. The same house at $2.5 million cost $11,761 to $12,021 in Sydney, where an emergency services levy is charged on the premium. Prices include GST and stamp duty, before our broker fee.

What counts as a high-value home?

There’s no fixed line, but cover starts to change from about $3 million to rebuild. That’s where the specialist on our panel starts quoting, and from $5 million most mainstream policies stop. A house with original heritage detail, architect finishes or a lot of art can need specialist attention at a lower figure.

Is luxury home insurance different from normal home insurance?

It’s the same kind of policy, home and contents, with higher limits and more room for what a big or unusual house needs: a larger rebuild figure, listed valuables, outbuildings and grounds. Insurers call it luxury, prestige, high-value or high-net-worth cover. They mean much the same thing.

Which insurers cover homes over $5 million?

On our panel, one mainstream insurer prices a building up to $7 million online, and the high-value specialist takes homes from $3 million, through its underwriters. Above $7 million, the specialist is the one that quotes, and its underwriters decide each home on its own.

Why was my home referred instead of priced?

The specialist on our panel sends every home to its underwriters rather than pricing it automatically. A broker follows it up and brings you their terms. The mainstream insurers quote beside it where their limits reach, so you may see prices and a referral together.

Can I insure a custom-built home?

Yes. The difference is the rebuild figure: a one-off design is rebuilt to its own plans, often with a longer build and higher fees. A public-record estimate works from floor area and a standard rate, so for a custom home a quantity surveyor’s figure is commonly relied on.

Is this advice?

Everything here is general information only. It doesn’t consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. We explain how high-value home insurance works and show the prices insurers return; read the PDS and decide what fits.

Cover

Home insurance

A home insurance broker online: building, contents or both, several insurers in one form.

See the cover

Cover

Landlord insurance

For a home you rent out: the building, your contents, unpaid rent and tenant damage.

See the cover

Guide

Certificate of currency

The proof your lender, landlord or head contractor asks for, and how to get it.

Read on

Claims

How claims work with Gary

Who to call, what to send, and what your broker does from there.