Dual Occupancy Insurance

Two homes on one title, one policy that reflects both of them. We structure landlord cover for dual occupancy, dual key and side-by-side properties, whether they share a roofline or stand apart.

Homes, one title, one policy

$1.7-6.5K

Recent annual premiums

24-72h

With all information in hand

Recognition

THE SHORT ANSWER

A dual occupancy on one title can generally be insured under one landlord policy, with both dwellings declared and the sum insured set across both. Under a single roofline it is treated as a free-standing home with two occupancies. Two detached dwellings are declared as two dwellings on the one policy. Appetite is case by case, and the occupancy mix decides which markets can write it.

Tank arranges dual occupancy, dual occ and dual key cover across Australia, including properties held in an SMSF or trust. We work out whether the roofline, the leases and the ownership put the risk inside one market's appetite or another's before anything is submitted, so the policy matches the property as it legally stands.

01WHAT'S INSURED

What a Dual Occupancy Policy Covers

One policy, both homes, everything shared between them. Here's the shape of it, subject to policy terms, limits and exclusions.

What's covered	Key exclusions and considerations
Both dwellings - fire, storm, escape of water, impact and other insured events	Both must be declared with their occupancy; a dwelling missing from the schedule is a dwelling the policy may not respond for
Shared walls, fire wall, slab, roof and common services	Priced into the building sum insured; one-roofline and detached configurations are presented differently
Loss of rent on each lease after insured damage	The limit should reflect the combined weekly rent, not one side's lease
Legal liability as property owner	Owner-plus-tenant, two leases and dual key with a shared entry are each rated on their own occupancy mix
Tenant damage and rent default (where selected)	Has to apply to both tenancies; availability varies by insurer, and short-stay letting is treated differently
Fences, driveways, retaining walls and other improvements	Often sub-limited; the shared driveway and boundary works belong in the sum insured

DUAL OCCUPANCY QUOTE

Get both homes on one properly structured policy

Tell us about the property - both dwellings, whether they share a roofline, how each is occupied and the rent each earns. We'll structure a landlord policy around everything on the title.

Open quote form

02WHICH SETUP IS YOURS?

Which Setup Is Yours? Four Ways a Dual Occupancy Gets Insured

The answer to "one policy or two" changes with who lives where, who pays rent and whose name is on the title. Find your setup below. Each of these has been placed before; the work is matching the policy to the property as it actually stands, and appetite is confirmed case by case.

Both sides rented out on separate leases

This is the standard dual occupancy landlord risk. Both dwellings and both leases are declared, the building sum insured is set across the whole title, and loss of rent reflects the combined weekly rent. Some standard landlord products load for a second lease or don't accommodate it, so appetite is assessed case by case and the risk goes to the markets that write both dwellings on one policy.

What we need from you: Both leases, both rents, the rebuild cost of each dwelling and whether they share a roofline.

You live in one side, a tenant lives in the other

One policy can be structured with your side as owner-occupied and the other side declared as a tenanted dwelling. Your own home and contents cover sits on your side, and the landlord elements, loss of rent, tenant damage where selected and liability as owner, attach to the tenanted side. The owner-plus-tenant mix is rated differently to a fully let property, so it has to be declared exactly as it stands.

What we need from you: The lease on the tenanted side, its weekly rent, and whether each side has its own entrance and meters.

Dual key home or apartment with a shared entry

Two self-contained homes under one roof, usually with a shared front door and separate internal entries. On a freehold title it is insured like a one-roofline dual occupancy: one building policy, two households declared, rent on each. Inside a strata scheme the building sits under the strata policy and landlord cover is arranged for the contents, loss of rent and liability on both keys.

What we need from you: The title (freehold or strata lot), how each key is occupied, and the rent on each.

An SMSF or trust owns the property

The cover is ordinary dual occupancy landlord cover. What changes is the insured name: the policy must name the trustee company as trustee for the fund or trust, with the lender or custodian noted as an interested party. Get that wrong and the entity that owns the building isn't the entity that holds the policy, which surfaces at claim time and at settlement.

What we need from you: The exact trustee and fund or trust names as they appear on the title, plus the lender's details. On the quote form, pick the setup that matches the occupancy and add the trustee name in the detail box.

03GETTING THE STRUCTURE RIGHT

Six Things That Decide Whether Your Cover Actually Works

The second home isn't the hard part. It's making sure the policy describes the property, the occupancy and the owner exactly as they are.

Declare Both Occupancies

The insurer needs to know there are two households on the title, how each dwelling is occupied and who pays rent. Owner in one side and tenant in the other is rated differently to two leases, and a dwelling left off the schedule is a dwelling the policy may not respond for.

One Roofline or Two Buildings

Two homes under one roofline, separated by a fire wall with their own entrances, can be presented as a single free-standing home with two occupancies. Two detached dwellings are declared as two dwellings on the one policy. Same title, different presentation, and the presentation decides which markets can write it.

Separate Leases

Two leases means two rents, two tenancies and two sets of tenant-related covers. Loss of rent should reflect the combined weekly rent, and rent default or tenant damage, where selected, needs to apply to both sides, not just the one the insurer assumed.

Sum Insured Across Both Homes

The building sum insured is the rebuild cost of both dwellings plus everything shared: the slab, the fire wall, driveways, fencing, retaining walls and services. A figure lifted from one side's plans, or from the purchase price, tends to leave the second home short.

Insured Name When a Trust or SMSF Holds Title

If the property is owned by a trustee company, a family trust or a self-managed super fund, the policy has to name that legal owner, with the lender noted as an interested party. A policy in a member's personal name insures someone who doesn't own the building.

Strata Never Registered

A dual occupancy that was built with a strata subdivision in mind but never registered is still one title with two dwellings. It gets insured as it legally stands today, not as it was meant to become, and the submission needs to say so.

What it costs: Recent Tank placements for dual occupancy and dual key properties have landed between approximately $1,700 and $6,500 a year, depending on sum insured, location, construction and the occupancy mix. Your property will be rated on its own details. See the landlord insurance cost guide for the wider picture.

CLIENT SUCCESS

Two Homes, One Title: How Dual Occupancies Actually Get Placed

Recent Tank placements, anonymised. Premiums are approximate gross figures and reflect each risk at the time - not a guide to future pricing or turnaround.

01 A new dual occupancy under one roofline, written as one home

A family in Sydney's south-west had just completed a new dual occupancy: a four-bedroom main residence and a two-bedroom second dwelling under the one roofline, separated by a fire wall, with separate entrances and no internal access between them. Both sides were to be rented, at around $800 and $500 a week.

Because the two homes share a roofline, the risk was presented as a single free-standing home with two occupancies rather than two dwellings, with the building sum insured of $750,000 set across both and the lender noted as an interested party.

THE RESULT:

CGU wrote both homes on one policy at approximately $1,700 a year.

02 Owner in one side, tenant in the other

An owner on the NSW mid-north coast lives in one side of a purpose-built 1996 dual occupancy and rents the other side to residential tenants. The brief was building cover for the entire structure, landlord cover with loss of rent on the tenanted side, and contents for the owner-occupied side arranged separately.

The house is brick with a corrugated iron roof and elevated on stilts, with a building sum insured of $1.45 million. The owner-plus-tenant mix was declared exactly as it stands, because that mix is what each market rates.

THE RESULT:

CGU covered the whole building with loss of rent on the tenanted side at approximately $6,500 a year.

03 A 1980 house configured as a dual occ, sitting uninsured

A couple west of Melbourne owned a 1980 brick house configured as a dual occupancy on one title: separate entrances, only the driveway and front yard shared, five bedrooms across both sides and a combined rent of around $780 a week. The property had no cover in place.

Both dwellings and both tenancies were declared with a $650,000 building sum insured, and loss of rent plus rent default were added at the owners' request so the cover matched the income they were actually relying on.

THE RESULT:

Placed with Hutch at approximately $2,000 a year, including loss of rent and rent default.

04 Two new units on one property, tenants still to come

A newly completed two-dwelling property in regional south-east Queensland, a three-bedroom and a two-bedroom, needed landlord cover before its first tenants moved in. The building sum insured was $650,000 with an expected combined rent of around $1,100 a week, and the property was actively advertised with tenants expected within 30 to 60 days.

A property that is unoccupied at inception narrows the field, so the risk was referred with the letting timeline and the rental advertisement attached rather than submitted as a standard tenanted risk.

THE RESULT:

Castle reviewed the referral and approved it at approximately $3,100 a year.

Premiums and outcomes described are specific to each client and indicative only. Your own terms will depend on your circumstances and the insurer.

DUAL OCCUPANCY FAQS

Common Questions About Dual Occupancy Insurance

01 Do I need two policies for a dual occupancy?

Usually not. Where both dwellings sit on the one title, a dual occupancy can generally be insured under one landlord policy with both dwellings declared and the building sum insured set across both. A dual occ under a single roofline can be written as a free-standing home with two occupancies. Two detached dwellings on one lot go on a policy that notes two dwellings. Two separate policies tend to come up only where the title has been subdivided, or where the occupancy mix doesn't fit the product an insurer offers, and in that case we say so up front.

02 Is a dual key property insured like a dual occupancy?

Close to it. A dual key home is two self-contained homes under one roof on one title, usually with a shared entry, and to an insurer it sits in the same family as a dual occupancy or a house with a granny flat: one title, two households, each declared with its own occupancy and rent. The exception is a dual key apartment inside a strata scheme. There the building is insured under the strata policy, and what is usually arranged is landlord cover for the contents, loss of rent and liability on both units.

03 What if the strata plan was never registered?

Then it is still one title with two dwellings, and that is how it gets insured. A dual occupancy that was designed to be subdivided but never registered comes up with duplex-style builds, and describing it to an insurer as strata when no strata scheme exists is the error to avoid. The submission should state the current legal structure, the number of dwellings and how each is occupied. If registration is expected later, the policy can be restructured when the plan is registered.

04 Can my SMSF or family trust hold the policy?

Yes, and it has to. If the title is held by a trustee company, a family trust or a self-managed super fund, the policy names that legal owner as the insured, usually written as the trustee "as trustee for" the fund or trust, with the lender or custodian noted as an interested party. A policy in a member's personal name insures the wrong party. We arrange dual occupancy and dual key cover for SMSF-owned property, and our SMSF property insurance page covers the insured-name detail.

05 How fast can you arrange dual occupancy insurance for settlement?

With all the information in hand, cover can be arranged in as little as 24 hours. Usually it takes 48 to 72 hours, because the markets that write two dwellings on one title need the occupancy detail, the rebuild value of each dwelling and the lease arrangements before they release terms. Send the settlement date with the enquiry so it is prioritised, and a certificate of currency follows as soon as the policy is bound.

06 How much does dual occupancy insurance cost?

Recent Tank placements for dual occupancy and dual key properties have landed between approximately $1,700 and $6,500 a year. The low end was a new one-roofline dual occ in Sydney's south-west with a $750,000 building sum insured; the high end was an owner-occupied-plus-tenanted dual occ on the NSW mid-north coast insured for $1.45 million. Sum insured, location, construction and age, the occupancy mix and the excess move the figure, so treat the range as a guide. Your property will be rated on its own details.

07 Can I insure a dual occ where I live in one side and rent the other?

Yes. The policy is structured with your side as owner-occupied and the other side declared as a tenanted dwelling. Building cover runs across the whole structure, your own contents sit on your side, and the landlord elements, loss of rent, tenant damage where selected and liability as owner, attach to the tenanted side. Insurers rate owner-plus-tenant differently to a fully tenanted property, and not every home product allows a tenanted dwelling on the title, so the mix has to be declared exactly as it is.

08 Does a detached second dwelling change anything?

It changes the presentation more than the placement route. Two homes under one roofline can be written as a single free-standing home with two occupancies. Two detached dwellings on one lot are declared as two dwellings on the one policy, each with its own occupancy and rent. Either way the building sum insured has to cover both structures and everything between them, and both households have to be on the schedule.