Tank Insurance
Call 02 9000 1155
Riverside property with sandbags at the door representing landlord insurance in a flood zone

Landlord Insurance for Flood-Zone Property

A rental in a flood zone can usually still be insured. What changes is the market, the flood excess, and whether flood is included, optional or excluded. We work out which of those you're looking at before anything is bound.

3

Ways flood shows up in a policy

$2-4.1K

Recent annual premiums

~6x

Highest vs lowest quote, one WA property

Recognition

Industry Awards

THE SHORT ANSWER

A rental property in a flood zone can usually still be insured. What changes is the market, the flood excess, and whether flood cover is included, optional or excluded. Insurers rate flood at the address using flood mapping, elevation and claims history, and Tank places flood-mapped rentals with mainstream and specialist markets depending on the flood study and the history.

This page is about residential rental property: houses, dual keys and small blocks of units owned by landlords. For a shop, warehouse or office at a flood-exposed address, see our flood-zone commercial property page. For what the word flood means in an Australian policy, the flood insurance glossary entry has the definition.

01HOW INSURERS RATE THE ADDRESS

Six Things That Decide What Flood Does to Your Premium

Flood is rarely rated on the suburb alone. It's rated on your lot, your floor level and your history, which is why the evidence you send changes the answer.

01

The Address, Not the Suburb

Insurers rate flood at address level using flood mapping, elevation data, distance to the watercourse and modelled return periods. Two houses on the same street can be rated differently, so a postcode-level assumption about your suburb can be wrong in either direction.

02

Flood Study and Overlay

A council flood study, flood overlay or flood certificate tells the underwriter the modelled flood level at your lot and how often it is expected. Sending it with the enquiry replaces the insurer's own estimate with the council's evidence, which usually helps.

03

Elevation and Construction

A house elevated above the modelled flood level, on stilts or a raised slab, is rated differently to one at ground level. Construction matters too: masonry that can be washed out and dried is a different repair to lined stud walls that have to be stripped.

04

Prior Claims and Prior Flooding

A previous flood claim, or a known inundation at the address even without a claim, is usually priced in. So are the mitigation works done since: raised services, flood-resilient fit-out, drainage and levee works. Tell us both halves of that story.

05

Riverine Versus Stormwater

Some addresses are exposed to river flooding, some to overland stormwater flow, some to both. Insurers treat these differently because the policy definitions differ. The flood study usually says which applies to your lot.

06

Whether Flood Is Included, Optional or Excluded

Most home and landlord policies include flood as standard, though some insurers offer it as an option or exclude it at particular addresses. On a flood-mapped address, an insurer may include it at a higher premium and flood excess, offer it as an option, or exclude it. Which of the three you end up with is the decision this page is about.

FLOOD-ZONE QUOTE

Find out whether flood is in, optional or out for your address

Send us the address, the flood certificate or overlay if you have one, and the sum insured. We'll come back with the flood-inclusive and flood-excluded options side by side, where both are available.

Open quote form

02WHEN FLOOD IS EXCLUDED

Three Ways a Flood-Zone Rental Gets Insured

When an insurer flags flood at your address, the placement lands in one of three places. Which one is right depends on where the floor sits against the modelled flood level, whether the property has flooded before, and what the flood-inclusive premium actually costs against the flood-excluded one.

Our job is to put those numbers side by side, from more than one market, so the decision is made with the flood study and the premiums in front of you rather than by accepting whatever the first quote defaulted to.

Loss of rent follows the same logic. It responds to insured damage, so it pays after a flood only where flood is on the policy. With flood excluded it still responds to storm, fire and the other insured events. Our loss of rent glossary entry covers how the limit works.

  • Flood included, higher excess

    The insurer keeps flood in the policy and applies a separate flood excess, sometimes several thousand dollars, alongside a higher premium. You carry the first part of a flood loss and the insurer carries the rest. This is the trade-off owners weigh where the modelled flood level is close to floor level.

  • Flood excluded, everything else covered

    The policy covers fire, storm, escape of water, theft, liability and loss of rent, with flood removed. Some owners choose this deliberately when the flood-inclusive premium runs to several times the excluded figure and the property sits above the modelled level. It is a decision to make knowingly, not by default, with the flood study, the PDS and both premiums in front of you.

  • Specialist market with flood

    Where mainstream insurers exclude flood or decline the address, specialist markets can write it with flood included, priced to the flood study and the mitigation. This is usually the route for a property that has flooded before or sits inside the mapped extent.

What it costs: Recent Tank placements for rental property at flood-mapped addresses have landed between approximately $2,000 and $4,100 a year, several of them with flood excluded or at a higher excess. Other quotes on the same property can run to several times that figure. Your property will be rated on its own details. See the landlord insurance cost guide for the wider picture.

CLIENT SUCCESS

Flood-Mapped Addresses: How These Rentals 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. A fourth example, an investor's rental in a high flood area of Queensland, sits on our landlords hub.

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

FLOOD-ZONE FAQS

Common Questions About Landlord Insurance in a Flood Zone

Usually, yes. A rental property in a flood zone can still be insured; what changes is the market, the flood excess and whether flood cover is included, optional or excluded. Insurers rate flood at the address, using flood mapping, elevation and claims history, so the same street can hold a property one insurer includes flood on and a neighbour it excludes flood on. Tank places flood-mapped rentals with mainstream and specialist markets depending on the flood study and the history, and we set out which of the three outcomes you are looking at before anything is bound.
On most Australian home and landlord policies flood is included as standard, using the standard definition of flood introduced in 2012. On a flood-mapped address an insurer can respond in one of three ways: include flood with a higher premium and a separate flood excess, offer flood as an option you can accept or decline, or exclude flood from the policy. Read the schedule, not the product name, because the same product can be issued with or without flood at different addresses.
Because the flood excess is how an insurer keeps a flood-mapped address inside its appetite. Rather than exclude flood or decline the risk, the insurer shares the first part of any flood loss with you, and the higher the modelled exposure at your lot, the larger that share. A flood excess of several thousand dollars on a property near the modelled flood level is the insurer pricing a likely small loss out of the policy while keeping cover for the large one. If the excess looks out of step with the flood study, a council flood certificate can sometimes move it.
Flood is water that escapes the normal confines of a lake, river, creek, other natural watercourse, reservoir, canal or dam and covers land that is normally dry. Storm damage typically means wind, rain, hail and run-off that hasn't come from a watercourse overflowing, as defined in the policy. The distinction matters because a policy with flood excluded still covers storm, so rainwater pooling and entering the house can be a storm claim while the river coming up the street is a flood claim. Our flood insurance glossary entry sets out the definitions and examples.
Treat it as a prompt to re-test the market, not as the last word. An insurer removing flood at renewal is usually a change in that insurer's mapping or appetite for your address, and other markets rate the same address on their own data. Send us the renewal notice, the address and any flood study or certificate you have. We'll tell you whether another market includes flood, at what excess, and what the flood-excluded alternative costs, so you can choose with the numbers in front of you.
Only if the flood damage itself is insured. Loss of rent pays the rent you lose while the property is unliveable after an insured event. If flood is included on the policy and the property floods, the rent shortfall during repairs is covered up to the limit. If flood is excluded, the flood damage isn't an insured event and loss of rent doesn't respond to it, though it still responds to storm, fire and the other insured events. Set the limit against a realistic drying-out and repair period, which after a flood can run longer than a standard repair.
Recent Tank placements for rental property at flood-mapped addresses have landed between approximately $2,000 and $4,100 a year, across single houses and small blocks of units in regional NSW, Victoria and WA. Several of those were placed with flood excluded or at a higher excess. Other quotes on the same property can run to several times that: in one WA placement, roughly six times the flood-excluded figure. Sum insured, elevation, construction, claims history and the flood study move the number, so treat the range as a guide. Your property will be rated on its own details.
The address and a council flood certificate, flood study or overlay extract if you have one; the floor level or elevation if you know it; any previous flooding at the address and any claims; mitigation works done since, such as raised services or drainage; the construction and year built, with rewiring and replumbing dates; the weekly rent and lease; and the lender to be noted. With that in hand we can usually come back with terms in 48 to 72 hours, and in as little as 24 hours for a straightforward risk.

RELATED COVER & GUIDES

More on Flood and Landlord Cover

Landlords Insurance Brokers (hub) →
What Is Flood Insurance? (glossary) →
What Is Loss of Rent Insurance? (glossary) →
Flood-Zone Commercial Property Insurance →
Landlord Insurance Cost Guide →
Heritage-Listed Rental Property Insurance →
SMSF and Trust-Owned Property Insurance →

Insurer removed flood at renewal, or settling on a flood-mapped address? Send us the details and we'll map the options.

Talk to Our Team →
Brick building with a visible waterline after flooding for flood-zone landlord insurance

Get a Flood-Zone Landlord Insurance Quote

Send the address, the flood certificate if you have one and the sum insured. Where both are available, we'll come back with flood-inclusive and flood-excluded terms so you can choose with the numbers in front of you.

Call 02 9000 1155 Get a Quote →

Last updated: 05/09/2026

Call Us Now +61 2 9000 1155