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What Prestige Home Insurance Covers
Prestige home insurance covers high-value residential properties against damage, destruction and other insured events, with the sums insured and cover definitions that luxury homes need.
It provides enhanced protection: higher policy limits, broader cover definitions and specialist claims handling. That structure suits owners of luxury, architect-designed or complex homes.
Whether you own a prestige family residence, a heritage property or a custom-built home, prestige home insurance goes beyond a standard home and contents insurance policy. Many of these owners also hold prestige motor insurance. It sits within our personal insurance range at Fortis Risk Solutions.
Prestige Home Insurance: Cover Sections and Benefits
What Prestige Home Insurance does not cover
A prestige policy is broader than a standard home product, but it is still an accident policy. It does not pay for the slow decline of a building or for problems the owner already knew about. Typical exclusions are:
- Wear, tear, rust, rot, mould and gradual deterioration, including a shower base that has been leaking for months
- Faults in design or workmanship, and damage caused by a renovation that was not notified to the insurer
- Damage while the home is unoccupied for longer than the period stated in the policy
- Flood or actions of the sea where those events were not selected or are not offered for the address
- Damage caused by pets, vermin, insects and tree roots
- Jewellery, watches, art and collections taken outside the home unless listed for cover away from the premises
- Property used for a business or short stay letting, unless the insurer has agreed to it
FRS reviews the schedule of specified items and the occupancy pattern each year, so a long trip, a renovation or a new acquisition is dealt with before it becomes a declined claim.
How Prestige Home Insurance premiums are set
Prestige home insurance is underwritten individually rather than from a postcode table, so the detail you supply shapes the price. The main factors are:
- The cost to rebuild the home to its original standard, including joinery, stonework and imported finishes
- Construction, roof type, age of the home and whether it is heritage listed
- Address exposure to bushfire, flood, storm surge and coastal salt
- Security: monitored alarm, cameras, gates, safes and how jewellery is stored
- Values of art, wine, jewellery and collections, and whether they are specified or covered under a blanket limit
- Occupancy: a main residence, a holiday home, or a property left empty while the owners travel
- Claims history and the excess chosen, including any separate excess for a specified item
A current valuation usually improves both the price and the settlement. FRS arranges the rebuild assessment and item valuations so the sums insured hold up when they are tested.
How to claim on Prestige Home Insurance
High value claims are decided by evidence of what the item was, not by what the owner remembers. Keep valuations, receipts and photographs somewhere outside the house, such as a cloud folder. The FRS process:
- Call FRS as soon as the loss is found, before anything is thrown out or permanently repaired
- Make the home safe and stop further damage, keeping receipts for emergency work such as boarding up or drying out
- Report theft, attempted theft or malicious damage to police and record the reference number
- Photograph the damage and keep damaged items, including packaging and broken pieces, for the assessor
- Send FRS the valuations, receipts and any purchase records for specified items
- FRS lodges the claim, briefs the assessor and pushes for specialist restorers or trades where the policy allows them
Our make a claim page lists the documents to have ready.
Prestige Home Insurance compared with standard Home and Contents Insurance
| Question | Prestige Home | Standard Home and Contents |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Architectural homes, fine art, jewellery, wine and collections, often worldwide | A conventional house and everyday contents at the address |
| Who buys it | Owners of high value or heritage homes, and families with valuable collections | Most households |
| Typical trigger | Storm damage to custom joinery, theft of a watch overseas, breakage of an artwork | Burst pipe, burglary, storm damage to a standard roof |
| Sits with | Prestige motor, pleasure craft, personal liability | Private motor |
The difference shows at settlement. Standard limits for jewellery and art are quickly used up, and the trades sent to a standard claim are not always the ones who can match original stonework. If the sums insured on your home and contents policy no longer reflect the house, prestige home insurance is the right conversation.
Prestige Home Insurance FAQs
Prestige policies offer higher sums insured, broader definitions, fewer sub-limits and specialist claims handling built for high-value properties.
Yes. Prestige policies suit homes with complex construction, bespoke materials or heritage requirements.
Flood cover depends on the insurer's definition and its underwriting. It should be checked against the property's location before you buy.
Yes. Prestige policies typically fund accommodation of equivalent quality in a similar location, subject to policy limits.
High-value home insurance depends on accurate valuation and careful policy structuring. As your broker, FRS helps you:
- Arrange accurate replacement cost assessments
- Access specialist prestige insurers
- Match the policy wording to the construction and risk profile
- Manage complex or high-value claims discreetly
If you also own rental property, we can review your landlord insurance at the same time. Owners of apartments should check how the strata insurance policy sits against their own cover.