For owners of high-value or architect-designed homes, and households whose art, jewellery or wine has outgrown an ordinary policy, prestige home insurance is the better fit. Insurers in this market usually want a recent rebuilding estimate and valuations for individual items above a set amount, and some inspect the property before offering terms. Fortis Risk Solutions compares prestige wordings, looking closely at specified item limits, renovation conditions and valuables taken overseas. We review the schedule with you every year so new purchases and building work are picked up before renewal. When there is a loss, we help you put the claim together and deal with the assessor. Call 03 7046 3766 or send an enquiry.
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:
- Notify: Call FRS as soon as the loss is found, before anything is thrown out or permanently repaired
- Make safe: Make the home safe and stop further damage, keeping receipts for emergency work such as boarding up or drying out
- Report: Report theft, attempted theft or malicious damage to police and record the reference number
- Photograph and preserve: Photograph the damage and keep damaged items, including packaging and broken pieces, for the assessor
- Send the valuations: Send FRS the valuations, receipts and any purchase records for specified items
- We lodge and manage: 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 - Client Case Studies
Cases from the Fortis Risk Solutions broking team. Client names have been removed.
Client case: Storm and Water Damage While the Owner Was Away on Holiday
The client situation: A newly built prestige house, less than one year old, with a total building cost of over $10,000,000, suffered severe stormwater overflow into the garage and the cinema room on the lower ground floor. The storm caused power outages in the area, and the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) was burnt out by a power surge. Stormwater entering the cinema damaged the skirting, carpet and some cinema equipment, all of which needed replacement. It happened during the Christmas and New Year period.
How we handled the case: We worked closely with the builder who originally built the property, provided the list of documents required to expedite the claim, and had high quality materials ordered to match the original build and design.
Claim result: A total claim indemnity of $137,413.50 was approved within 3 days of the builder providing the repair quotation and report. The client’s long overseas trip was not interrupted, and on their return the repair was nearly completed.
How Fortis Risk Solutions helps: For a prestige home the repair has to match the original. We bring in the original builder and manage the claim so the owner does not have to be there.
Every policy is different and the outcome of a claim depends on its terms. As your broker, Fortis Risk Solutions compares insurers and policy wording before you buy, and lodges and manages the claim for you when something happens. Talk to us about your own cover.
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
Owners of apartments should check how the strata insurance policy sits against their own cover.
Luxury homes are expensive to rebuild in ways a standard calculator misses, from custom joinery to the architect's fees. So the first test is whether the sum insured reflects a true replacement value. The second is temporary accommodation: does the policy pay for a home of similar standard, and for how long? Liability limits should also suit the property and the way you use it. We compare prestige wordings for owners around Melbourne.
Talk to a broker about Prestige Home Insurance
Call 03 7046 3766 on weekdays between 9:30am and 6pm, email admin@fortisrisksolutions.com.au, or send an enquiry and a broker from our Box Hill or Hawthorn office will come back to you about prestige home insurance. Tell us what the business does and what the lease or contract asks for, and we take it from there.