Kitchen Damage Claims: What Insurance Policies Typically Cover

Read the Product Disclosure Statement before you assume anything about cover. Everything downstream — scope, make-safe, cash settlement, temporary accommodation — turns on the words in that document. If you’re an adjuster or building supervisor, this piece explains the environment we work in. If you’re a homeowner mid-claim, it points you to the parts of your own PDS that matter.

What policies typically cover

Home building policies in Australia usually respond to sudden and accidental events. For a kitchen, the common triggers are:

• Fire and smoke damage
• Escape of liquid from a fixed appliance or supply line (dishwasher hose burst, icemaker line, failed flexi hose)
• Storm, rainwater ingress, and resulting water damage to cabinetry and flooring
• Impact damage
• Theft or attempted theft damage

Each category is usually defined in the PDS with its own trigger wording and exclusions. The AAMI Home Building Insurance PDS (applies to policies commencing on or after 24 January 2025) is one example of how an insurer defines these events. Other insurers (Allianz, GIO, NRMA, QBE, Suncorp, RACV, Youi) publish their own PDS wording. The categories look similar. The definitions and limits don’t always.

What they typically don’t

Common exclusions in home building policies include:

• Wear and tear, gradual deterioration, and rust or corrosion that developed over time
• Damage from a defect that was present before the policy started
• Faulty workmanship or unapproved renovation work
• Non-compliant plumbing or electrical work
• Lack of maintenance, for example, a slow leak under a sink that was visible for months
• Mould and rot where the underlying cause is not an insured event

This isn’t exhaustive. Each PDS lists its own exclusions and the definitions of terms like “gradual” and “maintenance” vary.

What the PDS actually says

If you’re reading your own PDS, these are the sections to look at closely:

• The definition of “sudden and accidental” — this often decides whether an escape of liquid claim is accepted or declined
• The “escape of liquid” clause itself, including whether the source appliance is covered
• The definition of “unfit to live in” or similar language that triggers temporary accommodation
• The temporary accommodation section, including the sub-limit (often expressed as a percentage of the building sum insured) and the maximum period
• The excess that applies to each event

Alternative accommodation is a common but not universal feature of home building policies, and the specific trigger depends on the policy wording. The AAMI PDS, as one example, sets temporary accommodation cover at a percentage of the building sum insured per incident with a short-term cap, extended under its Complete Replacement Cover option. Your PDS will have its own numbers.

How a claim proceeds

The General Insurance Code of Practice sets timeframes that subscribing insurers commit to. Insurers have 10 business days to decide a claim once they have all the information they reasonably need. They must provide progress updates every 20 business days where a decision is pending, and must make a decision within four months of claim lodgement except in declared catastrophe events.

The practical stages of a kitchen claim usually run like this:

• Lodgement — the homeowner or their broker notifies the insurer
• Make-safe — urgent work to stop further damage, such as isolating water or power
• Assessment — a loss adjuster or builder attends to document damage and scope repairs
• Scope and decision — the insurer confirms what’s covered and how the claim will be settled
• Settlement — either a cash settlement to the homeowner, or a managed repair arranged through the insurer’s builder network

For the homeowner side of this process, see the full homeowner-side guide to preparing a kitchen damage claim.

Where a temporary kitchen fits

A kitchen out of action doesn’t always mean the home is unfit to live in. That distinction matters. It decides which part of the policy, if any, responds to accommodation or on-site facilities.

Two broad scenarios:

• The home is unfit to live in and the alternative accommodation benefit is triggered. The homeowner relocates. Cover and sub-limits sit under that section of the PDS.
• The home remains habitable but the kitchen is unusable for the duration of the repair. Some homeowners prefer to stay in place with a temporary cooking and washing-up facility on site. How that’s treated under a specific policy depends entirely on the PDS wording — refer to the policy and ask the insurer in writing.

Whether an on-site temporary kitchen costs the insurer less than accommodation depends on the claim. We don’t make that call. We supply a self-contained temporary kitchen delivered to the driveway or a hardstand area, as described on our capability page for insurers and building supervisors. For homeowners who want to put the stay-in-place option to their insurer, there’s a template homeowners can use to put the request in writing.

AFCA and disputes

If a claim is declined, partly accepted, or stalled past the Code timeframes, the homeowner’s first step is internal dispute resolution with the insurer. If that doesn’t resolve it, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority is the free external dispute resolution scheme for insurance disputes. AFCA is independent of the insurer and the complainant pays nothing to lodge.

Disputes usually turn on scope (what’s in and out of the repair), on the cause of damage, and on whether an exclusion applies. The PDS wording and the assessor’s report are the documents that drive the outcome.

Bottom line

Read the PDS. Ask the insurer in writing. If the Code timeframes slip or a decision isn’t working, escalate to AFCA. The specifics of any kitchen claim — Melbourne inner suburbs, outer east, bayside, northern — come back to the words in the policy document and the facts the assessor records on site.