EBM RentCover paid out $49.3 million in landlord insurance claims in 2023.

With more than 5600 claims lodged, that equates to about $8800 paid for each claim.

Based on the total number of claims lodged, policyholders in New South Wales made the most claims last calendar year (2026), followed by those in Queensland (1304), Western Australia (1147) and Victoria (872). 

When it comes to the value of the claims lodged, NSW had the highest value ($20.5 million), followed by Queensland ($13 million), Victoria ($6.8 million), Western Australia ($5.3 million), South Australia ($3.1 million) and Tasmania ($497,000). 

In 2023, there were more claims lodged for tenant-related losses (2971) than for insured events (2586), but the value of insured event claims was higher – $26.8 million compared to $22.2 million.

To put the stats into perspective, the states where most of our 160,000-plus policyholders have property are NSW (65,000), Victoria (34,000), Queensland (31,000) and Western Australia (25,000). 

Based on the number of policyholders in each state and territory, the areas with the most claims were Western Australia and Tasmania, with both states seeing 4.7 per cent of landlords making a claim in 2023.

The next highest was Queensland with 4.3 per cent, followed by NSW with 3.1 per cent, South Australia with 2.7 per cent, Victoria with 2.6 per cent, the ACT with 2.1 per cent and the Northern Territory with 1.7 per cent of policyholders claiming during the year.

So what exactly are these landlords claiming for? 

Here is a small snapshot…

Overall, 2586 claims were made for insured events, including natural disasters, liquid damage, glass breakage, fire/smoke damage, motor fusion, impact, malicious acts (intruders), power surge, property damage and theft.

The total payout for these claims was $26.8 million.

Looking specifically at natural disasters, across the nation, a total of 950 were made to EBM RentCover during the year – with a payout value of $15.9 million.

Storm damage claims had the highest payout ($10 million for 882 claims), followed by flood ($5.6 million for 42 claims).  

When it comes to legal liability claims, EBM RentCover paid out about $300,000. 

Meanwhile, close to $22.2 million was paid out for 2971 tenant-related claims in 2023.

Of these, 2469 had a loss of rent component:

• Loss of rent including accidental damage resulted in 1292 claims, with a payout figure of $12.5 million. Landlords in NSW made the most claims (593), followed by those in Queensland (299), Victoria (196) and WA (156). 
• There were 1014 straight loss of rent claims made during the year, with a value of $3 million. NSW saw the highest number of claims (393) and the highest payout ($1.2 million). Queensland had 229 claims, at a value of $588,000. Some 196 claims, worth a total of $605,000, were made in Victoria. Western Australian landlords recouped $483,000 in losses from 156 claims.
• A total of $3.4 million was paid out for loss of rent including malicious damage. Of the 148 claims, 57 originated in NSW ($1.2 million paid out), 46 from Queensland ($1.1 million), 20 from WA ($360,000), 19 from Victoria ($611,000) and five from SA ($70,000). There was one claim from Tasmania, with the payout topping $37,000.  
• Loss of rent including tenant theft saw 15 claims lodged at a value of $66,000. 

With the total value of the insured losses of the above coming in just shy of $19 million, the average claim was about $7700.

When it comes to tenant and pet damage, some 490 claims were made for accidental and malicious damage caused by tenants. 

What does this mean?

Despite 2023 being a relatively ‘quiet’ one for natural disasters (certainly when compared with 2022), millions of dollars were still paid out over the year to landlords who had suffered losses. 

As is historically the case, loss of rent and tenant-related damage was the main reason landlords needed to claim on their insurance in 2023 – to the tune of $22.2 million. 

The figures may be fascinating, and even surprising, but the real message from this one-year snapshot of EBM RentCover claims, is the enormous value of landlord insurance.

Without insurance, these 5606 landlords would have needed to cover about $49.3 million in losses from their own pockets.

To find out more about our suite of landlord insurance policies, consider partnering with EBM RentCover.

NOTE: These statistics were taken from claims made to EBM RentCover for the period 01 January 2023 – 31 December 2023.