ING Landlord Insurance: Features, Cost, and Review

ING does not underwrite landlord insurance itself. ING partners with a third-party insurer to offer home and landlord insurance to ING banking customers. The current underwriter is Auto & General Insurance Company Limited (ABN 42 111 586 353), which also underwrites Budget Direct and ING's home insurance products.

This matters because the claims experience, policy terms, and coverage limits come from Auto & General, not ING. You buy the policy through ING's website and manage it through your ING account, but Auto & General handles claims and policy administration. This review covers what the policy includes, what it costs, and where it falls short compared to standalone landlord insurers.

ING landlord insurance offers two tiers: Building Only and Building and Contents. Building cover protects the physical structure, fixtures, and permanent fittings. Contents cover protects landlord-owned items inside the property, such as carpets, curtains, light fittings, and appliances you provide to tenants.

Standard inclusions across both tiers:

Loss of rent cover pays up to 52 weeks of rental income if your property becomes uninhabitable due to an insured event. If your tenant stops paying rent, this cover does not apply. Rent default is a separate product (and ING does not offer it).

Liability cover provides up to $20 million in legal liability protection. If a tenant or visitor injures themselves on your property because of a structural defect or maintenance failure, the policy covers legal costs and compensation claims.

Malicious damage by tenants covers intentional damage caused by your tenant. Auto & General requires a police report and evidence of damage. The excess for tenant malicious damage claims is higher than standard claims, often $500 to $1,000 compared to the standard $200 to $500 excess.

The Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) lists several exclusions that affect landlords:

Rent default. If your tenant stops paying rent, you receive nothing from this policy. Dedicated landlord insurers like Terri Scheer and EBM RentCover offer rent default cover as an add-on or included feature.

Wear and tear. Gradual deterioration, including fading carpets, worn fixtures, and aging appliances, is excluded. Insurance covers sudden and accidental damage, not maintenance obligations.

Properties vacant for more than 60 consecutive days lose cover under most sections of the policy. If your property sits empty between tenants for more than two months, you need to inform the insurer. Some claims may be declined during vacancy periods.

Flood is not included by default. You must add flood cover as an optional extra. After the 2022 and 2024 flood events in Queensland and New South Wales, many insurers increased flood premiums or restricted cover in high-risk postcodes. Check whether your property's postcode is eligible for ING's flood add-on before relying on it.

Asbestos-related claims are excluded in most home and landlord policies. Properties built before 1990 in Australia may contain asbestos in eaves, roofing, or wet areas. Removal and remediation are the owner's responsibility, not the insurer's. Termite damage is another common exclusion. See our article on whether home insurance covers termite damage.

ING does not publish fixed premium rates. Your premium depends on the property's location, construction type, sum insured, claims history, and the cover level you select.

Based on quotes obtained in May 2026 for a standard three-bedroom brick house in Sydney's western suburbs (Parramatta postcode area, sum insured $650,000 building, $15,000 contents):

ING offers a 15% discount for customers who also hold an ING Savings Maximiser or Orange Everyday account. This brings the Building Only premium down to approximately $890 to $1,150 for the same property. The multi-policy discount is the main reason to consider ING over Budget Direct (same underwriter, same product, different pricing).

Premiums vary by state. Queensland and northern New South Wales properties pay higher premiums because of cyclone and flood exposure. A comparable property in Brisbane's flood zone might cost $2,500 to $3,500 for building and contents with flood cover.

Terri Scheer is the only insurer on this list that includes rent default cover as standard. If your tenant breaks the lease or stops paying rent, Terri Scheer pays up to a specified number of weeks of lost rent (subject to conditions). For landlords in areas with higher vacancy rates, this feature alone justifies a premium difference of $200 to $400 per year.

ING's advantage is price. The 15% ING customer discount and Auto & General's competitive base pricing make it one of the cheaper options for building-only cover. If you self-manage your property, have a long-term tenant with a strong rental history, and do not need rent default protection, ING offers solid value.

EBM RentCover targets property managers and landlords who use real estate agents. RentCover policies integrate with property management software and include additional cover options like pet damage and meth contamination (an increasing issue in certain regional markets). If you self-manage, read our guide on renting out property without an agent.

You lodge claims through ING's website or by calling Auto & General's claims line. Auto & General assigns a claims assessor who contacts you within two business days for standard claims. Urgent claims (fire, major storm damage) receive same-day contact.

Auto & General holds a General Insurance Code of Practice signatory status through the Insurance Council of Australia. The Code requires insurers to make a claims decision within 10 business days of receiving all necessary information, or provide reasons for delay.

Customer reviews on ProductReview.com.au give ING Home Insurance (which includes landlord policies) an average rating of 3.5 out of 5. Positive reviews cite competitive pricing and the ING customer discount. Negative reviews focus on slow claims processing and difficulties reaching Auto & General's claims team by phone.

If you dispute a claims decision, you can escalate through Auto & General's internal dispute resolution process. If that fails, lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). AFCA handles insurance disputes at no cost to the policyholder and can make binding decisions on the insurer.

Yes. The ATO allows landlords to claim landlord insurance premiums as a tax deduction against rental income. You claim the premium at Item 21 (Rental properties) on your tax return. If the insurance covers a period spanning two financial years, you apportion the premium across both years.

A landlord paying $1,300 per year in insurance premiums on a marginal tax rate of 37% receives a tax benefit of $481 (plus Medicare levy savings of $26). The after-tax cost of the insurance drops to $793 per year.

Keep your premium notice and proof of payment for five years. The ATO audits rental property deductions more than any other category. In 2024-25, the ATO identified $1.3 billion in adjustments to rental property claims across 1.5 million individual tax returns.

Loss of rent and rent default sound alike and pay in different situations. Loss of rent covers you when the property becomes uninhabitable after an insured event, so a fire or a storm stops the income and the policy replaces it. Rent default covers you when the tenant simply stops paying.

The second one is why most landlords buy the policy, and it carries conditions the first one does not.

The pattern in failed claims is the same across insurers. A landlord tries to work with a tenant who has fallen behind, delays issuing the formal breach notice, and by the time they claim they are outside the process the policy required. Sympathy for the tenant is a decision the policy prices as non-compliance.

Self-managing landlords carry more of this risk than they realise, because a property manager runs the arrears timetable as routine. If you manage your own property, get the notice periods for your state in front of you before a tenant falls behind rather than after.

The exclusions are near-identical across the Australian market, so comparing ING against a competitor on this list will not separate them. Knowing the list is what stops you assuming cover you never had.

The unoccupied clause catches landlords between tenancies and during renovations. Sixty days vacant is common and some policies are stricter, so tell the insurer before a property sits empty rather than discovering the exclusion after a break-in.

Landlord insurance premiums are deductible against rental income in the year you pay them, which puts the after-tax cost well below the invoice. On the 37% marginal rate an $800 policy costs $504 after the deduction. The ATO guidance on residential rental properties covers this alongside the other deductions a landlord can claim in the same year.

Claim proceeds work the other way. A payment replacing lost rent is assessable income, because it stands in for income you would have declared. A payment for capital works, such as rebuilding after a fire, is not income and instead adjusts the cost base of the property for capital gains purposes.

That split matters at tax time and gets recorded wrongly often. Keep the insurer's remittance advice, which states what each component was paid for, and give it to your accountant rather than a bank statement showing one lump sum.

ING landlord insurance suits a specific type of investor. If you already bank with ING (Orange Everyday account or Savings Maximiser), you unlock the 15% multi-policy discount. For a property with $1,200 annual premium, that saves $180 per year. Over a 10-year holding period, that discount totals $1,800.

The policy works best for landlords with long-term tenants in low-risk areas. A property in a Sydney or Melbourne suburb with a tenant who has been in place for three or more years, pays rent on time, and maintains the property presents minimal risk of rent default. Paying extra for rent default cover through Terri Scheer or EBM RentCover adds $200 to $400 per year you may never claim.

ING is a poor fit for landlords in high-risk rental markets. Properties in areas with vacancy rates above 3%, regions affected by seasonal employment (mining towns, tourist areas), or units in student-heavy suburbs near universities face higher default risk. Terri Scheer's included rent default cover offsets the premium difference for these properties.

If you own multiple investment properties, compare the total portfolio cost. ING's 15% discount applies per policy, so three properties each save $150 to $200. A specialist insurer like EBM RentCover may offer portfolio discounts for landlords with three or more properties that undercut ING's individual pricing.

ING provides online quotes through their website at ing.com.au. You need the property's address, construction type (brick, timber frame, concrete), number of bedrooms, year built, and your desired sum insured. The sum insured should reflect the full rebuild cost of the structure, not the market value of the property (land is not insured).

A common mistake: setting the sum insured too low. Underinsurance is a widespread problem among Australian landlords. The Insurance Council of Australia estimates that 83% of Australian homes are underinsured by an average of $68,000. If your property costs $650,000 to rebuild and you insure it for $500,000, the insurer may apply co-insurance clauses that reduce your claim payout proportionally.

Use a rebuilding cost calculator (the Insurance Council of Australia offers one at understandinsurance.com.au) to estimate the correct sum insured. Factor in demolition and debris removal costs, council fees for rebuilding permits, and the cost of architect plans if required. These costs sit on top of the construction cost itself.

Once you have a quote from ING, request comparable quotes from Terri Scheer and Allianz. Enter the same property details and sum insured. Compare the total annual premium, the excess amounts for standard and tenant-related claims, and the inclusion of rent default cover. A $200 difference in annual premium means nothing if the cheaper policy excludes a claim type that costs you $15,000 in lost rent.

Review your policy each year at renewal. Insurance premiums in Australia have increased between 10% and 28% per year since 2022 depending on the state and risk profile. A policy that cost $1,100 in 2023 might cost $1,500 in 2026. Compare renewal quotes against fresh quotes from competitors. Loyalty does not earn discounts in the Australian insurance market. Alongside insurance, review your property management fees each year too.