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Horizon Bank’s Home Buildings and Contents Plus offers a stated 25% building safety net above the sum insured, up to two years of temporary accommodation after a covered event, and higher limits on some inclusions. Those benefits may be useful, but the public summary does not establish your premium or every policy limit. Treat this as a policy to compare against your needs and verify the details in your quote, Certificate of Insurance and applicable Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).
Who provides the cover, and what is being reviewed?
Horizon Bank distributes this combined buildings-and-contents insurance, which is issued by Insurance Australia Limited under the CGU brand. Horizon says it acts under its own Australian Financial Services Licence and an agreement with the issuer. The bank’s product page is undated; its coverage descriptions below are attributed to Horizon and were accessed in 2026.
This review concerns the combined Home Buildings and Contents Plus product, not Horizon’s separate Home Contents Plus policy for strata owners. The distinctions matter: details published about the strata contents policy should not be treated as contract terms for the combined policy.
What does Plus add?
- Building safety net: Horizon describes an additional 25% above the building sum insured if the home needs repair or rebuilding.
- Temporary accommodation: Horizon says Plus provides up to two years if a covered event makes the home unlivable, compared with 12 months for standard Building & Contents.
- Higher limits on some inclusions: Horizon names food spoilage and landscaping as examples, but the online summary does not provide all the higher limits.
These are product-summary statements, not a replacement for the policy wording. Check the PDS and your Certificate of Insurance for the conditions, applicable limits and eligibility rules.
#1 Best Overall
- The 2024 ERG guide helps satisfy 49 CFR 172.602 DOT requirement. This requirement states that hazmat shipments be accompanied by emergency response info.
- Pocketbook aids in emergency preparedness, planning, and training with ERGs numerically indexed and color-coded to help emergency responders find vital information fast.
- 2024 Updates: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) released a comprehensive summary of updates. Most significantly a QR code on the back cover that provides access to critical incident reporting information.
- Other changes for 2024 have been made to continue to provide the most accurate emergency response information to help all front-line persons and all first responders stay safe during transportation emergencies.
- Specifications: 4" x 5 1/2" Pocketbook Size, English, Spiralbound. Copyright 2024.
What does Horizon say the policy covers?
The product page describes cover for theft and vandalism; flood, rainwater run-off, storm, storm surge and tsunami; fire, including bushfire; rebuilding after a covered event; temporary accommodation; emergency repairs; visitors’ belongings up to $2,500; and some legal liability up to $20 million. Whether a particular loss is covered depends on the policy’s definitions, exclusions, limits and your insured sections.
Optional cover and Plus features
Horizon lists accidental damage, valuable contents, motor burnout and portable contents among the available features. Accidental damage can be added to standard cover and is stated to be included automatically with Building Plus. Verify which insured section applies and the relevant exclusions before relying on that feature for a particular claim.
The bank’s summary says portable contents can cover loss, theft and accidental damage, with a default limit of up to $10,000 per item unless the item is separately listed for more. Geographic qualifications and other limits or exclusions apply. Motor burnout is described as applying to motors up to 15 years old, excluding motors under warranty or used in a business. Sporting equipment, fishing equipment, musical instruments and firearms are excluded from accidental-damage cover while in use; further activity-specific exclusions apply to portable contents.
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Important exclusions and excesses
Horizon says actions of the sea, such as tides and waves, are not covered. Excesses may apply; check the amount and circumstances in your Certificate of Insurance. The summary also points readers to the PDS for the full terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions.
Is the 25% safety net a substitute for choosing the right sum insured?
No. Horizon says its online building and contents calculator is a guide and that customers are responsible for insuring the home for its full replacement value. The additional 25% safety net is described as applying above the building sum insured for repair or rebuilding; it should not be treated as a reason to select an artificially low sum insured. Horizon also says that if the insured amount exceeds the cost of repair, replacement or rebuilding, CGU pays the actual cost of that work.
Use the calculator as a starting point, then consider whether the figure reflects the cost of rebuilding your home and the structures or contents you intend to insure. Confirm what is included and how the safety net operates in the PDS and quote documents.
How do repairer choice and claims affect the decision?
Horizon says you may choose your own repairer. If you do not use a CGU partner repairer, CGU says it will not guarantee the completed workmanship or manage the repairer’s timing or quality, and will pay only the fair and reasonable amount the repair should cost. The bank says CGU provides a lifetime workmanship guarantee for authorised repairs; that guarantee is tied to authorised repairs, not every repairer you might select.
Before buying, consider whether you are comfortable with those repair arrangements and what the policy says about emergency repairs, claim approval and settlement. The public summary is not enough to determine the outcome of an individual claim.
Best Value
- The 2024 ERG guide helps satisfy 49 CFR 172.602 DOT requirement. This requirement states that hazmat shipments be accompanied by emergency response info.
- Small convenient pocketbook size aids in emergency preparedness, planning, and training with ERGs numerically indexed and color-coded to help emergency responders find vital information fast.
- 2024 Updates: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) released a comprehensive summary of updates. Most significantly a QR code on the back cover that provides access to critical incident reporting information.
- Other changes for 2024 have been made to continue to provide the most accurate emergency response information to help all front-line persons and all first responders stay safe during transportation emergencies.
- Specifications: 4" x 5 1/2" Pocketbook Size, English, Softbound. Copyright 2024.
What is not established by the public information?
The online product summary does not give an individual premium, all Plus-tier limits, or the complete wording for combined-policy conditions and exclusions. The official page links to a CGU PDS, but that endpoint returned an access error during review, so exact combined-policy sublimits and detailed contract language could not be verified here. Ask for the applicable PDS and Certificate of Insurance with your quote before deciding.
CHOICE’s accessible review is for Horizon Bank Home Contents Plus for strata owners, a distinct contents product. It reports up to $20 million liability, a 14-day waiting period for flood, and temporary accommodation up to 24 months or 20% of the sum insured for that product. Those figures are not verified terms of this combined buildings-and-contents policy. CHOICE also says no expert rating is available on the strata-product page. A CHOICE search result corroborates the high-level description of a 25% building underinsurance safety net for the combined product, but does not establish its score, price or full policy detail.
How to compare it with another home policy
Compare quotes using the same address, construction details, building and contents sums insured, excess and optional covers. Then check the policy documents against the areas most likely to change the value of cover:
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute- Replacement value: whether your chosen building sum insured is adequate and how the 25% safety net applies.
- Events and exclusions: flood, storm, bushfire, actions of the sea and accidental damage.
- Sublimits: valuables, portable contents, food spoilage, landscaping, visitors’ belongings and temporary accommodation.
- Claims and repairs: repairer choice, workmanship guarantees, payment limits and emergency support.
- Price and eligibility: compare the actual quote and Certificate of Insurance; neither premium nor eligibility can be established from the public summary.
Horizon’s Financial Services Guide, effective 23 April 2025, says the bank receives commission of 5% to 25% of the premium paid for each insurance policy. This is the bank’s disclosed distribution commission, not evidence about any publisher referral arrangement.
Verdict
Horizon Bank Home Buildings and Contents Plus is worth including in a comparison if its stated safety net, longer temporary-accommodation period or higher limits match your priorities. It cannot be judged on those headline features alone: confirm the price, excesses, exact limits and exclusions in the policy documents, and compare them with equivalent cover for your home.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
