I was feeling quite overwhelmed with insuring my new commercial property. But after speaking with Tracey for a few minutes on the phone I knew I was in good hands. Tracey was very knowledgeable and had my policy setup within a couple of days. She really took the stress out of the whole process. Thank you!
Commercial Property Insurance. Would your policy replace what you own?
Quick answerWhat is commercial property insurance?Commercial property insurance is not one cover. It is several: the building, the fit-out, contents and stock, the rent or income it earns, the glass, and the liability of owning or occupying it. The sections you need depend on whether you own, rent, or do both under different entities. Consolidated Insurance Brokers will talk it through on 07 3292 1111.
Whether you own or work from an office, shop, warehouse, factory or strata lot, the building can be insured while the fit-out, rent or liability may not be covered at all. Finding out at claim time can leave you severely out-of-pocket.
Google reviews, word for word
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We had excellent service in obtaining insurance on a newly purchased commercial property. Clayton Rowlings explained everything so clearly and very patient with many questions regarding different options. Highly recommended! Thanks Clayton.
Tracey helped me sort out professional indemnity and public liability insurance for my new business - she was super helpful throughout the process helping me navigate for the first time.
Deja Coffey is our current Insurance broker for our company. Deja has Absolutely outstanding customer service and I highly recommend going with her for all your insurance needs.
Terrific experience with Gina. I had a difficult policy which other brokers couldn't find a solution for. Gina had an option for me within a few hours. I would highly recommend.
Thank you so much Cyndie for your help/advice/service. You made the whole process so easy. Thank you again. Jason Armstrong
Alison was a life-saver for us, staying after hours to make sure that we could get the building insurance coverage we urgently needed for a property purchase.
Debbie was always happy to help with my questions and very prompt with her service.
Hi I can highly recommend Aimee Spencer for all your insurance needs she has done a fantastic effort on keeping my insurance policy once again Many Thanks for all your work
Saskia Van Oostveen was efficient, professional, accurate, helpful and friendly throughout the entire process. Highly recommend!
A great experience with Tori, attaining some tricky commercial insurance, she was very professional in catering to your needs, whilst also having a quick turn around.
Jade was wonderful, finding me insurance coverage for a commercial property. Greatly appreciated her excellent service.
I contacted Tracey E from Consolidated Insurance Brokers for some commercial property quotes. Tracey was super helpful helpful, friendly and provided great advice. Highly recommend for all your insurance needs!
Thanks for your assistance Dylan with car insurance inquiry you have been really helpful and professional.
Shona was always available and answered all my queriers. A1 service and happy to recommend.
I contacted Renay after she was recommended by a family friend, for home and contents insurance. She was prompt and helpful and had me all sorted in a couple of days. Highly recommend!
I needed fast transit insurance this week and Daniel Roussounis was outstanding in his immediate response and getting this organized for me. Can't recommend Daniel and Consolidated Insurance Brokers highly enough!
Second year organising insurance with Jim K., did not have any issues and a smooth transition. I recommend
May Lewong at the Emerald office was amazing. Easy to deal with and was quick and efficient.
Reena was absolutely fantastic during the entire process helping me set you our new home and contents insurance. Would definitely recommend to anyone.
Natasha as always, gives us professional, exceptional service and would recommend her to any business :-)
Read every review, word for word as it was written on Google
Written by William Paull, QPIB
Co-Founder & Account Director · Read William’s full profile
We check the parts owners miss
Your rebuild figure
Own the building? We commission a desktop building replacement estimate at no cost to you. It informs the advice we give you. How the desktop building replacement estimate works
What you own today
When an owner tells us their property is fully insured, we ask how long the sum insured has sat unchanged. Then we allow for rising building costs since the last time the sum insured was increased. We also ask them to count every purchase of contents, stock and plant in that time. Small purchases count too; everything should be added into the sum insured. The figure is often years old.
The gap we see most often is when a busy finance manager pays the renewal and nobody asks what the business bought this year. We have seen that end in underinsurance at claim time.
A proper renewal review is set out in Why Did My Commercial Insurance Go Up?; owners of several buildings can start at our page on insurance for commercial property owners.
Which parts of commercial property are yours to insure?
We reviewed the nine business pack wordings we use most often side by side in September 2026.
| What you own | The cover that holds it | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| The building | Commercial Building Insurance | Today's rebuild cost. The owner's fixtures, floor coverings, plumbing and wiring count as building on all nine. |
| Furniture you supply to a tenant | Contents, on your own policy | None of the nine has a separate item for it, so list it as contents. |
| Fit-out, contents and stock | A business insurance pack | Theft is its own section. How theft cover works |
| Rent, or your business income | Loss of rent or business interruption | On all nine, rent runs for the period you choose. Outside that panel, one direct product we read stops three months after the building is usable again, even with no tenant. How loss of rent works |
| Your liability | Property Owners Liability for an owner, Public Liability for an occupier | The two are not interchangeable. |
What is the right number for each section of cover?
The building. Insure it for today's rebuild cost. That includes demolition, professional fees and code upgrades. It is not what you paid or what you could sell it for.
On our nine preferred wordings, the co-insurance clause, also called the average clause, tests your sums insured against 80 per cent of their actual replacement value. It looks at the building, contents and stock together, so an underinsured contents figure can cut a building claim too. Below the level required by the wording, a partial claim can be reduced. After a total loss, the amount available under the policy may not cover the rebuilding cost. What that did to one landlord's storm claim is in our guide to the co-insurance clause.
Fit-out, contents and stock. Insure fit-out and contents at today's replacement cost. Stock is insured at what it would cost you to buy it again, counted at cost plus freight and duty, not what you sell it for. If you give us a breakdown, we'll check how your wording settles stock before we set the sum insured. Unregistered machinery that stays on site generally belongs in that figure; mobile and higher-value gear usually earns its own plant and equipment policy.
Rent or income. We strongly recommend an indemnity period of 24 or even 36 months, depending on the client. The minimum is 18 months, and the longer the period, the better position you are in at claim time. When an indemnity period ends before the builder finishes, the policy stops paying at the worst moment. In our experience, business interruption is the section most often missing entirely from the policies we review.
Which building do you own or work from?
Call it commercial property, commercial premises or business property insurance: the cover follows the building and where you sit in it. Find yours.
You lease a building to tenants.
Your tenant's policy protects their business, not your building or you as its owner. On all nine wordings we place, the main empty-building exclusion starts after 90 consecutive days unoccupied, so tell us before a tenant leaves. What we check: what your tenant's website says it does against what really happens there, because insurers can read it before they renew. See Commercial Landlord Insurance.
You work from an office.
The fit-out figure often still matches the office before the last refurbishment. What we check: if the air conditioning is yours, we check whether breakdown cover is on the policy. We also check whether the sum insured cap on your schedule is enough to replace the system. See Office Insurance, and For Business Owner Tenants if you rent.
You run a shop.
The landlord insures the walls and roof. Your fit-out, stock and trade are yours. Most leases also require you – the tenant – to insure the glass. What we check: your lease, so we know which parts are yours. See Retail Insurance, and who pays for building insurance on a commercial property for how a lease splits it.
Your business runs out of a warehouse.
It is rarely the shed that gets you; it is the gear and stock inside. What we check: we go through what is on your floor with you, item by item, and build the figure from what is actually there, not from last year's schedule. See Warehouse Insurance.
You own a factory or industrial shed.
EPS walls, an asbestos roof, or a tenant's trade can impact whether an insurer quotes at all. What we check: that the sum insured is what outside trades would charge to rebuild it all, slab and fees included, not what you could do it for with a mate. See Industrial Building Insurance.
You own a commercial strata lot.
The body corporate's policy usually stops short of what is inside your lot. If the lot is leased, most leases require the tenant to insure the glass. What we check: the scheme's policy, your lease and your own policy together, so the air conditioning serving your lot sits under someone's breakdown cover. See Commercial Strata Insurance, and strata insurance vs building insurance for who insures what.
You own the building and trade from it.
Often a trust owns the building and a company trades. What we check: the lease between the two, which is what makes the rent cover respond. See For Business Owner-Occupiers.
Short answers
What does a commercial property insurance policy cover?
A typical policy for a building owner covers the building and fixtures, loss of rent for the period you choose if an insured event makes it untenantable, and liability if someone is injured, or their property damaged, at the building. Consolidated Insurance Brokers takes you through the optional sections: machinery breakdown for air conditioning and hot water, glass for shopfronts, and flood.
What is not covered by commercial property insurance?
In our experience at Consolidated Insurance Brokers, three gaps catch owners most often. The first is a tenant who stops paying rent. On the covers we place, that is a leasing issue, not an insured event. The second is wear and tear: this is never an insured event. The third is a building left empty/untenanted, which changes what the policy pays. On wear and tear, see How Your Roof Condition Affects Insurance Claims.
Is commercial premises insurance the same as commercial property insurance?
Yes, in everyday use: "premises" and "property" both mean the place your business owns or occupies. Neither word tells you which covers you need, so Consolidated Insurance Brokers works that out from what you own and what your lease puts on you.
What is business property insurance?
Business property insurance is a broad term, and Consolidated Insurance Brokers usually arranges it as the property sections of a business insurance pack. You choose each section and each sum insured. A landlord's sections are about the building and the rent. For a tenant, theft, portable contents that leave the premises, and flood are each a separate decision.
I lease my premises. Which parts of commercial property insurance are mine to insure?
The building is your landlord's to insure; your fit-out, contents, equipment and stock are yours. Consolidated Insurance Brokers places them alongside the liability cover your lease almost certainly requires. If fire or storm stopped you trading, the lost income would be yours too.
Am I covered if my tenant damages the property?
Accidental damage by a tenant, such as a forklift through a wall or a fire from faulty equipment, is generally claimable; the insurer may pursue the tenant. For malicious damage, Consolidated Insurance Brokers can tell you where you stand: on the business-pack wordings we place it is included, but plenty of commercial policies in the market exclude it. Check your schedule and excesses before you lease to a marginal tenant.
How do I choose the right insurer for a commercial property?
Compare what each insurer covers as well as the premium. As at August 2026, Consolidated Insurance Brokers takes business packs to nine insurers on SCTP and, where a risk demands it, can approach a further nine on Sunrise, up to 18 markets in total. We remarket every year. We charge a broker fee in addition to (or in place of) insurer commission.
Is there a plain-English commercial property insurance guide I can read?
Yes. Consolidated Insurance Brokers publishes plain-English guides on commercial property insurance. One explains how much your building should be insured for and what a genuine rebuild cost figure includes. Another covers underinsurance in commercial buildings and what a short sum insured does to a claim. A third takes the commercial landlord's side of it: loss of rent, the tenant's policy and a building that sits empty.
Get your commercial property properly insured. All of it.
Tell us what you own and we will talk you through which covers are yours to hold, which are not, and what the right sums insured look like. Have your renewal notice or policy schedule handy if you have one.
Tell us about your property. Call 07 3292 1111 to discuss the cover you need.