THE REPAIR JOURNEY

How a Home Insurance Repair Works in Victoria — Step by Step

Request a Repair Assessment Talk to a Builder — 1800 294 777

From damage to handover, here’s exactly how it works

Step 1: The Damage Happens
The first few hours matter more than most people realise. What you record now becomes the evidence the whole claim rests on — and once a room is cleared or dried out, it cannot be recreated.
Photograph first
Dated photos of the damage, the water path and the adjoining rooms, before anything is moved or cleaned up.
Your responsibility
Take reasonable steps to stop the damage getting worse. It is a duty under most building policies. Keep every receipt and instruction.
Your insurer
Most policies cover reasonable urgent costs incurred to prevent further damage. Tell them as early as you safely can.
Talk to us early
We are engaged from Step 3, but if you are unsure what genuinely needs doing now and what can wait for the scope, call us before you commit to anything. A five-minute conversation can protect the claim.
What we watch for: Evidence that was never captured. We would rather you photograph too much than discover at scoping that the proof of what was there is gone.
Step 2: Lodging Your Claim
You notify your insurer with your policy number, the date and cause of the damage, your photographs, and any invoices for urgent work already done.
Keep it in writing
Note who you spoke to and when. A written trail is worth a great deal later if the claim becomes complicated.
What happens next
Your insurer opens the claim and decides how it will be assessed — in-house, by a loss adjuster, or by a builder sent to scope.
If you want your own builder
Say so early. It is far easier to raise at lodgement than after an allocated builder has been appointed.
What we watch for: Claims lodged late, or lodged with only three photographs. The detail you give at this stage shapes how seriously the loss is assessed.
Step 3: We Assess and Document the Damage
This is where AxisPro comes in. A builder inspects the property, finds the damage behind the damage, and records everything your insurer will need to make a decision.
What we do
Dated photography, moisture readings where relevant, and a written condition report.
What we look for
Concealed and consequential damage — saturated framing, contaminated insulation, compromised services — that sits behind linings that look perfectly fine.
Working with adjusters
Larger and more complex losses are usually adjuster-managed. We report in the format they work in.
What we watch for: An assessment that only records what is visible. That becomes a scope that only repairs what is visible, and you find the rest halfway through the job.
Step 4: The Scope of Works
The scope is the document that says exactly what will be repaired, replaced and reinstated, and to what standard. It is the single most important document in your claim.
What we produce
A detailed scope and a line-item estimate in the format your insurer or adjuster expects, so the claim can be assessed without a second round of questions.
Why it matters
The scope drives the price, the approval and the finished result. Everything downstream is built on it.
What we watch for: Thin scopes. If damage is not written into the scope, it does not get repaired — so we would rather spend an extra day getting it complete than have you argue for it later.
Step 5: Your Insurer’s Decision
Your insurer accepts, partly accepts or declines the claim, and decides whether it will be repair-managed or settled in cash.
Repair-managed
Your insurer coordinates the repair, usually through a builder on their panel.
Cash settled
Your insurer pays you a sum instead of managing the work. The money is yours to spend on getting the property repaired, and the choice of builder is yours.
Either way
Ask what your policy wording allows. You generally have more say in who does the work than people assume.
What we watch for: Owners who assume the allocated builder is their only option. In most cases you can propose your own builder — it is worth asking the question.
Step 6: Appointing Your Builder
Insurer-allocated, or a builder you choose yourself — including when you have been cash settled.
What we offer
A site inspection at no cost, an itemised scope and quote, and a straight answer on whether the settlement actually covers the work.
If the settlement looks short
An itemised builder’s scope is the evidence that supports that conversation with your insurer.
Being clear
We are builders, not insurance advisers. What the repair involves and what it costs to do properly is our field. Decisions about your policy and your settlement stay between you and your insurer.
What we watch for: Owners signing with anyone before confirming the appointment with their insurer in writing. Confirm first, then commit.
Step 7: Contract, Permits and Practitioners
Contract signed, permits obtained and registered practitioners engaged before a tool comes out of the ute.
Permits
Structural work and most reinstatement works need a building permit. Like-for-like minor repairs often do not. We confirm which applies as part of scoping.
Domestic building insurance
We arrange it where the domestic building work requires it, before the job starts.
What you get
A written contract with a defined scope, a program and a payment schedule. No handshake arrangements.
What we watch for: Work starting before permit requirements are settled. It is the fastest way to turn a straightforward repair into a compliance problem.
Step 8: The Repair
One supervisor, our own trusted trade partners, a published program, and regular progress updates and site walkthroughs — the same way we run every AxisPro project.
Living in the house
Works staged so you can stay where practical, with protected access routes and dust and noise control.
Upgrading while the walls are open
We separate owner-funded improvements from the insured reinstatement so both are documented cleanly.
How long it takes
A few days for minor works, several months for a structural reinstatement — driven by scope complexity, approval times, permits and trade availability.
What we watch for: Claims that drift because nobody owns them. You get a named contact and a program, so you are never the one chasing us for an update.
Step 9: Concealed Damage and Variations
Once linings come off, claims often reveal more than the scope allowed for. That is normal, and there is a proper way to handle it.
How we handle it
Documented with photographic substantiation and submitted to your insurer for approval before the work is carried out.
Before linings close
Concealed work is verified and photographed, so what is behind the wall is on record.
Most common in
Water and fire claims, where damage behind linings is the rule rather than the exception.
What we watch for: Work proceeding on variations that were never approved — which is how the cost quietly lands back on the owner.
Step 10: Handover and Warranty
Defect close-out, compliance certificates, warranties and a complete as-completed photo record. We stand behind the work in writing.
What you receive
Certificates, written warranties and the full photographic record of the repair.
If something is not right
Tell us. Defects raised after handover are dealt with under warranty.
If a dispute cannot be resolved
Insurance disputes go through your insurer’s internal complaints process and then the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. Disputes with a builder go to the Building and Plumbing Commission.
What we watch for: Handovers accepted before defects are closed and certificates issued. We would rather finish the list properly than hand you a folder with gaps in it.