Elizabeth North properties have been known for affordable price points but the suburb has the dubious honour of being named in a report of suburbs with the most landlord insurance claims.
They have regularly featured in property hotspot lists thanks to their affordable price points and high rental returns, but these suburbs can carry hidden traps for investors, new research has revealed.
An exclusive new report by Allianz Australia has uncovered the Australian suburbs with the most landlord insurance claims.
The most common landlord insurance claims were for storms, burst pipes, malicious damage and unpaid rent, said Allianz Australia spokesman Matt Anderson.
“The majority of the claims were for less than $2000, while the next most common brackets were $2000-$5000 and then $5000- $10,000,” Mr Anderson said.
MORE: How Boomers could unlock 33k homes
Former sniper forced to sell war veterans retreat in country SA
Workers at Elizabeth in 2017 when the suburb was hit with the closure of the Holden factory. Picture: Bernard Humphreys
In South Australia, the five that topped the list were Elizabeth North, Salisbury, Smithfield, Elizabeth and Park Holme.
Four of the five suburbs are located in Adelaide’s northeast, where investors chasing positive cashflow have been attracted to low median purchase prices and disproportionately higher rental returns.
Park Holme was the geographical exception, being in the inner-south, but shared financial and socio-economic factors with the others.
But drilling down to the Adelaide suburbs, tenant-related claims were the most common, according to Wayne Johnson, EBM Property Insurance state manager SA.
“The main areas of concern in those places is rent default,” Mr Johnson said. “Then there’s tenant damage and then there’s legal liability, where the tenant hurts themselves, or worse.”
MORE: Trophy home smashes price record to become second-most expensive home in SA
The suburb may be an insurance company nightmare, but Salisbury still sees strong demand, with the top price paid being $5.5m on October 29, 2024 for this 1,2ha estate.
Clearly the price paid for 95-101 Winzor Street, Salisbury, came off the huge investor recevelopment potential from the land.
REVEALED:43 suburbs where a house costs less than $400k
Surprise number of families locked out of their own suburb
Mr Johnson said that areas such as Elizabeth had suffered socio-economic decline over the years since major employers such as Holden scaled back operations and closed down and, “along with Salisbury and Elizabeth North, this accounts for the fact landlord insurance claims are higher in those areas”.
PropTrack data shows the suburbs have had strong capital growth in recent years, largely due to investor activity. Elizabeth North has seen its house median go from $220,000 in 2022 to $467,500 in 2025.
“There’s been a significant increase in purchases sight unseen by investors, because prices were lower and returns were pretty reasonable,” Mr Johnson said. “And if the numbers stack up, people are inclined to buy, especially when they look at the opportunities compared to Sydney or Melbourne.”
Despite the suburb being named in the Allianz Australia list, Lakhwinder Singh said Elizabeth turned out to be one of their best investments ever. Picture: John Appleyard.
MORE: A veteran’s approach to buying and selling real estate
Two-in-one family home, wedding venue up for grabs
Mr Johnson said it was essential investors take out landlord insurance no matter where they were purchasing, pointing out that it was not a prohibitive cost.
“Landlord insurance is not a lot. In South Australia you can get a new policy for $295 (a year) and $345 is the standard rate,” he said. ‘It’s less than a week’s rent in the majority of cases.”
Mr Johnson suggested investors focus on several key areas from an insurance perspective before purchasing a property.
“The number one thing is to check the insurance flood rating on your property, because insurers adopt certain databases that give an indication on flood threat,” he said. “In some areas, you actually can’t get cover.
Don’t try to attempt the repairs yourself or you could impact your insurance claim.
“The second thing is, have a building inspection done. There’s a need to ensure that you will provide more services and that they’re in good condition that are reasonably required by a tenant … Over the next five years or so, you’ll see more obligations on landlords to ensure their properties are more energy efficient.
“Get some advice on the rentability of the property. We’ve just had a recent example where all these things went wrong in a matter of three weeks. The toilets and drains blocked, the hot water service was in the ceiling, hadn’t been used for six months and had to be replaced. There was an electrical fault with the stove and the air conditioner didn’t cool. So that landlord got hit with four things.”
Blocked drains are one of the many issues landlords face.
“Obviously, if you’re down on price point, you’ve got to accept the conditions, but understand the type of area that you’re buying into. And also, pick a good property manager. Don’t try and do it yourself.”
Property Investors Council of Australia director Ben Kingsley said most Australian areas with high claims were outer or regional areas known for relative affordability, meaning in many instances tenants were in more fraught financial situations.
He claimed that tenant protections being introduced by state governments would lead to higher landlord insurance premiums in these areas.
“As more claims come in as a result of not being able to remove difficult tenants, that will increase landlord insurance policy costs (higher premiums) — which will be passed on to the tenants,” he said.
Mr Kingsley expected imminent new tenant protections putting limits on evictions in most states to lead to further insurance claims.
In South Australia, protections that would stop a landlord removing a tenant before a property has been sold could be particularly problematic.
Silver lining for Elizabeth investor
The Singh family had a positive experience investing in Elizabeth. Picture: John Appleyard
Property investor Lakhwinder Singh had a positive experience in Elizabeth, finding the
reputation of tenants in the area was worse than the reality.
“A taxi driver friend told me a lot of the passengers he dropped off in that area ran off without paying. He said tenants would do the same thing with rent,” Mr Singh said.
“It actually turned out the tenant who moved into my Elizabeth property was one of the best I’ve had. There are good and bad tenants anywhere.”
Mr Singh said the area offered major advantages for investors.
“I actually sold that property for a lot more than I paid. It was one of the best investments I ever made.”
English (US) · 