Most households are on top of the usual insurance policies - car, private health, home and contents, building, life cover and the like. But what about other forms of cover that slip below the radar but can be just as useful?

Jane King, the developer of Kids Cover which pays out the cost of child care if a child is too ill to attend, tells the story of one couple who claimed - and received - about $800 when their child was unwell. Like most people in this situation they still had to pay the child-care fees yet were unable to work because their child had to stay home.

They were understandably thrilled when they were able to recoup some of the "wasted" child-care costs on their policy. Yet child-care cover - like other niche insurance including cover for sick or injured pets, collectible cars, investment property and third-party motor property insurance - is often overlooked.

Whatever the insurance, to work out whether it's feasible you'll have to weigh up the cost of the premium with any benefits you're likely to receive. Not all the insurance we outline here will be useful to you, but it's worth knowing how different policies work just in case you decide to insure against your daschund's costly scraps with next-door's cat or a tenant taking off without paying the rent on your investment unit.

Motor property insurance

Third-party property damage cover is a relatively unknown, stand-alone policy that insures against other people's property if damaged in a car accident that is your fault (not to be confused with compulsory third-party injury protection). It's useful, says Nicholas Schofield of Allianz Australia Insurance, if you're driving a cheaper car that's hardly worth insuring under comprehensive cover or you have a heavily modified car that's too expensive to insure.

Cover starts at $250 a year which is "relatively cheap given the cover of up to $20million, which sounds a lot but not if you lose control of your car going down William Street and smash through the window of the Ferrari dealership and damage a couple of dozen vehicles", says Schofield.

Without the cover, in such an accident you'd be open to legal action with potential for losing your assets.

Landlord cover

This protects investors in residential property against loss of rental income and provides cover in the event of malicious and accidental damage to the home by the tenant. But not all policies are the same, says Carolyn Majda of Terri Scheer Insurance Brokers.

"Different insurers will have varying conditions for loss of rent cover, for example," Majda says. "A comprehensive definition includes: if the tenant absconds or dies; if they leave the property unable to be tenanted while repairs to damage are made; or if access to the rented property is prevented due to an insured event occurring. Not all policies include cover for all of these, or if they do they may be optional extras."

Premiums differ between states and start from $256 a year in Victoria and $325 in NSW.

Pet policy

Tired of forking out hundreds of dollars every time you visit the vet or wincing at the thought of a $1000 bill every time you find a tick on your pet? It might be time to consider insuring your furry friend. There are a number of specialist pet insurers and some private health funds such as HCF also offer pet packages.

For example, Petplan cover starts at $31.20 a month for a dog and $17.50 for a cat for budget cover which gives you up to $9000 of non-routine vets' fees for dogs ($8000 for cats), $500 towards boarding kennel fees if your pet is hospitalised for more than four days and $500 towards advertising and a reward if the pet is stolen. A one-off $100 excess fee applies each year for vet bills.

Child-care payout

Kids Cover, underwritten by Allianz, kicks in after your child has been unable to attend child care for two or three consecutive days due to illness. You must have a doctor's certificate and you get paid out the cost of the missed days minus the child-care benefit.

If you want the cover to kick in after three missed days, the annual premium is $91 if your weekly child-care spend is more than $200 or $61 if the spend is less than $200 a week. If you want the cover to kick in after two missed days, the annual premium is $170 (if your weekly spend exceeds $200) or $120 (if it's less than $200 a week).