LMI Calculator FY2026-27
Every rate here checked against its official source on or after 2026-09-17 — per-source dates listed below.
This calculator estimates Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) — the upfront premium, your loan-to-value ratio (LVR), and the effective rate on your loan — from your property value and deposit, using Helia's own published indicative premium rates for owner-occupiers, first home buyers and investors, plus your state's stamp duty on the premium.
LMI is a one-off insurance premium most lenders require when your deposit is below 20% of the property's value (an LVR above 80%). It protects the LENDER, not you, against the risk of you defaulting — but it's charged to you, the borrower, either upfront or capitalised into your loan.
Premiums below are Helia's published indicative rates as at 2026-10-28. Your own lender may use Helia, a different insurer such as QBE, or self-insure — your actual premium may differ. This is general information, not a quote.
Estimate your LMI premium
Stamp duty on the premium in : $0 . Total LMI cost: $0
No LMI under the 5% Deposit Scheme — the government guarantee replaces it. Without the scheme this loan would cost about $0 in LMI .
This deposit is under 5%, so the 5% Deposit Scheme only applies if you're eligible as a single parent (2% minimum deposit); a participating lender can confirm. Without the scheme, Helia doesn't insure a loan at this LVR.
The 5% Deposit Scheme is for homes you'll live in, so it doesn't apply to an investment property; the figures above are the normal LMI estimate.
Loan amount $540,000 — 90% LVR.
No LMI needed — a deposit of 20% or more (80% LVR or below) doesn't typically require Lenders Mortgage Insurance at all.
Outside Helia's insurable range. A deposit this small (LVR above 95%) is outside the scenarios Helia's own estimator will quote — speak to your lender or a mortgage broker about your options.
This is general information, not financial advice, and is not intended to be relied on for making decisions about a financial product. Consider advice from a licensed financial adviser or mortgage broker — and your lender's formal quote — before making any financial decisions.
LMI premium by deposit size, on a $600,000 property
The smaller the deposit, the higher the LVR, and the more steeply LMI is priced — figures below are computed from the engine above, on a fixed $600,000 property, before any state stamp duty on the premium.
| Deposit | Loan amount | LVR | Owner-occupier | First home buyer | Investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19% ($114,000) | $486,000 | 81% | $2,536 | $2,264 | $2,808 |
| 15% ($90,000) | $510,000 | 85% | $5,323 | $4,800 | $5,845 |
| 10% ($60,000) | $540,000 | 90% | $9,862 | $8,856 | $10,869 |
| 5% ($30,000) | $570,000 | 95% | $16,837 | $15,137 | $18,537 |
How this is calculated
Helia (one of Australia's main LMI insurers) publishes no static rate-card table — its own LMI fee estimator is an interactive tool. This calculator's rate table is a full capture of that tool's own live output: the premium rate (as a percentage of your loan amount) for every whole-percentage-point LVR from 81% to 95%, crossed with four loan-size bands, for each combination of owner-occupier or investor and first home buyer or not, on a loan of up to 30 years. Helia charges a minimum premium of $1,118.18 (found identical across all four combinations), so a small loan never prices below that. Your exact LVR is rounded UP to the next whole percentage point for the lookup (e.g. 82.4% is priced as 83%) — a deliberately conservative choice: Helia's true bands can sit at finer resolution than whole percentage points, so rounding up never understates the premium, even if it can occasionally overstate it slightly.
| LVR | $300,000 or less | $300,001 - $600,000 | $600,001 - $1,000,000 | Over $1,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 81% | 0.447% | 0.522% | 0.829% | 0.923% |
| Up to 85% | 0.811% | 1.044% | 1.193% | 1.314% |
| Up to 90% | 1.435% | 1.826% | 2.32% | 2.553% |
| Up to 95% | 2.348% | 2.954% | 3.97% | 4.361% |
The premium is a straight percentage of your LOAN amount (not the property value) — e.g. a 90% LVR loan in the $300,001 - $600,000 band prices at 1.826%, so a $540,000 loan at that LVR costs roughly $9,862. Helia's own copy states the premium "can either be paid upfront or capitalised into the loan" — this page shows the upfront figure only (see the FAQs above for what capitalising it means). The owner-occupier, non-first-home-buyer grid is shown above; the other three are captured the same way.
Stamp duty on the premium is the state's general insurance duty rate on the premium including GST, read from each revenue office: NSW nil, VIC 10%, QLD 9%, WA 10%, SA 11%, TAS 10%, NT 10%, ACT nil. Tasmania's 2% "mortgage insurance" rate isn't LMI: its Duties Act defines that as life cover a borrower takes out to repay the loan on death, while LMI insures the lender and is general insurance.
Sources
- MoneySmart — Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) glossary entry (what LMI is, who it protects, the 80% LVR threshold) — verified 2026-09-17
- Helia — LMI fee estimator (this page's rate table is a full capture of this tool's own live output) — verified 2026-10-28
- New South Wales — insurance duty on an LMI premium (none: exempt for premiums paid from 1 July 2017) — verified 2026-10-28
- Victoria — insurance duty on an LMI premium (10%: general insurance duty, on the premium including GST) — verified 2026-10-28
- Queensland — insurance duty on an LMI premium (9%: general insurance duty, on the premium including GST) — verified 2026-10-28
- Western Australia — insurance duty on an LMI premium (10%: general insurance duty, on the premium including GST) — verified 2026-10-28
- South Australia — insurance duty on an LMI premium (11%: general insurance duty, on the premium including GST) — verified 2026-10-28
- Tasmania — insurance duty on an LMI premium (10%: general insurance duty, on the premium including GST) — verified 2026-10-28
- Northern Territory — insurance duty on an LMI premium (10%: general insurance duty, on the premium paid) — verified 2026-10-28
- Australian Capital Territory — insurance duty on an LMI premium (none: insurance duty abolished from 1 July 2016) — verified 2026-10-28
- Australian Government — 5% Deposit Scheme (no LMI, 5% minimum deposit, 2% for single parents, price caps) — verified 2026-10-28
Assumptions used here follow the same general approach as ASIC's MoneySmart calculators and may not reflect every personal circumstance — see "What this doesn't model" for specifics.
What this doesn't model
- Loan terms beyond 30 years. A longer loan term raises the premium — checked at one point, a 35-year term priced about 3% higher and a 40-year term about 6% higher than the "up to 30 years" figure this calculator uses throughout.
- 5% Deposit Scheme eligibility. Ticking the scheme box assumes you qualify (Australian citizen or permanent resident, owner-occupier, a participating lender, and a price under the location's cap); the calculator doesn't check any of that.
- Other insurers and lender-specific rates. Some lenders use a different insurer (such as QBE) with its own rate table, self-insure certain loans without LMI at all, or negotiate their own rates — none of that is reflected here.
- Profession waivers and family guarantees. Some lenders waive LMI up to a higher LVR for certain professions, or let a family member's equity substitute for an LMI premium via a family guarantee — neither is modelled; both depend on your specific lender's own policy, not a published rate table.
If any of these apply to you, the premium you're actually quoted will differ from the figures above.
Frequently asked questions
How much is LMI on a $600,000 property with a 10% deposit?
On a $600,000 property with a $60,000 deposit (a $540,000 loan, 90% LVR), Helia's own published rates put the estimated upfront LMI premium at $9,862 — an effective rate of 1.8% of the loan amount. Put down a 15% deposit instead (85% LVR) and it drops sharply; put down less than 5% and Helia's own estimator won't quote a premium at all — see the next question for why LVR matters so much.
What is LVR and why does it move the premium so much?
LVR (loan-to-value ratio) is your loan amount as a percentage of the property's value — a $540,000 loan on a $600,000 property is 90% LVR. LMI exists to protect the LENDER (not you) against the risk of you defaulting with a small deposit, so insurers price it steeply against LVR: the higher the LVR, the more of the property's value the lender stands to lose if it has to repossess and sell, so the premium rate climbs fast as your deposit shrinks — Helia's own published rates on this page roughly quadruple between an 81% and a 95% LVR on the same loan size.
Can I avoid LMI altogether?
The most direct way is a deposit of 20% or more (80% LVR or below), which is why this calculator doesn't price anything at or under that threshold. Eligible first home buyers can also use the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme: the government guarantees part of the loan, so you can buy with as little as a 5% deposit (2% for single parents) and pay no LMI, provided the property is under the price cap for its location and you live in it; tick the scheme box in the calculator to see what it saves you. Below 20% deposit, some borrowers avoid LMI through a family guarantee (a family member offers equity in their own property as additional security instead of you paying an LMI premium) or, for certain professions some lenders treat as lower-risk (e.g. some medical or legal professionals), a lender-specific LMI waiver up to a higher LVR than usual. Neither is modelled on this page — both depend on your specific lender's own policy, not a published rate table, so speak to your lender or a mortgage broker about whether you qualify.
Can I add LMI to my loan instead of paying it upfront?
Usually, yes — Helia's own guidance states LMI "can either be paid upfront or capitalised into the loan". Capitalising it means the premium is added to your loan balance and repaid (with interest) over the life of the loan, rather than paid as a lump sum at settlement, which is more convenient but costs more in total once you count the extra interest. This calculator shows the upfront premium figure only — it doesn't model the extra interest cost of capitalising it; the offset account and negative gearing calculators' amortisation engine could be adapted to that comparison if you want to work it out for your own loan and rate.
Do first home buyers and investors pay different LMI?
Yes. Helia's own estimator prices the same loan differently by buyer type. On a $600,000 property with a $60,000 deposit (a $540,000 loan at 90% LVR), its rates give $9,862 for an owner-occupier, $8,856 for a first home buyer and $10,869 for an investor. Across the whole rate table the first home buyer discount runs from about 9% to 11% and the investor loading from about 10% to 11%, depending on the LVR and loan size. Choose your buyer type in the calculator to price your own loan.
Is there stamp duty on LMI?
In most states, yes, and it's on top of the premium (Helia quotes its premium "including GST, excluding stamp duty"). The duty is the state's general insurance duty rate on the premium including GST: VIC 10%, QLD 9%, WA 10%, SA 11%, TAS 10%, NT 10%. NSW charges none (exempt for premiums paid from 1 July 2017); ACT charges none (insurance duty abolished from 1 July 2016). On a $9,862 premium, that's $1,085 in South Australia or $888 in Queensland. It's separate from transfer (stamp) duty on the property itself, and it's usually added to the LMI amount your lender collects. Pick your state in the calculator to include it.
Why might my lender's LMI quote differ from this estimate?
This calculator uses Helia's own published premium-rate table, but Helia is only one of Australia's LMI insurers — your lender might use a different insurer (such as QBE) with its own rate table, or self-insure some loans without LMI at all. Even with Helia, the actual premium depends on things this estimator doesn't ask about, such as a loan term over 30 years and details only revealed at formal application. First home buyer and investor pricing, Helia's minimum premium and state stamp duty on the premium are all included here — see "What this doesn't model" below for the rest.