An educational reference for home insurance in New Zealand, with a single disclosed referral partner. We do not sell insurance, we do not rank insurers, and we publish no prices.
Why it exists
Home insurance in New Zealand changed fast. After the Canterbury earthquakes, policies stopped rebuilding whatever it cost and started paying up to a set figure. Working out that figure became the homeownerβs job. Then insurers started pricing house by house, so neighbours can now pay very different amounts. Almost everything written to explain this comes from insurers, about their own products.
This site goes through the cover types one at a time. What each one usually includes. What it leaves out. What an insurer asks before pricing it. It is meant to be useful before you open a quote form, not after.
What it does not publish
No prices, no rebuild costs, no sum insured figures, and no tool that guesses at one. Those numbers come from an insurer who has assessed your property, or from a valuer who has looked at the building. A rough version would make a very important number look exact. Acting on a guess is how people end up underinsured.
There are no forms either. We collect nothing about you and hold nothing to pass on. The quote starter runs entirely in your browser.
Our relationship with Cove
Cove is the one brand we refer people to. We get no commission, fee or payment for it. No insurer pays us for a mention or a position anywhere on this site. We still say so on every page, and set it out in full on the partner page. A site that sends everyone to one brand out of fourteen should say so, money or not. We do not call ourselves independent.
How claims are sourced
Facts about the law or the market are linked to the source the first time we use them. The Natural Hazards Commission Toka TΕ« Ake, the Insurance Council of New Zealand, MBIE, Stats NZ, Tenancy Services, or the law itself. We do not use insurer marketing pages or rival comparison sites as sources. Where something differs between insurers, and most things do, we say it differs.
Disclaimer
General information only. Not personalised financial advice.
Home insurance is one of the few contracts most households hold for decades and read once. What a policy covers, what it excludes, and what has to be disclosed before it starts all vary between insurers and between versions of the same product, and the wording is what settles a claim. This site explains how the cover generally works so those conversations start from a better place. It is not a substitute for the policy document.
What this site is
An information site about insuring a home in New Zealand. Not an insurer, not a broker, not a registered financial adviser. Nothing here is personalised financial advice or a recommendation about any particular property.
What this site does not do
It publishes no premiums, no rebuild costs and no sum-insured figures, and nothing here estimates one. Those numbers come from an insurer's own calculator or a registered valuer, and getting them wrong is what underinsurance is made of.
What the insurer decides
Whether cover is offered, on what terms, at what price and with what exclusions is decided by the insurer, on the information given to them about the specific property.
Our relationship with Cove
This site refers people to three insurance brands. Cove for most homes, FMG for farms and lifestyle blocks, and AA Insurance for apartments. We receive no commission, fee or payment for any of those referrals, and nothing on this site is sold. No brand can buy a position, a badge or a mention. We are not an insurer, not a broker, and not a registered financial adviser. Nothing here is a recommendation that any brand is right for any particular home. Full disclosure on the partner page.
The policy wording decides
Every description of cover on this site describes what that type of cover generally does, not what any particular policy does. Limits, excesses, exclusions and conditions differ between insurers and change between versions, and the wording issued with a policy is the document that settles a claim.
