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homeinsurance.org.nz
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Who insures homes in New Zealand

There are more brands than there are insurers. Several familiar names sit inside the same group and share an underwriter, and most banks sell cover that another company carries the risk on. This page sets out who is who.

Listed alphabetically. This site does not rank insurers.

What kind of home is it?

The brands

Brands that insure New Zealand homes

Alphabetical within each group, and the order carries no meaning. Individual pages on each of these are being written. Cove is the one brand this site has a referral relationship with, disclosed on the partner page, and it appears here in the same list at the same size as everyone else.

Sold through a bank

Bought from your bank

These five sell home insurance to their banking customers rather than carrying the risk themselves. In each case a separate licensed insurer underwrites the policy and is named on the certificate of insurance and in the wording. It is worth checking who that is, because the underwriter sets the cover and assesses any claim, and it may be the same company already quoting under another brand.

Their own sites: AA Insurance, AMI, Cove, FMG, Initio, MAS, NZI, State, Tower, Trade Me Insurance, Vero.

Same underwriter, different name

Which brands belong together

This is the part worth knowing before gathering quotes. Two brands in the same group commonly share a wording and a claims operation, so quotes from both are less independent than they look. Only groupings this site has confirmed are listed.

IAG New Zealand

AMI Β· State Β· NZI

Direct brands and a broker-facing one within the same group.

Suncorp New Zealand

Vero Β· AA Insurance

Vero sits in the group. AA Insurance is a joint venture involving Suncorp New Zealand and the New Zealand Automobile Association.

Independent

Tower

Underwrites its own policies and is listed on the NZX.

Not listed above

distribute or sell cover that this site has not confirmed the underwriter for, so no grouping is claimed for them here. The certificate of insurance and the policy wording issued with any policy name the insurer that carries the risk, and that document is the authoritative answer rather than anything on this page.

FAQ

Questions about New Zealand insurers

How many companies actually insure homes in New Zealand?

Fewer than the number of brands suggests. Several well-known names are brands within a larger group and share an underwriter, and several banks distribute cover that another company carries the risk on. That is not hidden, it is set out in the policy documents, but it is easy to miss when comparing. The practical consequence is that two quotes can come from the same insurer with different names on the front.

Does it matter who underwrites my policy?

It matters for two things. The wording, limits and exclusions come from the underwriter rather than the brand, so two brands sharing an underwriter often share most of a policy. And a claim is assessed by the underwriter, so their claims process is the one that applies. The brand matters for price, service and how easy the cover is to buy and manage, which are not small things either.

Is a bank the insurer when I buy home insurance through them?

Generally no. Banks in New Zealand commonly distribute general insurance underwritten by a separate licensed insurer, and act as an agent rather than carrying the risk themselves. The certificate of insurance and the policy wording name the insurer. Where cover is bundled with a mortgage, the bank may also be recorded on the policy as having an interest in the property.

Does this site rank insurers or say which is best?

No. This site does not rank insurers, score them, or publish best-of lists, and the order on this page is alphabetical. Home insurance in New Zealand is priced at property level, so which insurer is cheapest or most suitable varies house by house in a way that makes any general ranking unreliable. Cove is the one brand this site has a referral relationship with, and that is disclosed on every page.

Are all New Zealand home insurers regulated the same way?

Licensed insurers operating in New Zealand are supervised by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010, and the register of licensed insurers is public. Most also belong to the Insurance Council of New Zealand and are bound by the Fair Insurance Code. Complaints that are not resolved by the insurer can go to an external dispute resolution scheme, commonly the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman.

Related

Keep exploring

Cover types

House, landlord, holiday home, unoccupied.

Read on

How a quote works

What every insurer asks before pricing.

Read on

Our partner Cove

Who we refer to, and on what terms.

Read on

References

Sources

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.

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Important information

About this site, what it does not do, and your protections.

Last reviewed 1 September 2026.

1. What this site is

Homeinsurance.org.nz is an information site about insuring a home in New Zealand. We are not an insurer, not a broker, and not a financial adviser. We do not arrange, sell or underwrite insurance. We do not hold your money. We do not give regulated financial advice, as defined by the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 Part 6 and the Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act 2019. Nothing here is advice about your situation.

2. No premiums, no rebuild costs, no sum insured

This site publishes no prices, no rebuild costs and no sum insured figures, and nothing here guesses at one. A sum insured is what it would cost to rebuild one particular house. That number comes from an insurer’s calculator, or from a valuer who has seen the building. Where we explain what a sum insured is, we are explaining the idea. We are not giving you a figure.

3. The quote starter

The tool names a cover type based on how a home is used. It is not a quote. It is not an application. It does not mean cover is available or will be offered. Your answers stay in your browser and are not sent anywhere.

4. General information, not advice

Everything here is general information. It does not take account of your situation, your goals or your property. For a decision about cover, a licensed financial adviser or an insurance broker is the safer place to go. That is especially true if a property has past claims, a flood or earthquake risk, or building work that never got consent.

5. What the policy wording decides

When we describe cover, we describe what that kind of cover usually does. Limits, excesses, exclusions and conditions differ between insurers, and between versions of the same product. The document issued with your policy is the one that settles your claim. Where this site and that document disagree, the document wins.

6. 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, a position or a write-up anywhere here. We do not claim Cove is the cheapest or the best cover for any home. Other insurers are described on their merits. This site is not independent, because it has one named partner, and we do not call ourselves independent. The full story is on our partner page. Cove is a brand, not an insurer. Its own documents name the company that carries the risk.

7. Privacy and personal information

Under the Privacy Act 2020, we run no forms and collect nothing about you. Your quote starter answers stay in your browser. They are never sent to a server we control. We use Google Analytics 4 to count visits, which tells us nothing about you personally. Click through to an insurer and you leave our site. From that point their privacy policy applies.

8. Duty of disclosure

New Zealand law says you have to tell an insurer the things they would want to know. The Contracts of Insurance Act 2024 changed how that works for everyday policies. A claim can be cut back or turned down over something you did not mention at the start. Building work, past claims, and stretches where the house sat empty are the usual ones. What any particular insurer needs is a question for them.

9. Fair dealing posture

This site follows the fair dealing rules in the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 Part 2 and the Fair Trading Act 1986. We also follow the Fair Insurance Code. We do not mislead, make things up, or state claims we cannot back. Facts and figures are either hedged or linked to the source. Those sources are the Natural Hazards Commission Toka TΕ« Ake, MBIE, Stats NZ, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the Insurance Council of New Zealand, Tenancy Services, the Commerce Commission and the Financial Markets Authority.

10. Complaints

We do not sell insurance, so we cannot deal with a complaint about a policy. Take it to your insurer first. If they do not fix it, take it to their complaints scheme. Most New Zealand insurers belong to the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman, which is free and independent.

11. Limitation of liability and governing law

As far as New Zealand law allows, Homeinsurance.org.nz and the people who run it are not liable for any loss or damage from using this site, or from relying on anything on it or linked from it. That covers direct and indirect loss. These terms are governed by New Zealand law, and any dispute goes to a New Zealand court.

Long form: terms, privacy, footer disclaimer.