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The cost of home and contents cover. Explained.

What’s a premium?

Your premium is the amount you pay us to protect your stuff from certain risks. It’s unique to you. And what you’ve chosen to insure.

How we work out your premium.

It’s the sum of a few parts. A portion is based on your personal details. Part is set by the government as taxes and levies. And the rest is our running costs and how risky our country is.

The pieces of the premium puzzle.

The personalised part.

To figure this part out, we look at the cost to replace, repair or rebuild your home or belongings based on:

  • Where you live. The risks at your address and location. Like if you’re in a flood area or earthquake zone.
  • Your digs. The size of your home, when it was built and materials used.
  • Sum insured. The amount you would need to replace, repair or rebuild. More on sum insured.

Reinsurance. The safety net.

If there’s a big event, like Cyclone Gabrielle, we get tons of claims all at once. So, we may need our own insurance to help pay out the claims. Reinsurance is our insurance. Part of your premium goes towards this safety net and ensures that we’ve got your back no matter what.

Taxes and levies. The government-y bit.

Taxes and levies on top of your premium are set by the government. We collect these taxes and levies for them:

  • Natural Hazards Insurance levy. Formerly EQC. This supports all New Zealanders after certain major events. Think earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis. The biggies.
  • Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) levy. It helps fund firefighting and fire safety and prevention services. 
  • Goods and Services Tax. GST. It’s charged on most things and insurance is no exception. 

Why premiums and levies go up.

When nothing’s changed at your end, it’s hard to understand why premiums go up. Here are some reasons why.

  • Rising costs. It’s getting more expensive to replace and repair things, and to rebuild homes in New Zealand.
  • Claim trends. If heaps of people make similar claims, prices can go up.
  • More weather events and natural hazards. This can increase reinsurance and our running costs. We’re a risky little country.
  • Changes to government levies. Levy amounts are set by the government and tend to increase over time.

Your premium can also change if you adjust your excess, add or remove optional benefits, or change your sum insured amount.

Ways to reduce your premium.

Struggling to afford your insurance?

You have a few options to reduce your premium.

  1. Review your level of cover.
  2. Remove optional benefits you don’t need. 
  3. Increase your excess amount. 
  4. Check your sum insured is accurate. 

Extra care and support

Having a difficult time? Need financial assistance? Find out how we can help.

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