House insurance helps protect you from the costs of repairs or, in the worst case, rebuilding your home if it’s damaged or destroyed in a disaster or unexpected accident.

Natural disaster risks like floods, earthquakes, and volcanic activity are now a concern for Kiwis  - recent research has shown that 89% of people who have recently bought or are considering buying a property have natural hazard risks on their minds.

Home insurance policies, including Natural Hazards Cover, help safeguard your home against these events. It also covers accidents—like fire damage from an overloaded power point, a car crashing into your property, or those everyday mishaps like the kids putting a hole in the wall or a falling ladder smashing through a glass door.

No matter what happens, having house insurance gives you peace of mind, knowing that if something goes wrong, the cost of fixing it won’t fall entirely on you.

Yes, we highly recommend that all Kiwi homeowners have house insurance. Your home is likely your most valuable asset and the place where you and your family live. Accidents and disasters happen—whether it’s a house fire, a car crashing into your property, or natural disasters like floods. House insurance ensures that if the unexpected occurs, you’ll have the funds to repair or rebuild your home, and cover emergency services if needed.

The cost of house repairs can range from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands. As we have seen recently, extreme weather events have cost billions. In 2023, extreme weather events like the Auckland floods, Cyclone Gabrielle, and North Island storms led to 119,435 climate-related claims, totaling around $3.56 billion.

If you have a mortgage, your bank will require you to have home insurance. This protects both you and the bank by ensuring that, in the event of damage or destruction, your home can be repaired or rebuilt. Without house insurance, you could face legal liabilities if someone else is affected by the damage and you’re unable to pay for repairs.

For first-time home buyers, it's important to factor in the cost of house insurance in New Zealand as part of your overall budget and financial plan.If possible, you should also ask the current homeowner about any existing insurance coverage or challenges with insuring the property, especially if it’s located on a steep slope or in a high-risk flood or fire zone. If you need help, review your policy and connect with an insurance expert for guidance (Quashed can help with this).

The amount you insure your house for should be sufficient to restore your property to its original condition before any damage occurred.

This amount should include the cost of demolition (if the existing damaged property cannot be repaired), obtaining the necessary consents, and covering professional fees (e.g., architects) in the event of complete destruction. For example, if an unexpected fire destroys your home and you need to rebuild it, the insured amount should be enough to cover the full rebuild cost, ensuring you don’t have to pay out of pocket.

It’s important to review your insured amount at least once a year or every couple of years to ensure it accounts for the rapidly increasing cost of rebuilding.

There are several ways to determine how much it would cost to rebuild your home, which will help you decide how much cover you need.

• DIY online. There are a number of online tools that can estimate how much you should consider insuring your house for. Here is one provided free-of-charge by Core Logic which is used by banks. Simply enter your address and confirm a few other bits of information about your property and it will provide an estimate. This is quick and easy, but not necessarily the most accurate.

• Engage a quantity surveyor or valuer. Get the experts to inspect your house and provide a report on the cost to rebuild your property. To find a qualified quantity surveyor and read more about how they can help, check out the NZ Institute of Quantity Surveyors. Cost varies from $500-$1,000 for the valuer or quantity surveyor to visit your property and to provide a report. If you have a larger than average sized property or a property that is built with unique features and materials, or it is on a steep slope, this could be the better option for you.

• Avoid insuring your house based on what you paid for it. The price you paid usually includes the cost of the land, which doesn’t need to be covered, and it can also vary depending on when you bought it. If it’s been a few years, property prices have likely increased. Instead, insure your home for the amount it would cost to rebuild, without including the value of the land.

Most insurers in New Zealand now offer the Sum Insured option for house insurance. 

This means they will only pay up to the amount you have insured your house for in the event of a claim.

For example, if you set your home's sum insured at $400,000 and your house is completely destroyed in a disaster or accident, that is the maximum amount you will receive. If the repair or rebuild costs $500,000, unfortunately, you would still only receive the insured sum of $400,000

The Cordell Calculator, specifically the Cordell Sum Sure Calculator, can help determine the difference and assist the homeowner in finding the right amount. The difference will have to be paid for by the homeowner. This is why getting the home sum insured amount right is very important.

The Full Replacement option is where the insurer will cover and pay for the reasonable cost for a full repair or rebuild of your house to the same standard prior to the damage incurred, as detailed in the full policy wording. 

In the past, Full Replacement covers were commonly offered by insurers as a comprehensive cover option.

However, this became too expensive and difficult for insurers to calculate their loss exposure after the devastating large-scale claims in the aftermath of events such as the Christchurch earthquake. The only insurer on the market that appears to still be offering this cover is Medical Assurance Society (MAS).

Some insurers such as Tower and AA are offering a hybrid model between Sum Insured and Full Replacement. For certain events like natural disasters, they do not offer a Full Replacement cover. However, for other events, such as a total loss of the property, they do provide additional cover. This means that you will still have to select a sum insured amount, and depending on the claim event, they will either pay out the sum insured amount or pay for the reasonable cost to rebuild or repair your house at claim time to the same standard it was in prior to the damage, which may also be complemented by our SumExtra benefit.

The cost of house insurance comes down to the following factors:

• The amount you want to insure the house for

• The type and location of the house

• The homeowner, including claim history

• The level of cover you are after

• The excess level selected

Based on data from Quashed’s Market Scan comparison tool, the average cost of house insurance in NZ is $2,725 a year in 2024.

The cost of house insurance can vary widely between insurance companies. This is due to a number of factors, including the insurer not wanting to take on the risk of insuring a property in certain areas.

In this case, the premium or price of the policy will reflect this and be very expensive. In some cases, the price difference can be $4,000+ between the highest and the lowest quoted price for the same house. 

We recommend always checking a few insurance options to see the premium difference but also the difference in the cover it offers.

Market Scan is the best online insurance comparison tool that helps you easily and quickly compare options for house insurance. It saves you the hassle of visiting multiple different insurance websites to enter the same information and to evaluate the difference between the policies. On average, Market Scan finds more than $500+ in price difference and savings for our customers on Quashed when it comes to house insurance.

Having the best house insurance comes down to what the homeowner is looking for.

For some of us, it might be the cheapest house insurance we can find. For others, it is the policy with the most comprehensive benefits and limits. For others still, it is the best experience when it comes to engaging with the insurer especially when making a claim. 

If you are after the cheapest house insurance, read the next paragraph to learn more about the cheapest house insurance in NZ and how you can purchase this. When it comes to the most comprehensive house insurance, let’s take a look at some of the additional benefits and limits across different insurance policies in the NZ market for full details of cover, terms, and conditions.

Inflation/demand surge is one additional benefit that not all insurance companies provide but can make a difference when the cost to repair or rebuild your house is inflated due to a widespread event such as a natural disaster. The cost of build and repair rises quickly, and your sum insured amount may not be sufficient to cover the price increases. Tower’s Premium policy provides for 15% of the sum insured amount, while State provides for up to 10% of the sum insured amount. AA does not have this additional benefit or a financial strength rating that ensures their capability to cover such costs.

Renovation/Alteration cover is one additional benefit that is offered by some insurers for your new structure. AA and Tower insurance products offer this (AA up to $75,000 and Tower up to $50,000 on their Premium policy). Without this, a homeowner will need to take out a separate Contract Works policy to remain covered for any one event, even when doing minor renovations on their property, as it can help prevent issues related to gradual deterioration. AMI, ASB, and BNZ house insurance policies do not offer this within their cover.

Comparing the top tier house insurance from providers, other benefits include:

• Landscaping cover that some insurers provide within their house policy. Tower and State insurance provides this, but AA and AMI does not. Tower covers up to $5,000 and State covers up to $2,500.

• Stress benefit cover is provided as a lump sum by Tower and State whereas AA and AMI does not provide this. Tower provides $2,000 as a lump sum and State also a lump sum provides $1,000. 

To note, if you are away for an extended time, you may either not be covered or you will have to pay more excess on your house insurance if you make a claim.

Finding the cheapest house insurance comes down to comparing options on the market. The more you compare, the better your chances of finding a cheaper deal.

On average, we find that there is a $500+ price difference on house insurance when comparing for our customers using our Market Scan tool. The largest difference we have seen is more than $4,000+ for the same property.

You might be wondering, how can the price difference be so much?

It comes down to a few factors including whether an insurer wants to offer insurance for your property based on the location, type of property and the homeowner. At different points in time, insurers may choose to take on different levels of risk.

Find out how much you can save on your house insurance by using Market Scan. It’s free, easy and quick.

There are more than 10+ insurance companies you are able to purchase house insurance from in New Zealand. When it comes to comparing house insurance, you can compare based on prices, or premiums as it is known, or by comparing the benefits within the policies.

The best comparison will take into account both what the policy offers and the price/premium you pay. Read more above on the price differences that can be found when comparing house insurance. It can be a lot.

On the other hand, house insurance policies can offer not only different benefits but also different limits on the cover. For example, Tower offers up to $50,000 of cover on their Premium policy for renovations/alterations to your property but AMI does not. 

A quick and easy way to compare house insurance is to use Market Scan. This is a free online tool that helps you to compare other options in the market against your existing policy, or help you find your house insurance for a new property you are purchasing. This saves you time from having to visit multiple insurance websites and answer the same questions multiple times to get a quote. You can easily see a table highlighting the key differences between the options, including the eligibility criteria for each policy too.

Can all houses get insurance? Not always. Some properties, especially those in high-risk areas like Wellington or Christchurch, can be more difficult or expensive to insure due to the increased chances of earthquakes or flooding. In these locations, you might see much higher premiums compared to places like Auckland, where the risk is lower.

Some iInsurance companies use what's called 'risk-based pricing,' meaning homes in riskier areas are more expensive to insure so that homeowners in safer locations don't share the extra cost.

If you're considering buying a townhouse or apartment, remember that these types of properties are often part of a body corporate. This means your insurance could be covered as part of the corporate fees, but it's always a good idea to double-check the insurance details before you commit. It could save you trouble down the line!"

As a homeowner, you have three ways to purchase house insurance:

• Direct from an insurance company online. Use Market Scan to compare and find the best cover or the cheapest cover across multiple insurance companies. This is a DIY option meaning you have to engage with the insurer directly and find the right option, select the right cover amount and handle the claims yourself.

• Purchase house insurance from your bank. This option is usually out of convenience when a homeowner has a mortgage with the same bank. However, comparing different policies not only saves you money but can also find you much better insurance covers.

• Using an insurance adviser (broker) to help you figure out and purchase the best house insurance for you. An insurance adviser should provide advice on the cover  and help you make comparisons. Ask for multiple quotes if they do not provide it. They should also be there to assist if you need to make a claim and help fight to get a claim paid where it may be unclear within the policy. There may be a fee some advisers/brokers charge of between $50 - $150 so do check. We recommend also checking for quotes using Market Scan.

House insurance and contents insurance cover different parts of your home. Simply put, house insurance protects the structure of your home – things like the walls, roof, and even the garden or pool. On the other hand, contents insurance covers the things inside, like your furniture, electronics, and personal items.

Here’s an easy way to picture it: imagine flipping your house upside down. Whatever falls out – like your TV, laptop, fridge, furniture, or even your kayak – that's what contents insurance covers. The rest, like the building itself and fixed things like pools and landscaping, fall under house insurance.

Both types of insurance work together to protect you from big expenses if something unexpected happens, like a fire, flood, or theft. Whether it’s repairing your home after damage or replacing stolen valuables, having both house and contents insurance can save you from a major financial headache.

• Check your coverage: Make sure the amount your property is insured for will cover the full cost of rebuilding if anything were to happen, like a fire or other disaster. Construction costs, materials, and labor prices can change over time, so it’s smart to review this regularly to make sure you're covered.

• Compare options: It’s always a good idea to shop around! Tools like Market Scan to compare different policies in terms of price, benefits, and coverage. This helps you make sure you’re getting the best value while still being fully protected.

• Planning renovations? If you're thinking about updating your home, check if your insurance policy covers the renovation work. Some policies need extra coverage for things like building work, so it’s important to check in advance to avoid any surprises.

• Going on holiday? If you’re leaving your home for a while—especially more than 60 days—take a look at your policy. Some policies have special terms for homes that are left empty, so it’s worth letting your insurer know to keep your coverage intact.