General insurance
Home, contents and general cover in New Zealand — sum-insured rebuild figures, natural-hazard cover, EQC interaction, and the wording traps that surface at claim time.
6 Sep 2025 · 11 min read
Body Corporate Insurance for Apartments and Units in NZ (2026): What It Covers and Your Personal Gaps
What body corporate insurance covers for NZ apartments and units, what you still need personally, how the Unit Titles Act sets the building sum insured, and the underinsurance shortfall risk.
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Contents Insurance Sum Insured NZ (2026): How to Value What You Own Without Guessing
How to set the right contents insurance sum insured in NZ for 2026: a room-by-room valuing method, the special-limits trap on valuables, new-for-old vs indemnity, and why guessing leads to underinsurance.
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How to Calculate Your Home's Sum Insured in NZ (2025): The Rebuild Cost Method
How to calculate your house sum insured in NZ using rebuild cost, demolition, professional fees and an inflation buffer — and how to check whether your current figure leaves you underinsured.
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Inflation and Underinsurance in NZ 2026: Why Your House Sum Insured Falls Behind Each Year
Why NZ house sum insured falls behind in 2026 — construction-cost inflation, the lag in CPI-based indexation, the shortfall it can leave at claim time, and the annual review that keeps your cover honest.
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Insuring an Off-the-Plan or Newly Built Home in NZ 2026: Cover From Deposit to Code Compliance
Who insures a new build while it's going up, when risk passes to you, and when your own house policy has to start. A timeline for off-the-plan and house-and-land buyers, plus the gaps that catch people out.
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Landlord Insurance in NZ 2026: What It Covers That Standard House Cover Doesn't
What landlord insurance covers in NZ that a standard house policy may not — loss of rent, malicious tenant damage and limited meth contamination cover — plus the common exclusions and excess traps for rentals.
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Lifestyle Block Insurance in NZ (2026): Where Standard House Cover Stops
Insuring a lifestyle block or rural home in NZ: outbuildings and fences, water supply and effluent, fire and access risk, how Natural Hazards land cover applies to large sections, and how to set sum insured across multiple structures.
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The Natural Hazards Cover Cap in NZ (2026): What's Covered and Where Private Insurance Takes Over
Natural Hazards Cover (formerly EQC) in NZ: what the $300k dwelling cap pays, the land and levy rules, which hazards are covered, and where your private house insurer takes over.
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Risk-Based Home Insurance Pricing in NZ 2026: What Flood and Earthquake Risk Now Does to Your Premium
Why NZ home insurance premiums increasingly vary by property: how risk-based pricing works, why flood and earthquake exposure pushes premiums up, what insurance retreat means, and how to manage cover and cost.
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Holiday security checklist for your house, contents and vehicle insurance
With Christmas and the holiday period fast approaching, now is the time to make sure your covers are in place.
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House insurance is not about the land
Is your home insured correctly? Have you insured your house for what you paid for it, what you think the market value is, or what the Government Valuation says? If you did, then you most likely are overpaying your premium.
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Why home insurance under-insurance still catches too many NZ homeowners out
In New Zealand, under-insurance is still a common problem. Research has found a large share of homes are under-insured, often by a significant margin. Making sure your sum insured reflects today's rebuild costs is one of the most important checks you can do.
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