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Personal risk & life insurance

How life, trauma, income protection, TPD and mortgage cover actually work in New Zealand — what each one pays, where the wording matters, and how the pieces fit together for a household.

ACC for Casual, Part-Time and Multiple-Job Workers in NZ (2026): How Weekly Compensation Is Worked Out

Personal Risk · 24 Dec 2025

ACC for Casual, Part-Time and Multiple-Job Workers in NZ (2026): How Weekly Compensation Is Worked Out

How ACC works out weekly compensation for casual, part-time and multiple-job workers in NZ: irregular income is averaged over the year, two-…

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ACC CoverPlus Extra in NZ: How to Set Your Cover Amount, Levies and Claim Right

Personal Risk · 28 Apr 2025

ACC CoverPlus Extra in NZ: How to Set Your Cover Amount, Levies and Claim Right

A working guide to ACC CoverPlus Extra for self-employed Kiwis: how agreed cover removes the proof-of-income fight, how levies are worked ou…

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ACC CoverPlus Extra in the First Year of Self-Employment (NZ)

Personal Risk · 30 Jan 2025

ACC CoverPlus Extra in the First Year of Self-Employment (NZ)

In your first year self-employed you have no income history, so default ACC CoverPlus can pay you almost nothing if you are injured. Here is…

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ACC CoverPlus Extra Levies in NZ (2026): How They're Calculated and How to Lower Them Legally

Personal Risk · 14 Apr 2026

ACC CoverPlus Extra Levies in NZ (2026): How They're Calculated and How to Lower Them Legally

ACC CoverPlus Extra levies come from your classification unit, your chosen cover level and a couple of flat levies stacked on top. Here is h…

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ACC CoverPlus Extra Levy Classes Explained for the Self-Employed (NZ)

Personal Risk · 19 Mar 2026

ACC CoverPlus Extra Levy Classes Explained for the Self-Employed (NZ)

Your ACC classification unit (CU) is the code that sets your Work levy, and a wrong one can quietly cost you for years. Here is how CUs work…

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ACC CoverPlus Extra vs Income Protection for the Self-Employed in NZ (2026): Do You Need Both?

Personal Risk · 26 Apr 2026

ACC CoverPlus Extra vs Income Protection for the Self-Employed in NZ (2026): Do You Need Both?

ACC CoverPlus Extra covers injury only. Income protection covers illness too. Here is where the line falls, whether the self-employed need b…

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ACC CoverPlus vs CoverPlus Extra for the Self-Employed: Which Should You Choose in 2026? (NZ)

Personal Risk · 18 Mar 2026

ACC CoverPlus vs CoverPlus Extra for the Self-Employed: Which Should You Choose in 2026? (NZ)

CoverPlus pays up to 80% of your last declared earnings and makes you prove your loss at claim time. CoverPlus Extra pays 100% of an agreed …

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Why ACC Is Not Income Protection NZ (2026): Five Limits to Know

Personal Risk · 8 Apr 2026

Why ACC Is Not Income Protection NZ (2026): Five Limits to Know

ACC is accident cover, not an income plan. Here are the five limits, illness, the 80% cap, the stand-down and more, that catch Kiwis out, an…

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ACC and Pre-Existing Conditions in NZ (2026): When a Gradual or Degenerative Problem Isn't Covered

Personal Risk · 6 Jun 2026

ACC and Pre-Existing Conditions in NZ (2026): When a Gradual or Degenerative Problem Isn't Covered

ACC covers injury by accident, not conditions that build up gradually. Here is how ACC decides injury versus gradual process, why degenerati…

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ACC for Shareholder-Employees in NZ (2026): PAYE, CoverPlus Extra and Common Mistakes

Personal Risk · 12 May 2026

ACC for Shareholder-Employees in NZ (2026): PAYE, CoverPlus Extra and Common Mistakes

How ACC works for NZ shareholder-employees: PAYE vs non-PAYE, why CoverPlus Extra pays 100% of an agreed amount, the 2026 invoice changes, a…

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ACC Treatment Injury Cover NZ (2025): Surgical Mishaps and Where Income Cover Steps In

Personal Risk · 4 Mar 2025

ACC Treatment Injury Cover NZ (2025): Surgical Mishaps and Where Income Cover Steps In

ACC treatment injury cover in NZ: what surgical and medical harm is covered, what's excluded, how weekly compensation works, and where incom…

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ACC Weekly Compensation Cap 2026 (NZ): The $2,418 Ceiling for High Earners

Personal Risk · 22 Apr 2026

ACC Weekly Compensation Cap 2026 (NZ): The $2,418 Ceiling for High Earners

ACC caps weekly compensation at $2,418.55 from 1 July 2025. Above roughly $157,000 of income, even a covered accident leaves a high earner s…

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Agreed Value vs Indemnity Income Protection in NZ (2026): The Edge Cases That Change Your Payout

Personal Risk · 19 Mar 2025

Agreed Value vs Indemnity Income Protection in NZ (2026): The Edge Cases That Change Your Payout

Agreed value locks your benefit in when you buy. Indemnity re-tests your income at claim time. Here are the edge cases — pay rises, income d…

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Agreed Value vs Indemnity Income Protection for the Self-Employed (NZ)

Personal Risk · 6 May 2026

Agreed Value vs Indemnity Income Protection for the Self-Employed (NZ)

If your income jumps around, how the benefit is calculated decides what you actually get paid. Agreed value vs indemnity income protection f…

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Bank Mortgage Protection Insurance NZ 2026: What the Bank Sells You at Settlement

Personal Risk · 17 Jun 2026

Bank Mortgage Protection Insurance NZ 2026: What the Bank Sells You at Settlement

What the bank offers you at settlement, how it differs from adviser-arranged life and income cover, and how the two compare on advice, terms…

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Business Overheads Cover in NZ: Keeping the Doors Open if You're Off Sick

Personal Risk · 29 Jan 2026

Business Overheads Cover in NZ: Keeping the Doors Open if You're Off Sick

Income protection covers your wage, not your rent and leases. Here is how business overheads cover works in NZ, what it pays, the tax rules,…

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Co-Owning a Home With Friends or Family in NZ 2026: Protecting the Mortgage When You Buy Together

Personal Risk · 29 Jul 2025

Co-Owning a Home With Friends or Family in NZ 2026: Protecting the Mortgage When You Buy Together

Buy a house with friends or family and each co-borrower is liable for the whole mortgage, not just their share. Here is how joint tenancy an…

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Decreasing vs Level Life Cover for Your Mortgage in NZ (2026): Which Actually Protects You?

Personal Risk · 6 Jan 2026

Decreasing vs Level Life Cover for Your Mortgage in NZ (2026): Which Actually Protects You?

Decreasing cover tracks your loan down and costs less; level cover stays flat and leaves a surplus for your family. Here is the real trade-o…

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Do You Need Income Protection if You Have Life and Trauma Cover in NZ? (2026)

Personal Risk · 11 Jan 2026

Do You Need Income Protection if You Have Life and Trauma Cover in NZ? (2026)

Already have life and trauma cover? Here is how income protection, trauma and life cover layer together in NZ, why a lump sum is not the sam…

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Health Insurance vs Trauma vs Income Protection: Which First in NZ (2026)

Personal Risk · 22 Apr 2026

Health Insurance vs Trauma vs Income Protection: Which First in NZ (2026)

Can only afford one type of cover? Here is how health insurance, trauma cover and income protection compare in NZ in 2026, and the priority …

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How to Structure Life Insurance NZ (2026): What an Adviser Does That DIY Misses

Personal Risk · 22 Apr 2026

How to Structure Life Insurance NZ (2026): What an Adviser Does That DIY Misses

Two people with the same $500,000 sum insured can have completely different policies. Here is how a NZ adviser structures life cover — owner…

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How Much ACC CoverPlus Extra Cover Should You Choose? NZ 2026 Guide

Personal Risk · 9 Mar 2026

How Much ACC CoverPlus Extra Cover Should You Choose? NZ 2026 Guide

Your CPX agreed value sets your payout. Here are the 2026 cover bands, why the minimum often falls short, and how to match cover to your rea…

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How Much Life Insurance Do You Actually Need in NZ? (2026 Sum-Insured Calculation)

Personal Risk · 22 Jan 2025

How Much Life Insurance Do You Actually Need in NZ? (2026 Sum-Insured Calculation)

A real NZ method to size your life insurance sum insured — debts to clear, income to replace, children's costs and final expenses, minus exi…

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How Much Trauma Cover Do You Need in NZ? (2026 Sum-Insured Method)

Personal Risk · 30 Oct 2025

How Much Trauma Cover Do You Need in NZ? (2026 Sum-Insured Method)

A real NZ method to size your trauma cover — treatment and non-Pharmac drugs, income while you recover, mortgage breathing room and extra co…

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