Initio Insurance NZ Review (2025): The Smart Choice for Your Home & Rental Property?

16 June 2025

Initio has carved out a strong reputation as a sharp, online-first provider for homeowners and landlords in New Zealand. They promise a fast, simple, and transparent way to insure your most valuable assets without the hassle of traditional paperwork or phone calls.

But while their focus on home, contents, and landlord insurance is compelling, how do they fit into your total insurance picture? This review will break down what Initio does well and how you can use a platform like Quashed to put together a complete and cost-effective insurance package.

Key takeaway: Initio offers competitively priced online insurance for your house, contents and rental properties. They are especially sharp when it comes to their landlord insurance cover. However, while they offer car insurance and contents insurance, they are not offered as standalone policies.

Who is Initio Insurance?

Established in 2011 (they are one of NZ insurance's best kept secrets) and headquartered in Hamilton, Initio was one of the pioneers of online-only insurance in New Zealand. Their model is built on great technology; designed to provide instant quotes with very few questions for the consumer. A welcomed experience for many.

Crucially, Initio is underwritten by IAG New Zealand Limited, the nation's largest general insurer and the parent company of major brands like AMI, State, and NZI. This gives Initio the powerful backing and financial security of a market giant, which is a massive tick for trust and reliability.

Initio's Google review ratings is 4.8 stars (out of 5) from 158 Google reviews at the time of this article.

Quashed.co.nz has been comparing Initio insurance on our platform since 2022. Thousands of NZ consumers have since used Market Scan (our comparison tool) to compare their House, Contents and Landlord insurance and hundreds have chosen to buy multiple policies with Initio.

Read on to find out more about Initio and you can also compare to see if they are right for you.

What Insurance Does Initio Offer?

Initio started as a specialist property insurer but their products now include:

House Insurance:
Covering your home, rental property, or holiday home. They have an innovative "Lifestages" policy that automatically adjusts your cover as your life changes.
Contents Insurance (restricted):
To protect your belongings. Only available with an existing House or Landlord policy.
Landlord Insurance:
Insurance cover for property investors when renting the property to tenants.
Car Insurance (restricted):
To protect your vehicle. Only available with an existing House or Landlord policy.

Initio's Insurance

Here is a summary of Initio's insurance policy:

Offers house and landlord insurance cover as standalone
Offers contents and car insurance as options with a house or landlord policy
Underwritten by IAG - NZ's largest general insurer
Sum insured cover up
Competitive pricing and policy benefits
Super fast online quote to purchase experience

Get an instant online insurance quote from Initio with just your address

How Much Does Initio Insurance Cost in 2025

Let's take a look at how much Initio quotes for house and landlord insurance cover.

Here's how much Initio Insurance cost based on quotes for Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

House - $850,000 Sum Insured	$1,150 excess	$2,000 excess
Auckland	$2,770	$2,562
Wellington	$4,782	$4,244
Christchurch	$2,651	$2,397

Here are the quotes for a rental property using the same profile as above.

Rental - $600,000 Sum Insured	$1,150 excess	$2,000 excess
Auckland	$1,854	$1,710
Wellington	$4,179	$3,725
Christchurch	$2,379	$2,165

Compare your quotes for Home and Landlord insurance with Market Scan for FREE.

Initio Insurance: The Pros and Cons

Initio's model is very appealing to a modern, tech-savvy consumer. Their pricing is often highly competitive for standard properties and for rental properties.

Pros:

Instant Online Experience:
Get a quote in seconds and your policy in minutes, 24/7, from your device.
Strong Financial Backing:
Underwritten by IAG, offering top-tier security and peace of mind.
Competitive Pricing:
Their efficient online model often translates into lower premiums for consumers.
Specialist Focus:
Deep expertise in property insurance means their policies are well-designed for homeowners and landlords.
Local NZ Customer Support:
Their local team is easily reachable via phone, email or their live chat service.

Cons:

No standalone Car or Contents Insurance:
They do not offer car and contents insurance as standalone policies.

The Verdict: Is Initio Insurance the Choice for You?

If you're after house, house and contents insurance, or landlord insurance Initio is a strong choice that you should add to your list of insurers to consider. They are highly credible, have been around for more than a decade, are locally based and often very cost-effective choice, especially if you value a seamless digital experience.

Looking for more?

If you're looking to compare car insurance and other insurance such as home, contents, life insurance and more check out Quashed.co.nz is the first insurance comparison platform of its kind in New Zealand.

It's quick and easy way to compare your car insurance in real-time with us. Whether you’re shopping for a new car policy, or you’re looking to compare your upcoming car insurance renewal, Quashed makes it easy.

It takes less than 3 minutes to shop and compare car insurance online with Quashed. You’ll be shown real-time pricing across a number of different insurance providers, and you get to see how the policy benefits compare across each insurer shown.

You can choose to upload and compare your existing car insurance policy against other options, or you can enter your information once and be served up a number of options without having to repeatedly enter the same information on the different insurers websites.

Let’s face it, no one likes shopping for insurance. But Quashed.co.nz makes it quick and easy, some might even say almost fun. Especially when you’re saving hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars.