*Household average savings is calculated assuming: 2 x Cars, 1 x House and 1 x Contents insurance policy. Average price difference and median price difference are calculated from data generated by Market Scan across thousands of quotes from 1 Jan 23 to 31 Mar 23
Whether you own your own home or rent a place, contents insurance protects you financially when it comes to your valuables. If they are stolen, lost or accidentally damaged, contents insurance will pay to fix it or replace it.
Most things you own and have within your home will be covered by contents insurance.
As the saying goes, imagine this - if you could flip your home upside down, the things that fell out would be covered by contents insurance.
Think of contents as anything you own that will cost you money to replace. It could be your technology gadgets such as your mobile phone, tablet, laptop or perhaps your headphones. Or maybe it is your furniture; a sofa, dining set, bed, or TV console. What about that fridge or fancy coffee machine in your kitchen? And yes, it also covers the washing machine, dryer and freezer you have tucked away. Then there are the personal items such as clothes, shoes and jewellery including watches and wedding rings you own. And don’t forget your hobbies and gear such as your bicycle, canoe, surfboards and musical instruments.
All these valuables which you have accumulated over time would be expensive to replace in the event of a fire or a flood, if your place was burgled, or if it was accidentally damaged or destroyed.
So, are all my contents covered by contents insurance?
Most contents insurance will cover the items listed above but note that some policies do offer them as add-ons.
For example, AA insurance offer two tiers of cover and their lower tier cover (i.e. Limited Contents) insurance does not automatically cover your mobile phone, laptop or tablet. This is an add-on option. Another thing to note is the limits on which an item is covered for. Using watercraft (canoe, kayaks, etc.) cover as an example, AMI Advanced policy offers up to $500 cover limit versus Tower Premium policy which offers up to $2,000. So while both insurers offer cover for your kayak/canoe, one is much more than the other.
Certain Contents insurance also covers less obvious items and events. Here are some benefits that you may not know existed that could be within your contents insurance policy for you to make a claim on:
Liability cover: If you went into a store and accidentally broke something, or if you ran your trolley into someone else’s parked car at the mall, you could be liable (made to pay) for the damage you caused. In these examples, the liability cover in your contents policy could help protect you financially and pay for these damages.
Spoiled food in your fridge: If you had a power trip and the food in the fridge/freezer went bad, most contents insurance will pay you for the loss to replace all these perishables.
Vet fees for your pet: We have only seen one insurance company (Tower) provide this benefit within their Premium Contents policy but if your domestic pet is injured in an accident with a motor vehicle, they will pay up to $500 of the vet bill.
Read on to learn more about contents insurance in New Zealand and how it could be useful for you.
We recommend contents insurance.
The cost of insuring your valuables with Contents insurance is much cheaper than having to replace them in the event they were lost to a fire or flood, if your place was burgled or it was accidentally damaged or lost.
If you had one item that was lost or damaged, it is likely that you will pay more to fix or replace it than your contents insurance. For example, if your Apple MacBook or iPhone was lost or stolen, the cost to replace one of these items alone will be more than $1,000.
Contents insurance typically costs less than that and protects you for way more. Read “How much is contents insurance” below to find out more about the premiums.
For children living at home with your parents, you may already be covered by their contents insurance if they have one in place. If you are studying and currently residing in a hall or boarding house, your valuables may also be covered by their policy. Check with your parents and their insurance company to see if you are covered.
Yes you can get contents insurance if you are renting. We recommend it.
If you are wondering if your landlord’s insurance covers your contents, it does not. It typically only covers the property and in some cases can cover the contents that are owned by the landlord, not your contents.
No it is not. Warranty on a product usually only covers it for defects or issues due to the quality or manufacture for a short period of time.
For example, if you bought a new TV and after a month the screen goes blank or the controller stops working. This would be covered by the warranty where it is due to the product’s fault for a period of time usually one or two years.
Contents insurance on the other hand protects your TV from theft, or if a child while playing and accidentally breaks the screen with a ball they were throwing, or if your place was flooded and the TV was destroyed. In this case, you can make a claim on your Contents insurance and the insurer will pay (up to the limit or insured amount) for the TV to be repaired or replaced.
You can see how both protect you from the financial cost of the TV but from different events.
A warranty is usually only limited to the product and for a short period of time. Insurance on the other hand covers accidents, theft and/or loss for as long as you have the insurance in place for.
On average, contents insurance costs between $490 and $725 a year based on $50,000 worth of contents cover.
For $50,000 worth of contents insurance:
In Auckland, you can expect to pay roughly $513.
In Wellington, you can expect to pay roughly $804.
In Christchurch, you can expect to pay roughly $533.
Renters on average pay 15% more compared to homeowners for contents insurance. With the differences being the largest with AA Insurance at more than 25% and Tower the lowest at 5%.
There are usually two different tiers of cover offered by most insurance companies when it comes to contents insurance and it is priced differently. Read more on this below “Best contents insurance” to find out how they are different.
The simple question to ask yourself is how much is all your stuff worth together?
The amount of insurance to purchase for your contents comes down to what contents you have and how much your contents are worth to replace them. A simple exercise is to make a shortlist of all your valuables and consider how much you paid for them. Add all the figures up and that will provide you with an indication of how much insurance to purchase. As a benchmark, roughly $50,000 worth of cover is common in New Zealand.
You can use the free Quashed contents calculator with built-in prompts to help you think about all the different valuables you have.
There are a couple of ways to compare Contents insurance.
Compare based on price. Based on Quashed’s Market Scan data, on average a consumer can save $230+ between the highest priced and lowest priced contents policy when doing a comparison. Taking a few minutes of your time would certainly seem worth it to save you hundreds of dollars in a year on just one policy. Multiply that across the number of policies you have and you would see that you could save thousands a year and tens of thousands of dollars over your lifetime.
Compare based on the benefits and limits of each insurance policy. This will help you understand what you can and cannot make a claim on. Depending on the insurance company and the policy you select, there will be different events, items and limits you can claim on. For example, AA Contents and State Comprehensive policy does not provide cover for lost keys (which might mean you will have to get a locksmith in to change your locks) but AMI and Tower does. AMI Advanced policy provides cover for up to $500 and Tower’s Premium policy covers for up to $2,000.
Quashed’s Market Scan comparison tool makes it easy for consumers to compare the prices and benefits/limits of insurance policies. Skip the time and hassle visiting multiple insurers’ websites and entering your details repeatedly for quotes or to compare policies.
The best contents insurance may be different for each of us.
For some, it is the cheapest contents insurance cover we can find. For others, it might be the most comprehensive cover with the highest limits on each policy that means it is the best. Yet for others, it could be the experience and customer service we receive when we have a question or make a claim that matters.
For those of us wanting to find the cheapest contents insurance read the next section where we cover how you can find the cheapest contents insurance and how much you can expect to save.
If you are after the most comprehensive cover in terms of benefits and with the highest limits, the easiest and quickest way to compare would be to use Market Scan. This feature allows you to compare not only prices/premiums but you will also be presented with a simple table that highlights the benefits and limits across different insurers.
A benefit is whether the policy offers cover on an item or an event. For example, Tower insurance provides a vet fee cover for your domestic pet if it is injured in a motor vehicle accident. The limit on the other hand is how much the insurer will cover an event or benefit for. In this example, Tower will cover the vet bill for up to $500 (limit), and you will pay the rest if it is more than that amount.
Finding the cheapest contents insurance can save you hundreds of dollars a year.
Market Scan found on average $230+ difference in prices between the highest and lowest quotes for contents insurance. It is not uncommon to find price differences of $500+ on some policies especially for locations in Wellington and Christchurch.
The price (commonly known as premium) of the contents insurance policy is affected by a few variables:
Location of the property
If you are an owner of the property or a tenant
Amount you want to insure your contents for
The policyholder e.g. your age, gender, caim history
Excess level selected
Most insurers that offer Contents insurance offer them in two different levels of cover.
For example, AA offers AA Contents insurance (which is their full cover) and AA Limited Contents insurance (their lower tier cover). State insurance offers Comprehensive cover and also their Essentials cover. AMI and Tower are the only ones with three tiers of cover.
If you are looking for the cheapest contents insurance cover, you will want to be looking for their lowest tier of cover. But beware, there may be items you think are covered by your policy may not be. For example, AA Limited Contents policy does not cover your mobile, laptop or tablet but can be added on for an additional $49.
It is important that you can prove that the items belongs to you when making a claim.
It is best to have receipts or bank statements showing the purchase. Photos with the item can also be useful, especially if they are older items you have had for quite some time.
If you are managing all your insurance policies on Quashed, you can also snap photos of your valuables and upload them to your account under your Contents insurance.
When making a claim, you can either call up your insurance company or submit a claim online (most insurers have this option). If you purchased your policy with the help of an adviser or broker, simply reach out to them. They will help you through the process. The more information you provide upfront about the claim, the smoother the process will be. Be sure to note the time, date, place and how the event happened. If it was a theft or you had lost an expensive item, you will need to file a police report and then have this included in your claim.
If you are unhappy with the claim result or if you felt that the claim was fair and that the policy wording was not clear, you can raise this with your insurance company. If you cannot come to an agreement, you will be able to take this up with the insurer’s Disputes Resolution Provider. Every insurer and licensed insurance adviser or broker in New Zealand has to be registered with one.
Use an online contents calculator to find out how much your valuables are worth
Use Market Scan to compare prices, benefits and limits of contents insurance
See what benefits are within your Contents policy so you can make the most of it
Snap photos of your valuables and receipts, store them on Quashed
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