Canstar vs Quashed: Which Platform Helps Kiwis Save More on House Insurance in 2025?

Updated 13 November 2025

In 2025, house insurance remains one of the most significant ongoing costs for Kiwi homeowners. Rising rebuild expenses, inflation, and increasingly frequent weather-related events have driven premiums to record highs. At the same time, insurers are continually re-evaluating risk zones across New Zealand, making it more critical than ever for homeowners to compare cover and ensure they’re not overpaying.

When it comes to comparing house insurance, two well-known websites are Canstar and Quashed. While both aim to help New Zealanders make more informed insurance decisions, they employ different approaches.

Canstar helps users understand insurance value through its general comparisons and expert star ratings, and provides valuable background knowledge and education before making a purchase.

Quashed, however, goes far beyond traditional research. Built specifically for Kiwis, it helps you compare, shop, and save in real-time with personalised house insurance quotes that reflect your home, location, and risk profile.

This article compares Canstar vs Quashed to determine which platform enables Kiwis to compare and save more on their house insurance in 2025.

Why is it important to Compare House Insurance in New Zealand in 2025?

The cost of insuring a home in New Zealand has surged past $2,000 per year on average, representing a 40% increase over the last two years. The increase is driven by rebuild-cost inflation, climate risk, and insurer risk re-assessments. Annual premiums can vary by hundreds or even thousands of dollars depending on:

Location and natural-disaster exposure
Home size and construction materials
Rebuild value and policy excess
Claim history and cover type

Comparing house insurance is no longer optional; it’s essential. Premiums can differ

considerably between insurers, even for homes that appear identical on paper, which is why platforms like Canstar and Quashed are gaining popularity among Kiwis wanting better value on their insurance.

A tip is not to auto-renew your house insurance! It’s easy to forget, but it is smart to set a reminder for yourself before it automatically renews to compare. Reviewing and comparing your policy each year can ensure you’re getting the most competitive premium without compromising your level of protection.

Comparison tools like Quashed make comparisons effortless by providing personalised quotes side by side, allowing you to see where your money is going and where you can save.

If you want a deeper breakdown of how house insurance works and what affects premiums, explore our Ultimate NZ Guide to House Insurance (2025).

Insurance Shopper Journey: Canstar vs Quashed

To see how the two platforms differ in practice, meet house insurance shopper, Hailey, a 39-year old homeowner in Hamilton looking to reduce her house insurance premium.

If Hailey uses Canstar

Hailey visits Canstar’s Compare Home and Contents Insurance page, where she sees a list of insurers featured in Canstar’s Star Ratings. These ratings highlight which providers offer the best overall value based on price, coverage and customer satisfaction in their view.
She reads Canstar’s advice on finding the best home insurance policy, which suggests checking cover levels, rebuild value, flood risk, payment options, discounts, and whether policies include new-for-old cover.
Clicking on Tower Insurance, Hailey opens a detailed review outlining Tower's standard, plus, and premium options, discounts and whether policies include new for old cover.
When she clicks on insurers like State Insurance or AMI, she is redirected to their websites, where she must manually enter her address, rebuild value, and her claims history to obtain quotes.
She also browses Canstar’s guides, such as ‘How to Switch Home Insurance Providers,’ for extra tips, but these provide general insights, not her personalised prices.
Hailey has gathered multiple quotes by re-entering her information and personal details across insurers and must manually compare them to decide which policy offers the best deal.

Outcome: Canstar helps Hailey understand the house insurance market and compare the value of different insurers. However, since it doesn’t provide real-time, personalised quotes, she still needs to visit each insurer’s website to find her actual premium.

If Hailey uses Quashed

Hailey enters her home's details, including rebuild value, address, construction type, roof material, and claims history.
Quashed runs a Market Scan and retrieves real-time personalised house-insurance quotes from multiple New Zealand insurers.
Within minutes, Hailey can view live premiums side by side in one dashboard, rather than relying on general estimates.
She compares excess options, policy benefits, and yearly premiums in a single view, including key differences such as temporary accommodation cover and gradual damage limits. If she finds a better deal, she can switch directly from the same dashboard.

Outcome: Quashed provides Hailey with pricing transparency, personalised quotes, and a faster way to find savings, all in one place, without re-entering the exact details across multiple insurer websites.

If Hailey uses both Canstar and Quashed

Some homeowners, like Hailey, prefer to start with Canstar to learn about house insurance basics before moving to Quashed for a personalised comparison. Hailey begins by reading Canstar’s guides on what home and contents insurance covers, the different policy types, and what affects premiums, such as rebuild value, location, and excess. She explores which insurers rate well overall and what features matter most to her, such as flexible payment options or new-for-old replacement.

After building this general understanding, Hailey uses Quashed’s Market Scan to see real-time, personalised quotes from multiple insurers side by side. In just minutes, she can view live premiums, coverage differences, and savings tailored specifically to her property profile.

Outcome: By using both platforms, Hailey gains a solid understanding of the market through Canstar, then turns that insight into action with Quashed, saving time and uncovering the most competitive deals available for her home in 2025.

Canstar

Canstar is one of New Zealand’s most established financial research and comparison platforms, covering a broad range of money-related products, not just insurance. It reviews a range of financial products, including loans, credit cards, KiwiSaver, banking services and insurance, to help consumers make confident, well-informed financial decisions.

Canstar is best known for its Star Ratings system, which they say evaluates products on overall value by weighing both price and policy features, rather than cost alone.

When it comes to house insurance, Canstar offers:

Star Ratings and comparisons of house insurance policies from both major and challenger insurers across New Zealand, based on Canstar’s expert research and in-depth data analysis
Expert buying tips and renewal advice to help homeowners avoid overpaying on premiums
Guides explaining what house insurance covers, how different levels of cover work, and what affects rebuild and replacement costs
Advice on comparing house insurance quotes online, including key factors that influence premiums, such as rebuild value, property location and construction materials
Insights on the best-value house insurers from Canstar’s latest awards and industry research
Regular updates on house insurance news, deals, and pricing trends in New Zealand

While Canstar provides insights into general market pricing, you can explore specific averages in our Average Cost of Car, House, and Contents Insurance in New Zealand guide for a clear picture of what New Zealand homeowners are paying in 2025.

Canstar is helpful for research and learning, enabling New Zealanders to understand how house insurance works and what to consider before purchasing or switching. However, it’s primarily a research platform, not an insurance-focused website. Although Canstar compares popular insurers, users must read through pages of information themselves before visiting each provider to get personalised quotes.

Strengths of Canstar

Trusted, independent research backed by over 20 years of experience in New Zealand’s financial services market
Transparent Star Ratings system that evaluates insurers based on both price and policy features
Educational guides that help homeowners understand rebuild costs, exclusions and excess options
Provides practical background knowledge for first-time homeowners and those renewing their policy
Covers both major and challenger insurers, offering a broad market overview
Regularly updated research and awards that highlight value and customer satisfaction

Limitations of Canstar for Saving on House Insurance

While Canstar is valuable for general research and education, it has some limitations when it comes to helping homeowners save directly on their house insurance. The table below highlights the limitations of Canstar and their impact on Kiwi homeowners looking to save on house insurance.

Limitation	Impact
Does not provide real-time personalised quotes	Users can’t instantly see what they would actually pay for their insurance
Requires visiting each insurer’s website to get pricing	Time-consuming and repetitive, as the same details must be entered multiple times
Many insurers share similar Star Ratings	Makes it difficult to differentiate between providers or identify the best-value option
Limited range of challenger insurers	Although Initio and AMP are included, the selection is still smaller than Quashed’s
Comparisons focus on general value, not property specific results	Ratings don’t reflect how location, rebuild value, or materials affect individual premiums
Does not compare live premiums using personal property data	Homeowners may miss out on lower prices available for their specific home and risk profile

These limitations show why Kiwi homeowners would turn to Quashed for real-time, personalised house insurance comparisons, helping them find genuine savings faster and with less effort.

Quashed

Quashed is a free New Zealand insurance comparison website built to help Kiwis gain visibility, control, and real savings on their house, car, and contents insurance, and more. It consolidates all your policies into one place, regardless of the provider, allowing you to track your policies and view your coverage from a single dashboard easily.

When it comes to house insurance, Quashed makes comparing policies fast and transparent. Homeowners enter their details, including original year built, wall and roof materials, whether there’s an alarm system, the number of storeys, premium, preferred excess, and the quality of construction. Quashed then retrieves real-time personalised quotes from multiple New Zealand insurers in minutes, allowing you to compare, shop, and switch without the hassle of visiting numerous insurer websites.

With Quashed, you can:

View live house-insurance quotes tailored to your property profile
Compare policy benefits side by side, including cover limits, excess, and extras
Switch easily to a better deal without re-entering all your details
Store and track all your policies in one secure dashboard

How Quashed’s Market Scan works

Quashed’s Market Scan is what truly sets Quashed apart from other insurance comparison websites. It’s the first-of-its-kind innovative tool that near instantly compares personalised house insurance quotes from multiple New Zealand insurers in real time using your exact property and coverage details.

How it works in 3 simple steps:

1. Enter your details - Add key information such as your home’s year built, wall and roof materials, number of storeys, if you have an alarm system, preferred excess and quality of construction.

2. Scan the market - Quashed analyses your data and retrieves live quotes from a wide range of insurers in minutes.

3. Compare and switch - Review premiums, cover limits, and excess options side by side, then switch directly from the dashboard if you find a better deal.

Tip for homeowners: Don’t compare solely on price; also review the coverage limits, excess, and claims support. The cheapest policy isn’t always the best if it doesn’t provide complete protection for your home. Vice versa, more expensive policies don’t always mean they are better than the cheaper ones.

Ready to find out what you could save? today to see personalised house-insurance quotes in minutes, fast, accurate, and made for Kiwi homeowners.

When to Use Canstar vs When to use Quashed

Canstar and Quashed are two trusted platforms helping Kiwis make smarter financial and insurance decisions. However, each serves a different purpose. The right choice depends on where you are in your insurance journey and what your specific goal is.

Below is a simple breakdown showing which platform is best suited to your needs.

If your goal is …	Best Platform
To quickly view Star Ratings and compare insurers without entering your information	Canstar
To compare other financial products such as home loans, KiwiSaver funds, or credit cards	Canstar
To get real, personalised house insurance quotes using your exact property details	Quashed
To instantly compare live premiums, coverage limits and excess options side by side	Quashed
To identify which insurers offers better price and protection for your home	Quashed
To manage, track and switch your policies all in one dashboard	Quashed

Which Platform Actually Saves Kiwis More in 2025?

When it comes to saving on house insurance in 2025, Quashed gives Kiwis a clear advantage. While Canstar is a valuable research tool for learning about insurance providers and understanding key features, it doesn’t provide personalised, real-time pricing. That means homeowners still need to visit each insurer’s website to find out their actual premium.

Quashed, on the other hand, makes it simple to take action. Using the Market Scan, homeowners can view live, personalised house insurance quotes side by side, tailored to their property details, location, and risk profile. This tool eliminates guesswork, allowing you to compare real premiums, coverage limits and policy benefits in just minutes.

By showing the actual cost of each insurer upfront, Quashed empowers Kiwis to switch with confidence and start saving instantly. It’s the faster, more innovative, and more transparent way to manage house insurance in New Zealand.

When Canstar Is Still Useful

While Quashed is the go-to platform for real-time quotes and genuine savings, Canstar can still play a role earlier in the decision-making journey. It’s a helpful resource for homeowners who want to understand the basics of house insurance before comparing live premiums.

You will find Canstar helpful if your goal is to:

Discover the different levels of cover insurers offer
Compare insurer reputation and Star Ratings for overall value
Read guides on topics like how to switch home insurance providers, how to save on home insurance, and how much one should insure their house for
See which brands have recently won Canstar Awards for value or satisfaction
Do general financial research across other products like KiwiSaver, home loans, term deposits and travel money cards

The Smarter Way to Save on House Insurance in 2025

With house-insurance premiums rising across New Zealand, finding affordable cover is more important than ever. Canstar helps understand policy types, insurer reputation and general value, but it doesn’t offer personalised quotes.

Quashed takes the next step by helping Kiwis take action. In just minutes, you can get real-time house insurance quotes from multiple insurers side by side. The Market Scan considers your house’s details, such as year built, construction materials and security features, to provide you with tailored results that accurately reflect your true home profile.

By comparing live premiums, policy benefits and excess options in one dashboard, Quashed makes it easy to find better-value cover and switch instantly.

If your goal is to save time, cut costs and gain complete visibility over your insurance, sign up with Quashed today to run your free Market Scan and see how you could save on your house insurance in 2025.