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

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

Insurance premiums across New Zealand continue to climb, so comparing providers has become one of the most effective ways to reduce your insurance expenses. Quashed’s data shows that in Q2 2025, the average yearly cost of car insurance in New Zealand is $1,236, the average house insurance premium increased to $3,055 and contents insurance rose to an average of $863. If you want more details on these trends, you can check out Quashed’s Average Cost of Car, House and Contents Insurance article for further information. 

With costs rising across major types of insurance, two policies with the same inclusions can vary significantly in price, so it is vital to compare insurers. Many Kiwis could save hundreds or even thousands, each year by checking what other providers offer instead of renewing automatically. 

It is essential not just to consider price. Insurance policies are not all the same. Benefit limits, optional extras, exclusions and excess options can differ widely between insurers, and these differences often matter most at claim time. Comparing policies helps you find coverage that fits your needs rather than relying on a policy that may no longer be suitable.

Insurers regularly update their pricing and policy features to stay competitive. A provider that was affordable last year may now sit at the higher end of the market, and your own needs may have changed since you first took out cover.

Many Kiwis look at well-known brands such as AA, AMI and state. Challenger insurers, such as AMP and Inito, are often overlooked, yet they can offer competitive pricing or more flexible benefits. Including both established and challenger insurers when comparing increases your chances of finding better value and a policy that more closely suits your needs.

In a market where premiums and policy features continue to change, comparing insurers regularly helps you stay informed, uncover savings and ensure your cover remains suitable for 2025.

Canstar

Canstar is one of New Zealand’s most widely recognised financial comparison platforms, with over 20 years of experience. While it covers many financial products, its insurance tools remain a key resource for Kiwis researching the market. 

Insurance Types Reviewed on Canstar 

Canstar provides insurance comparisons and Star Ratings for: 

• Car insurance 

• Home and contents insurance

• Travel insurance 

• Pet insurance 

• Health insurance 

• Life insurance

The Star Ratings reflect Canstar’s assessment of overall value, combining policy features, benefits, customer satisfaction and indicative pricing when available.

Other Financial Products Reviewed on Canstar in New Zealand

Beyond insurance, one of Canstar’s core strengths is the depth of its coverage across New Zealand’s broader financial landscape. It’s most detailed and comprehensive comparisons are in banking, lending and credit products. These include: 

• Home loans

• First-home loans

• Personal loans

• Savings accounts

• Everyday transaction accounts

• Term deposits 

• Digital banking products 

• Credit cards

• Travel money cards 

Investment Products Reviewed on Canstar

Canstar also covers investment categories relevant to New Zealand consumers, including:

• KiwiSaver

• Online share trading platforms 

• Cryptocurrency platforms

Financial Tools and Calculators 

To support financial decision-making, Canstar provides a range of calculators and tools, such as:

• Mortgage calculators

• Car loan calculators

• Personal loan calculators

• Savings and term-deposit calculators 

How Canstar’s Broader coverage Helps Kiwis 

The extensive coverage across banking, lending, credit cards and investment products is where Canstar is most detailed and insightful. For Kiwis comparing banking or lending products, Canstar remains one of the most comprehensive sources of information in the country. 

When it comes to insurance, Canstar is most useful for research and general education. It helps New Zealanders understand policy types, coverage levels and key factors that influence premiums before they begin comparing personalised quotes elsewhere. 

Canstar’s car insurance comparison showing star ratings and highlighting some policy features side by side.

Strengths of Canstar

• Ideal for early-stage insurance research, especially when learning how different policy types work

• Provides recent insurance news, deals and educational content 

• Offers Star Ratings that make it easy to compare insurers and identify providers that perform well overall, quickly

• Trusted, research company with over 20 years of experience 

• Strong coverage in banking, lending and investment products, where it offers detailed guidance 

• Free to use

Limitations of Canstar for Saving on Insurance 

The table below highlights the limitations of Canstar and their impact on Kiwis looking to save on insurance.

These limitations show why New Zealand insurance shoppers would turn to Quashed for real-time, personalised comparisons.

Quashed

Quashed is a New Zealand insurance comparison platform built specifically for car, house and contents insurance. Its focus is helping Kiwis compare premiums, policy benefits and excess options quickly, without needing to visit multiple insurer websites. The website combines real-time technology with detailed policy information to help users find sharper pricing and suitable cover in minutes. 

Key features of Quashed

• Real-time personalised quotes for car, house and contents insurance

• Side by side comparisons of premiums, excesses and benefits

• Easy switching, allowing users to go directly from comparison to purchasing a policy in minutes

• Market Scan that retrieves live quotes based on a user's specific profile 

• Comparison across a wide range of major insurers and challenger brands 

• Clear display of key policy differences such as excess options, temporary accommodation limits, gradual damage cover and replacement benefits

• A single dashboard to manage and track policies 

Quashed is designed for New Zealanders who want a faster, more transparent way to compare personalised quotes and understand their real price instantly. 

How Quashed’s Market Scan Works 

Quashed's Market Scan is its core point of difference for insurance comparison, offering real-time personalised quotes across car, house and contents insurance. To illustrate how it works in practice, here is a closer look at how the Market Scan operates for car insurance.

1. Enter your details 

Provide information such as:

• Licence type

• Driving history 

• Vehicle plate or model

• Daily usage

• Address 

• Preferred excess 

2. Scan the market 

The market scan instantly returns side by side quotes showing:

• Annual and monthly premiums 

• Excess options

• Key policy benefits such as towing, key replacement and young driver protection

• Optional extras 

3. Switch and save

Once you find the best deal, you can switch directly through Quashed without having to fill out forms on multiple insurer websites.

Before running Market Scan, users can also try Quashed's car insurance calculator by entering the vehicle's number plate. This tool shows:

• The average lowest premium for similar vehicles

• The average highest premium for similar vehicles

• potential savings available in the market

It is a quick, easy way to get a real-time snapshot before moving into a personalised quote.

Quashed’s Market Scan showing real personalised car insurance quotes side-by-side.

What's analysed behind the scenes of the Market Scan:

• Age and licence type

• Claims and driving history

• Car make, model, year, and value

• Address and parking location

• Policy choices and excess selection

• Vehicle usage patterns

These factors enable Quashed to deliver accurate, personalised pricing in real time, creating a level of transparency that high-level comparison sites like Canstar cannot provide.

Want a better deal on car, house or contents insurance? See personalised quotes in just minutes with Quashed’s Market Scan and find out how much you could save.

Insurance Shopper Journey: Canstar vs Quashed

To see how the two platforms differ in a real scenario, meet Ella, a 32-year-old homeowner in Tauranga who wants to reduce her house insurance premium in 2025. Below is what her experience will look like on each platform.

If Ella uses Canstar

1. Ella begins on Canstar’s Compare Home and Contents Insurance page, where she sees a list of insurers and can click on Canstar’s Star Ratings to view the number of stars each insurer has.

2. She reads Canstar’s guides on rebuild values, natural hazard risk, new for old replacement and other key factors that influence house insurance premiums.

3. She clicks on insurer profiles, such as Tower, AA Insurance and AMP, where she can read through their summaries of features, benefits and policy highlights.

4. When Ella clicks “More Details” for AMI or State, she is taken directly to the insurer’s own website rather than viewing a profile page on Canstar.

5. To obtain personalised premiums, she must enter property address, rebuild value, construction type, roof material and claims history on each insurer’s website. 

6. She repeats this process multiple times to gather prices from several providers.

7. She then manually compares the premiums, excess options and policy benefits she has collected.

Outcome: Canstar provides Ella with a comprehensive overview of the house insurance market, enabling her to understand key features and identify which insurers rate well overall. However, because it does not provide personalised quotes, she still needs to visit each insurer’s website to see her actual premiums and build her own comparison. 

If Ella uses Quashed

1. Ella enters her property details, including address, rebuild value, construction type, roof material, claim history and preferred excess.

2. Quashed runs a market scan and retrieves real-time personalised quotes from multiple insurers based on her unique property profile.

3. She views live premiums, excess options and policy benefits all side by side in a single dashboard. 

4. She reviews key cover differences such as temporary accommodation limits, gradual damage cover and exclusions.

5. Ella identifies the best-value policy and switches directly through Quashed without re-entering her details.

Outcome: Quashed delivers Ella fast, personalised and transparent house insurance comparisons in one place helping her find a better deal in minutes. 

If Ella uses both Canstar and Quashed

1. She reads Canstar’s guides on what home and contents insurance covers, the different policy types and the factors that affect premiums, such as rebuild value, location and excess.

2. She explores which insurers rate well overall through Canstar’s star ratings and identifies the features that matter most to her, such as flexible payment options and new for old replacement.

3. With a solid understanding of insurers and the types of cover she wants, Ella moves to Quashed and uses market scan to get real-time personalised house insurance quotes based on her property profile.

4. In just minutes, Ella can view live premiums, potential savings, policy benefits and coverage differences. Since she already knows which features matter most, Quashed makes it easy for her to compare insurers directly and identify the best value option.Outcome: By using both platforms, Ella gains a strong understanding of the house insurance market through Canstar and then uses Quashed to turn that knowledge into action. Quashed’s personalised quotes help her compare quickly, find better value and save time by switching insurers in minutes. 

Just like Ella, homeowners can use Quashed’s Market Scan to instantly see personalised, real-time quotes and compare savings in one place.

When to Use Canstar vs When to Use Quashed 

Choosing the right comparison platform depends on where you are in your insurance journey and what you want to achieve. Some shoppers want to review insurer ratings, guides and general information first, while others are ready to compare personalised quotes and uncover real savings. The table below outlines when Canstar or Quashed is the most suitable option based on your goals, helping you decide which platform will deliver the most value for your needs.

Using the right platform at the right stage makes comparing insurance faster and more effective. Canstar helps you build a broad understanding of the market, while Quashed provides personalised quotes that show your real prices instantly. Together, these tools enable New Zealanders to compare with confidence and find better-value car, house or contents insurance in 2025.

Which Platform Actually Saves Kiwis More on Insurance in 2025?

When it comes to real savings in 2025, the platform you choose matters. Canstar provides helpful research, guides and ratings, but it does not display personalised insurance prices. Shoppers still need to visit each insurer’s website and enter their details manually to see what they will actually pay.

Quashed, however, specialises in real-time comparison for car, house and contents insurance, pulling personalised quotes from multiple insurers based on your unique profile. This makes it much easier to identify price differences and potential savings. In 2025, Quashed users are saving significantly, with average savings of $384 on car insurance, $579 on house insurance and $301 on contents insurance across New Zealand.

With premiums continuing to rise, comparing live pricing has become essential. Two policies with the same inclusions can differ by hundreds of dollars a year, and many shoppers overlook challenger insurers offering sharper rates. By displaying both major and emerging insurers side by side, Quashed makes it easier to spot better pricing and more suitable cover.

For most Kiwis looking to reduce insurance spending across car, house and contents insurance, Quashed offers a more direct path to real savings by showing actual premiums in one place and allowing users to switch in minutes.   

When Canstar is Still Useful

Although Quashed is the more efficient platform for personalised insurance savings, Canstar still plays a valuable role for many New Zealanders. It is especially supportive in the early stages of research, when shoppers want to understand insurance types, what affects premiums and how insurers compare overall. 

Canstar’s guides, star ratings, insurer awards and insurer overviews provide users with a solid foundation before seeking personalised quotes. As a well-established comparison website in New Zealand, it also offers extensive insights into many financial products, with a particular strength in banking comparisons, including loans, bank accounts, and credit cards. 

For those who prefer to start broad and narrow down their options, Canstar remains a helpful first step before moving to a real-time comparison tool like Quashed. 

The Smarter Way to Save on Insurance in 2025

In 2025, rising premiums make it more critical than ever for New Zealanders to compare insurance regularly. Canstar is a helpful starting point for understanding the market, exploring insurer features and learning what to look for in a policy.

However, when it comes to finding real savings and seeing precisely what you’ll pay, Quashed offers a clear advantage. Its real-time personalised quotes, side-by-side comparisons, and easy switching give insurance shoppers a faster, more transparent way to secure better-value car, house or contents cover.

For Kiwis who want to stay informed and save more, using Canstar for early research and Quashed to compare personalised pricing is the smartest approach in 2025.

Further reading

Here are some great reads to help you compare your insurance.

• The Average Cost of Car, House, and Contents Insurance in New Zealand: Discover what Kiwis typically pay for car, house, and contents insurance across New Zealand.

• How to Compare Car Insurance in NZ and Find the Best Deal: A simple guide to cover types, key features, and choosing the best policy in New Zealand.

• Ultimate NZ Guide to House Insurance (2025): Compare & Find the Best and Cheapest Cover A simple, practical guide to house insurance types, how much to insure for and how to choose the right policy in New Zealand.

• AMP Insurance NZ Review (2025): What You Need to Know: Get an in-depth review of AMP’s car insurance offering in NZ, including features, pricing and value.

• Cove Insurance NZ Review (2025): Is It Worth It?: An honest evaluation of Cove’s car insurance cover in New Zealand: strengths, weaknesses and whether it’s worth your premium.

• Comparing House Insurance in NZ Learn how to compare house insurance policies, understand cover options, and find the best value for your home.