House Insurance 2019 Comparison – New Zealand
If you are looking for an easy report comparing three House Insurance policies, you are on the right page. This information was collected for you in May 2019. House Insurance 2019 Comparison compares House Insurance policies from Tower, State, and AMP.
In my professional opinion, it is not a fair comparison of House Insurance policies in New Zealand only due to the fact that State & Tower are DIRECT insurance companies while AMP uses intermediaries. If you are asking yourself now “What is it for me” I have the answer – You are ALONE at claim time- meaning there is no one to help you to navigate through “small print of a direct insurer policy wording”. This is the actual reason I created this post “House Insurance 2019 Comparison” to share my knowledge and create an easy reference for you my dear reader. I would appreciate it if you could share the “House Insurance 2019 Comparison” with your friends.
Yet, many people in New Zealand form their opinion about a House Insurance policy only on premiums they pay. We all know there is no such thing as a “free lunch” at least not in insurance sense.
House Insurance 2019 Comparison – Policy details
Have you ever thought about why one House Insurance policy has a “build in” component of $1,000,000 Public Liability while other $2,000,000? Which House Insurance policy would you rather have? Exactly and this is when a direct insurer can say – we have the cheapest insurance premiums and yet in order to achieve it we “chopped off” a few benefits.
Another “field” where a direct insurer can make a House Insurance policy to be cheaper is to decrease limits on certain types of associated risks. For example, when people are looking for a House Insurance most likely they do not even think about that retaining wall they have in their property and the premiums they pay include the wall as a part of the House Insurance.
Surely, after Christchurch disasters, many homeowners have started to “see” House Insurance not only as a premium comparison exercise yet in Auckland many people still blissfully unaware.
In my experience people associate their House Insurance only with the building itself yet the policy you are going to have included:
- Keep in mind to have a garden or a good looking lawn is one side of the “House Insurance policy equation” and to fix it after it was fully destroyed is the other.
- Road repair costs. Yes – this is your driveway it can be damaged.
- Alternative accommodation. This is the one you would want to have in a situation where your house is fully or partially damaged or destroyed. Let me provide you with an example here: Christmas day… A cake in an oven had started a fire in the kitchen…. True story. The kitchen had to be changed, the stove had to be changed, and the walls had to be painted. The owners of the house were provided with FREE alternative accommodation while their house was getting fixed.
House Insurance 2019 Comparison – House details
In the below House Insurance 2019 Comparison – I am using the following criteria:
House 250SQM – just to make big and modern
Located on the North Shore, Auckland since 1990.
Insurance valuation amount is $500,000 – which means that I use $2,500 per square meter of the house.
- If I insure my house with State I’d pay $1,247 for an annual insurance policy.
- If I have decided to respond to never stopping radio campaigns Tower runs – I’d end up paying $1,364.20 Important point here is Tower recommends to use $2,100 per square meter while other insurance companies in New Zealand yet happy to use $2,000
- This policy would only cost me $1,222.75
In the benefits comparison table for our House Insurance 2016 Comparison (below) you are going to see why AMP’ policy not only better as we just discovered it above it is also cheaper.
State | AMP√ | Tower |
Liability level | ||
$1,000,000 | $2,000,000√ | $1,000,000 |
Gradual damage | ||
$2,500 | $3,000 | $5,000√ |
Retaining walls | ||
$20,000 | $80,000√ | $25,000 |
Road repair costs (bridge or drive way) | ||
??? | $50,000√ | ??? |
Landscaping | ||
$2,500 | $5,000√ | $2,500 |
Alternative accommodation | ||
$20,000 | $30,000√ | $25,000 |
Keys | ||
$500 | $2,000√ | $1,000 |
Landlord furnishings | ||
Add-on $ | $20,000√ | $10,000 |
Loss of rent | ||
$20,000 | $40,000√ | $20,000 |
Tenants excess | ||
Add-on $ | $250√ | $400 |
Stress payment | ||
$1,000 | $5,000√ | $1,000 |
Most importantly AMP House Insurance policy provides you with greater benefits to compare to State’ & Tower’ policies.
If you are a New Zealand landlord you will find a ton of useful information in this article “Compare NZI RentSure vs AMP Landlord insurance“. Please share this post on your social media profile.