Worth More Than You Think
Contents insurance in New Zealand
Protect everything in your home
Your home contents are worth more than you think. Furniture, electronics, clothing, jewellery, phones, laptops. Add it all up and the total will surprise you. We help renters and homeowners get the right contents insurance with new-for-old replacement cover, whether you are in an Auckland apartment, a Wellington flat, or a Christchurch family home.
What is contents insurance?
Contents insurance covers the belongings inside your home: furniture, electronics, appliances, clothing, jewellery, kitchenware, personal effects. Home contents insurance is the same cover under another name. It runs alongside home insurance, which covers the structure of the house.
No law says you need it. Go without and you carry the whole replacement bill after a fire, a flood or a break-in. Furniture, appliances, clothes, phones. Every item, out of your own pocket. Most people who guess their total guess low, often by a wide margin.
A standard contents insurance policy covers fire, theft, storm damage, water damage, vandalism and power outage. Food spoilage after a power cut is a common claim. Many policies add temporary accommodation if the home becomes uninhabitable, plus personal liability if someone is hurt on your property.
Exclusions to expect: gradual damage, wear and tear, mechanical or electrical breakdown. Gear left in an unattended vehicle usually falls outside cover unless your wording says otherwise. We read that section with you before you sign anything.
EQC stopped covering household contents on 1 July 2019. The Earthquake Commission now trades as the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake. Your own policy is the only cover left for natural hazard damage to what you own.
Everything in this room that would go in a moving truck is contents, priced at replacement cost.
Coverage
What does contents insurance cover?
Everything inside your home that you would take if you moved house.
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Furniture and appliances
Sofas, dining tables, beds, mattresses, fridges, ovens, washing machines, dryers, and the rest of the household furniture and whiteware. Furniture is almost always the largest single category by value. Get the replacement cost wrong here and it throws off your whole sum insured.
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Electronics and devices
Televisions, laptops, desktop computers, tablets, mobile phones, gaming consoles, cameras, audio equipment. Anything expensive enough to hurt should go on the policy by name. Specifying a laptop or a phone can widen cover to accidental damage and loss away from home.
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Clothing and personal effects
Your wardrobe, shoes, bags, spectacles, prescription sunglasses, everyday personal belongings. Price it all at replacement cost and it adds up faster than you'd expect. A decent winter jacket alone can run $300 or more.
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Jewellery, watches and valuables
Engagement rings, watches, necklaces, earrings, bracelets. Sub-limits on these are often lower than owners expect. Ask what the per-item cap is on your policy, then decide whether the ring needs its own listing.
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Theft and burglary
Belongings stolen from your home, garage, or car are covered under most contents policies at replacement cost. Burglary is one of the most common contents claims, and our burglary statistics put numbers on it. Specified items like a laptop, phone, or jewellery may be covered for theft anywhere. Check the wording on gear left in unattended vehicles.
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Fire, storm and water damage
Fire, lightning, explosion, storm, hail, flood, burst pipes. If your house becomes uninhabitable after a covered event, the policy may also pay temporary accommodation costs while repairs run.
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Personal liability
Someone trips on your stairs. You flood the flat below. Many contents insurance policies include personal liability cover, and renters lean on it hardest, because the landlord can pursue a tenant for damage to the building.
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Portable cover and travel
Specified valuables may be covered on the go, including in temporary storage during a move or renovation. How far that cover reaches varies between policies. Ask before the bike leaves the garage.
Want the finer detail? Our guide to what contents insurance covers breaks down the exclusions and the per-item caps on jewellery, cameras and gear that catch people out. Renting rather than owning? Contents insurance for renters covers the same belongings plus tenant's liability for damage to the property itself.
The cover people forget
Does contents insurance include personal liability cover?
Yes. Contents insurance includes personal legal liability cover, typically $1 million to $2 million for accidental damage you cause to someone else's property, and up to $20 million on some policies. It follows you as a person, wherever the accident happens in New Zealand.
That single benefit changes the maths on the whole policy. Your belongings might be worth $20,000. The policy stands behind you for accidents where the bill lands in the hundreds of thousands. Legal defence costs are usually paid on top when the insurer agrees to defend a claim. Limits for accidental injury to another person are smaller and vary more between insurers, partly because ACC already covers personal injury in New Zealand.
Renters get a second layer from the same section. Careless damage to the home you rent can fall on you under the Residential Tenancies Act, and the liability cover in a contents policy is what responds. Our guide to contents insurance for renters covers how that works in a flat. One caveat: wordings differ on what liability is in and what is out, so check yours or ask us to.
Where personal liability cover can step in
An overflowing bath or a burst washing machine hose damages the apartment below yours
You ride your bike into a parked car and dent a panel
Your dog injures a visitor or wrecks a neighbour's property
You carelessly damage the house you rent, within your policy's tenant liability terms
Liability for cars sits with your car insurance, not contents. Each policy wording sets its own exclusions.
Is contents insurance worth it if your stuff is only worth a few thousand dollars?
Usually, yes. Even a small contents policy carries personal liability protection, contributions towards temporary accommodation after an insured event, and natural disaster cover for your belongings.
The liability limit does not shrink because your sum insured is small. A policy covering $15,000 of second-hand furniture carries the same liability protection as one covering a fully furnished family home. And since EQC stopped covering contents in 2019, a private policy is the only natural hazard cover your belongings have. Curious what a small policy looks like for your situation? Get a free quote and we will talk it through.
Getting the number right
How much home contents cover do you need?
Set your sum insured at what it would cost to replace everything you own at today's prices, counted room by room. Underinsurance is the biggest problem we see in contents insurance. The number falls short, and the gap comes out of your own pocket after a claim.
Use a contents calculator
The most reliable way to calculate your home contents value is to go room by room through your house. For each item, estimate the replacement cost at today's prices. Not what you paid. Not the second-hand value. Our free contents insurance calculator walks you through it room by room, with NZ-average values pre-filled to speed things up. Run through it yourself first, then let us review the figures with you.
Start with the big furniture in each room: bed frames, sofas, dining tables, whiteware. Then electronics (laptops, phones, TVs), valuables (jewellery, watches), clothing, linen, kitchenware, tools, garden equipment. The garage. The shed. The cupboard under the stairs. Do not skip those. Smaller items add up to a surprisingly large number when you put them all together.
We can also provide a valuation guide and double-check your calculator result before it becomes your sum insured.
Replacement value vs indemnity
When you take out contents insurance, you choose between two types of cover: replacement value (new-for-old) and indemnity value.
Replacement value pays the cost of replacing your damaged or lost item with a brand new equivalent. Say fire destroys a five-year-old TV in your lounge. Replacement cover pays for a new TV of the same type and quality. This is the option most brokers recommend for home contents.
Indemnity value pays the current market value, factoring in depreciation. For that same TV, indemnity would pay what a five-year-old model is worth today. Considerably less than buying a new one. Indemnity premiums are cheaper, yes, but the gap between what you get paid and what a replacement costs can sting, especially on furniture and electronics.
For most people, replacement value is the better buy. The premium difference is modest next to the shortfall after a major loss. We can walk you through which option fits your situation.
What is the difference between specified and unspecified items?
Unspecified items sit under your total sum insured with a per-item cap. Specified items are listed by name with their own agreed value, which lifts them above that cap. The gap decides what you collect on a ring, a watch or a laptop.
Any single item worth more than the per-item sub-limit needs its own listing on the policy.
Unspecified items
Unspecified items are your general belongings covered as a group under your total sum insured. You do not list them one by one. Each one is still subject to a sub-limit, which is the most your insurer will pay for a single item.
Sub-limits are often lower than owners expect. A phone, laptop, or camera worth more than the applicable sub-limit, left unspecified, may only pay out at the sub-limit rather than full replacement cost. We can tell you which caps apply to your policy.
Specified items
Specified items are listed individually on your policy with their own agreed replacement value. They are covered up to that amount regardless of the sub-limit, and usually attract broader cover, which may include accidental damage and loss outside the home.
Worth naming on the policy: engagement rings, good watches, art, collectibles, camera kit, musical instruments, mobile phones, laptops, prescription spectacles.
A good rule of thumb: if losing the item would cause real financial pain, it should be specified. We can work out which items need listing and sort valuations where they are required. Keep the list current, especially after major purchases.
For renters
Contents insurance for renters
Renters need their own policy because the landlord's cover stops at the building. Student flat in Wellington. Apartment in Auckland. Family rental in Dunedin. Without a contents policy you carry the full cost of anything damaged, destroyed or stolen. There is a second exposure too: liability for accidental damage to a house you do not own.
The policy itself works the same way as for homeowners. You choose a sum insured that reflects the total replacement value of your belongings, pick between replacement value or indemnity cover, and specify any high-value items. Renter policies cover the same risks at a smaller scale. Many also include accommodation costs if the rental becomes uninhabitable after an insured event.
Why landlord insurance does not cover you
Your landlord's home insurance covers the house structure and fixed fittings. Nothing you own sits under that policy. Fire rips through the kitchen? The landlord's insurer pays for the rebuild. Your fridge, your laptop, your couch? That is on you, unless you have your own contents policy.
Tenant liability
Many contents insurance policies for renters include personal liability cover. Left a tap running and flooded the bathroom? Put a hole in the wall? Under the Residential Tenancies Act, a tenant who carelessly damages the property is liable for up to four weeks' market rent or the landlord's insurance excess, whichever is lower. The liability section of your contents policy is what responds.
Deadlocks and window locks can lower the premium, and some insurers require minimum security for valuables cover.
Key points for renters
The landlord's policy covers the house. Your belongings inside it are yours to insure
Personal liability cover, included in many policies, responds if you accidentally damage the rental property
Many policies pay accommodation costs if the rental home becomes uninhabitable after an insured event
Each flatmate can take out their own policy. You only insure what belongs to you
Natural disaster cover for contents comes from your private policy. EQC (now the Natural Hazards Commission) stopped covering contents from 1 July 2019
Pricing
What affects your contents insurance premium?
Several things move the price: where you live, what you own, and how you have used insurance in the past. Some you control. Others you cannot.
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Sum insured
The total you insure for moves the premium more than anything else. Walk through the house and price the replacement cost of everything. Do not underinsure just to save a few dollars a month. If your sum insured falls short, you will not receive enough to replace everything you own.
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Location
Where you live matters. Auckland and Hamilton have higher burglary rates. Wellington and Christchurch carry greater earthquake exposure. Coastal areas in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty face flood risk. A lifestyle block and an urban apartment sit at different risk profiles, so premiums differ too.
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Excess amount
The excess is what you pay towards each claim before the insurer pays the rest. A higher excess lowers the premium and raises your share when you claim. Straight trade. We help you find a level you can live with.
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Security features
Alarms, deadlocks, window locks, security cameras. Some insurers discount for them. Others require minimum security before they will cover jewellery and watches at all.
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Claims history
Past claims feed into your premium. A clean record may open better rates, and some insurers run no-claims bonuses that build while you stay claim-free.
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Type of cover
New-for-old costs more than indemnity, and specifying individual items like jewellery and phones adds a little again. Per month the difference is usually small next to the payout you receive at claim time.
Working With Us
Why use a broker for contents insurance?
A broker reads the wording, checks the sum insured, and keeps the cover current as life changes. You can buy contents insurance directly from an insurer, and plenty of people do. The difference turns up in three places: valuing your belongings, reading the policy properly, and reviewing it before renewal.
- Accurate valuation guidance
- We help you verify the correct sum insured so you are neither underinsured nor paying for cover you do not need. Room by room, category by category, including the things people commonly forget.
- Policy tailored to your home
- Replacement value or indemnity? What excess level? Which items need specifying? We recommend a combination for your situation and walk you through the wording, exclusion by exclusion. No two homes are identical.
- We explain what's covered and what's not
- Policies are thick with exclusions, conditions and sub-limits. We read them and tell you plainly what is in and what is out.
- Ongoing policy reviews
- You buy new furniture. You inherit jewellery. You move house. Cover has to keep pace. We review yours so the sum insured and the specified list stay accurate.
The insurer pays us a commission when we arrange your cover, and your premium is the same whether you buy directly or through us. What you get on top is advice and someone to call. Get a quick quote through our online form.
FAQ
Common contents insurance questions
The questions renters and homeowners ask us most about contents cover. If yours is not here, request a callback and we will come back to you.
Get a Free QuoteWhat is the difference between replacement value and indemnity cover?
Replacement value pays for a brand new equivalent at today's prices. Indemnity pays current market value, after depreciation. A five-year-old appliance destroyed under replacement cover gets replaced new. Under indemnity you get what the old one was worth. Replacement costs more in premium and pays more at claim time.
Does my landlord's insurance cover my belongings?
No. The landlord's policy covers the building: walls, roof, fixtures. Everything you own inside the flat is yours to insure. A break-in, a fire or a burst pipe leaves your furniture and electronics uncovered unless you hold your own contents policy.
What are specified and unspecified items?
Unspecified belongings sit under your total sum insured with a per-item sub-limit. Specified items are listed individually with an agreed value, so the sub-limit no longer applies. Rings, watches, phones, laptops, art and cameras usually need specifying once they pass the cap.
Does contents insurance cover natural disasters?
Yes, through your own policy. EQC, now the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake, stopped covering household contents on 1 July 2019. A standard contents policy covers earthquake, natural landslip, volcanic eruption, hydrothermal activity and tsunami damage, usually with a separate natural disaster excess.
How do I work out how much contents cover I need?
Price everything you own at today's replacement cost, room by room, then insure that total. Our contents calculator does the running. First attempts usually come in 20 to 40 percent low. We can check the numbers with you.
Can I take out contents insurance if I live in a flat or shared house?
Yes. Each person takes out their own policy for their own belongings, which keeps claims separate. Some insurers write joint policies for couples. Flatmates are usually better off with individual cover, because a standard policy only protects the policyholder and family members who live there.
Does contents insurance cover my mobile phone or laptop?
Usually yes. Contents insurance covers phones, laptops and other electronics against theft, accidental damage and natural hazards while they are in your home. Specifying expensive devices can extend cover to loss and accidental damage when you are out. Sub-limits still apply, so ask what yours are.
Can I use a contents calculator to work out my sum insured?
Yes. Most insurers and brokers offer an online contents calculator that walks through the house room by room. Treat the result as a starting point, then check it against what you own. We can review the figures and confirm the sum insured.
Doesn't the Consumer Guarantees Act already cover my appliances?
The Consumer Guarantees Act and contents insurance solve different problems. The CGA makes the retailer fix a product that fails sooner than it should. Contents insurance covers events: theft, fire, flood, storm, accidental damage. A faulty fridge is the shop's problem. A flooded fridge is a claim.
Does bundling home, contents and car insurance save money?
Sometimes. Bundling can earn a multi-policy discount with some insurers, so ask when you get quotes. Compare the whole package, because a discounted bundle can still cost more than separate policies. We price both ways for you.
You might also need
If you own your house, you will also need home insurance for the structure, alongside your contents insurance. Many clients bundle car insurance at the same time. We also arrange boat, motorcycle and trailer insurance.
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Home Insurance
Protect your property and structure
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Car Insurance
Comprehensive, third-party, or fire and theft
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Boat Insurance
Hull, motor and trailer cover for local waters
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Motorcycle Insurance
Comprehensive cover for bikes and scooters
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Trailer Insurance
Protect your trailer against theft and damage
Protect everything inside your home
The total is usually higher than the guess. We can check that all of it is covered properly.
Get a free quote and we will walk through your sum insured, line by line.
No obligation.