Your insurance premium

The type of policy you choose directly impacts your level of cover in a claim and therefore impacts your premium. For example, Comprehensive Car Insurance covers damage to your car, as well as damage you might cause to someone else's car or property so is more expensive than Third Party Car Insurance which only covers damage you might cause to someone else's car or property.

The type of car you own can have a significant impact on your premium, because the cost and availability of replacement parts can vary based on a vehicle’s make, model and age. In addition, if you use your car for business use, your premium may be higher because of the increased amount of driving compared to typical private usage.

We've observed a link between payment frequency and the likelihood of making a claim. As a result, payment frequency is one of the rating factors used to determine your premium. This means your payment choice affects your premium, and you'll pay less if you choose to pay annually.

Areas with higher reported incidences of theft and vandalism could see higher premiums, and more populated areas mean more traffic and an increased likelihood of damage occurring. This is monitored by analysing our claims data.

A driver’s age and experience can affect their likelihood of having an accident or claim. For example, we generally see more experienced drivers have fewer accidents. This is monitored by analysing our claims data.

The amount your car is insured for affects your premium. Your agreed value will usually be adjusted every year at renewal to account for any changes in line with the market.

We’ve observed a link between finance owing on vehicles and the likelihood of making a claim. As a result, finance owing on your car is a rating factor which impacts your premium.

Your excess is the amount you pay when you make a claim. There are different excess options available, in case you need to make a claim. Generally, the higher the excess, the lower the premium and vice versa.

A premium may change if we receive more claims than planned for or these cost more than expected (for example, the cost of materials or parts increases). We also try to anticipate our future claims costs based on data from our past claims experience. In addition, we use third party data to try to predict what claims may cost us for certain types of damage e.g. severe weather events such as storms and floods.

Premiums can be impacted by changes in our pricing practice, rating factors and how we calculate premium from time to time. For example, depending on where you’re based in New Zealand, the premium you pay can be influenced by a range of factors, including your location and the likelihood of a weather-related or natural hazard claim which may include storm, flood or earthquake.

Part of the premium we collect from our customers goes towards paying our own insurance premium to reinsurance providers. This is additional cover we purchase to protect us against exposure to large scale events such as storms, floods and earthquakes. This helps us maintain our ability to pay claims. As the cost of our reinsurance changes, so too could your insurance premium.

Like any business, we have expenses and operating costs that enable us to service our customers. We invest in the technology and products that we believe will enhance our customer experience. We also need to make a profit to ensure we can continue running our business year after year, and this can vary significantly depending on large scale events.

Any applicable taxes and levies are applied including GST, Natural Hazards Insurance and Fire and Emergency levies, which we collect on behalf of the government. From 1 July 2024, the Fire and Emergency levy increased. Please visit our levies page for more information.