House & contents insurance cost estimator
Estimate your annual house and contents insurance premium in NZ, based on sum insured, region and excess.
What this means for you
Fill in the fields above to see your estimated premium.
Compare excess levels
See how a higher or lower excess shifts your estimated premium.
| Excess | Estimated annual premium |
|---|---|
| $250 | $0 |
| $500 | $0 |
| $1,000 | $0 |
| $2,000 | $0 |
Assumptions & sources
Illustrative NZ house and contents insurance rate ranges per $1,000 of sum insured, adjusted for regional risk (earthquake exposure) and excess level.
1 July 2026
17 July 2026
Premium = (sum insured ÷ 1,000) × base rate × regional multiplier × excess factor, summed separately for home and contents.
Home and contents premium estimates adjusted for region and excess.
Construction type and age, claims history, specific flood/hazard zones, policy add-ons (e.g. natural disaster top-ups beyond EQC), and insurer-specific underwriting — all of which move real quotes.
Related reading
How much insurance do you actually need in NZ?
Life, income protection, health, house and car cover all compete for the same budget — here's how to prioritise.
Read article →
Is private health insurance worth it in NZ?
Weighing private cover against NZ's public health system — what you actually gain, and what it costs.
Read article →Why location matters so much for house insurance in NZ
Insurers price earthquake risk into your premium, and Wellington and Christchurch sit on more active fault lines than Auckland — Christchurch's 2010-2011 earthquake claims still shape pricing today. Flood-prone or coastal-erosion-exposed addresses can also carry a premium loading, or in rare cases become difficult to insure at all.
Sum insured vs market value
House insurance is based on the cost to rebuild your home, not what it would sell for — land value is excluded, since land itself doesn't burn down or need rebuilding. Underinsuring (setting the sum insured too low) is a common and costly mistake, since it can leave you short at claim time.
Example: The same $650,000 home insured in Auckland vs Wellington
With the same $650,000 rebuild sum, $60,000 contents cover, and $500 excess, a homeowner in Wellington will typically see a meaningfully higher premium quote than the identical policy in Auckland.
Christchurch, still carrying the pricing legacy of the 2010-2011 earthquakes, often lands even higher again for the same sums insured.
None of this reflects the quality or condition of the home itself — it's entirely about location risk, since insurers price earthquake exposure into every quote regardless of how well-built the property is.
Which is exactly why comparing quotes across two or three insurers is worth the effort for anyone in a higher-risk region — each insurer weights regional seismic risk somewhat differently, and the gap between quotes can be substantial.
Frequently asked questions
Mainly earthquake risk — Wellington and Christchurch sit on more active fault lines than Auckland, and Christchurch's 2010-2011 earthquakes still influence pricing today. Flood and coastal erosion exposure can also add a loading.
Sum insured is the cost to rebuild your home from scratch, excluding land. Market value includes land and reflects what a buyer would pay — the two numbers can be very different, especially in expensive land markets like Auckland.
Generally yes — a higher excess means you cover more of a small claim yourself, so the insurer prices the policy lower. It's a trade-off between a lower ongoing premium and a bigger out-of-pocket cost if you do claim.
