Home & Contents Insurance – 2014 Ratings
Posted by Canstar Blue June 19th 2014
New Zealanders find ways to save on house insurance
How much do you pay for house insurance? Many New Zealanders – three in five, in fact – believe they pay too much money for theirs, according to the results of our recent survey. This is especially true for Generation X respondents, 70% of whom think they’re overpaying. Some residents, however, have found some clever ways to cut costs.
Two in five reduced the cost of their premium by opting for a more expensive excess – a one off, lump sum payment to be collected in the event of a claim. Additionally, more than a quarter assessed insurance providers online with a comparison website, presumably to compare the entire market and hunt down the best deals available.
Thirty nine percent of respondents believe home and contents cover is “a luxury”. This is an increase from last year, when only a third thought this. It seems to be a luxury many residents are happy to pay for though, with a significant 86% believing they have enough insurance to properly cover their assets.
AA Insurance make a clean sweep in our 2014 house insurance awards
You don’t necessarily have to overpay for home insurance, or settle for a provider who gives back less than you put in. To help you find a better provider, we surveyed New Zealanders in our latest survey to see what they thought of their insurer.
For the second year in a row, AA Insurance achieved our award for Home and Contents Insurance, securing this honor ahead of BNZ, State, Westpac, Vero, AMI Insurance, and Tower.
AA Insurance tallied five star ratings in all our ratings criteria – in areas such as value for money, speed of response, communication, and more. See the full results below.
Overall customer satisfaction
AA Insurance received a five star rating for how satisfied customers were with their insurer overall. BNZ, State, and Westpac each received four stars in this category; and Vero, AMI Insurance, and TOWER all secured three.
Value for money
AA Insurance remained in the lead, this time for value for money. It received five stars, was followed by four star recipient BNZ, as well as three star recipients Westpac, Vero, State, AMI Insurance, and TOWER.
Ease of claim
Customers of AA Insurance were most satisfied with how easy it was to lodge their insurance claim. This brand finished with five stars in this area, State and BNZ followed with four stars apiece; Westpac, Vero, AMI Insurance, and TOWER all finished with three.
Process
How satisfied were New Zealanders with the initial claim lodgement process? We asked, and AA Insurance policy holders were most satisfied with how their claim was handled. This insurer stayed in front with a five star rating, and was followed closely by four star recipients BNZ, Westpac, State, and Vero. Next with three stars each was TOWER and AMI Insurance.
Speed of response from insurer
Burglaries, fires, and other calamities are stressful enough, which is why you want to process your claim quickly. AA Insurance led with five stars for its claims processing speed; State and BNZ both received four stars in this area, and Vero, Westpac, AMI Insurance, and TOWER all finished with three.
Quality of customer service
AA Insurance achieved the top rating for the quality of its customer service. Following the award-winner were State, Westpac, BNZ, and Vero with four stars each, then three star achievers AMI Insurance and TOWER.
Communication
The claims process can sometimes take months, and customers may feel more at ease if their insurer stays in contact throughout this period. AA Insurance received five stars in this area, emerging just ahead of four star recipients BNZ, Westpac, State, and Vero. Following with three stars each were TOWER and AMI Insurance.
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How we rated house insurers
Canstar Blue commissions Colmar Brunton using the SSI panel to regularly survey 2,500 New Zealand consumers across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction. The outcomes reported are the results from customers within the survey group who have a home and contents insurance policy and have made a claim in the last three years – in this case, 709 New Zealanders.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all insurance providers available in the market were compared in this survey.
Past Ratings
Home And Contents Insurance (2012)
Home And Contents Insurance (2013)