What Insurance & Which Company?

[mortgage broker]

http://www.theinsurancegroup.co.nz/global/c_standard.asp?cid=1391790209

[flyernzl]

I have owned a 1920 bungalow since 1980.
Soon after we bought it we did major renovations which included full rewiring from the street pole (otherwise we would have had life with just two power points in the whole house!).
I cannot recollect any insurance problems with AMI either on purchase or in subsequent years.

[Marej]

Bought a 1900s house or so in 2002. No issue getting insurance, and did not have to do any inspections or like process. House was run down and needed work. Perhaps things have changed since.

[lukasr]

Any insurance quote for a house built prior 1940 may trigger the following Qs

1. when was the last time it was re-wired
2. when was the last time it was re-lined (scrim and sarking replaced with gib)
3. when was the last time it was re-roofed
4. when was the last time it was re-piled

The first two are to do with fire hazards (there are obvious fire risks associated with older wiring - especially if combined with the old type of wall coverings)
The third one is to do with potential for leaks and water damage.
The fourth one is to do with your house falling down due to old foundation piles

The first 2 are most important from an insurance company perspective and often you will NOT be able to get full replacement insurance unless they are addressed.
Saying that, you could just make up a story about when you believe they were replaced. Just bear in mind that should something happen (like an Earthquake) and you need to claim on your full replacement insurance, if the insurance company does find that you made false statements about any of the above they may (and most likely will) decline your claim (even though the reason you're claiming was not caused by any of the above). There are a number of insurance cases dragging out in Christchurch as a direct consequence of this.

Some insurance companies are better than others in supplying insurance and will actually take it on a case by case basis (after consultation with the underwriters).

Been through this a few weeks ago during the purchase of a house built in the 1920s. FYI, Tower Insurance was pleasant to deal with on the above issues.

[foss]

Good post lukasr and spot on

Whilst the requirements are a pain in the arse, the other way of looking at it, it protects the owner too. It raises the minimum standard for your selction criteria or alternatively what you need to renovate and fix very shortly thereafter. Either way if you ignore, some of these probs will come back and bite you inevitably in higher costs. Another perspective again is that if you can tick most of these boxes, all things being equal your rent will be better as the property will be more appealing or less risky for the tenant.

I have bought some older houses over last few years and the first item rewiring is a minimum requirement and you typically must be able to tick 2 out of about 6 other major improvements the insurance checklist for older homes like reroof, replumb, relined etc.

I use Crombie Lookwood and they have similarly been very helpful

[KIMI]

How much is the average price for home insurance ?

Was wondering if anyone could tell me how much the average price for home insurance on a 4 bed house in Wanganui, including landlords protection insurance ( no contents). I was quoted $30 p/w ...is this reasonable? Also if anyone has any recomendations on a good insurance company to use that would be great! Thank you and godbless!

[flyernzl]

Don't know about Wanganui, but $30 x 50 weeks = $1500 sounds high to me.

I have my IPs with AMI Insurance - their premiums seem competitive, and they now have the added benefit of a taxpayer guarantee (thank you very much for that, folks).

[olliestyles]

$24.37 in Tauranga per week through AON on a 3 bed up to 120m2, $600 excess. Bear in mind claims performance and customer service, not just price.

[One]

Get a quote from a second insurer for the same property. That'll give you a better idea of market rates.

[Philmc1]

Paying $520 / annum on each of two properties in Wanganui and $720 / annum on another. No landlords protection but wow $1500 is a lot

[muppet]

New Zealand's insurance landscape rocked

New Zealand's insurance landscape rocked

ROB STOCK Last updated 10:38 18/12/2011


PHIL REID/Fairfax NZ
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Household insurance cover in New Zealand has changed forever.
MARTIN HUNTER/Fairfax NZ
CONFIDENCE SHATTERED: The Insurance Council's Chris Ryan speaks at a news conference.

The way your house is insured is changing. "Evolving" is how the insurance industry terms it.
The sequence of earthquakes in Christchurch in the past 15 months has resulted in a vastly altered perception of New Zealand in the eyes of the giant offshore reinsurers, companies that insure our insurers against natural disaster losses they cannot handle alone.
Once seen as country with a low reinsurance risk, and a place to diversify risk outside the Americas, Europe and Asia, New Zealand and the flood, fire and hailstorm beset neighbour Australia are now viewed very differently.
And the shakes in Wellington in the past couple of weeks are doing nothing to settle reinsurers' nerves.
Much of the commentary on the reinsurers' altered perceptions of these islands has focused on price, but premium rises are not the only policy changes Kiwi households will face. Already, some of the changes are emerging.
Insurers are wrestling with the tough task of rebuilding their profitability, while at the same time paying higher costs for reinsurance, and keeping their products affordable for homeowners.
That means that though premiums are rising - some Vero house insurance policyholders have seen an average 12 per cent rises already this year - the extent of cover for Kiwi households will reduce, and they will have to shoulder more risk themselves.
The annual premiums Kiwi households paid for house and contents insurance totalled $933.5 million in the year to the end of September 2010. In the year to the end of September 2011 (the numbers are not all in yet as insurers have been too busy dealing with earthquake claims), Chris Ryan from the Insurance Council expects the premium could well top $1 billion for the first time.
Ryan says New Zealand house insurance is relatively unusual in that replacement cover has typically been open-ended.
Whatever it costs to replace a house, the insurer will do it, even in situations where there is "demand surge inflation" forcing up the price of rebuilds.
Ryan does not believe that can continue, and indications are emerging that he is right.
Vero, which reinsures earlier in the year than other insurers - meaning it is always likely to be the "first cab off the rank" when it comes to making policy changes - moved at the start of November to limit its replacement cover on its house insurance policies to $2000sqm.


Others acknowledge their policies are likely to change, too, but have not yet said how.
Big Vero rival, IAG, acknowledged that policies were beginning to evolve, but would not be drawn on the track those changes would follow. In a statement, it said: "There stands to be a lot of lessons from the Canterbury earthquakes, and we would want to ensure any decisions that are made in response, including any changes to how our policies might be structured, are carefully thought through, justifiable and necessary."
Peter Bloy from Vero says that is more than enough for most houses, and those with architecturally sophisticated homes can ask for a higher excess, but they will have to pay extra premiums for it.
Reinsurers, shocked by the rising cost of claims, want more certainty over liabilities, and the pressure looks likely to see New Zealand adopt policy limits more in line with other countries.
Bloy said if New Zealand insurers did not allow reinsurers to get that certainty, we would pay excessively for it.
"If there is a significant uncertainty, they will be thinking in terms of a risk premium for that uncertainty," Bloy said.
It could be that policies emerge which allow families to nominate the maximum level of payout by the insurer.
Some in the industry speculate that future policies may reduce coverage for certain natural disasters.
Bloy said in some parts of the world, like areas of the US and Japan, homeowners have full cover for events such as fires, but reduced cover for earthquakes, though New Zealand is unique in that it has the Earthquake Commission Fund, which reduces the pressure on insurers to put in place limitations.
"There is the potential for limited protection for some perils like earthquakes and flooding, if the insurers and reinsurers decide they want to put limits on it," Ryan said.
Moves to shift some earthquake risk back on to households are beginning to emerge at the fringes.
In Christchurch, giant insurer Vero, hit with more than $3b of claims, has lifted excesses on swimming pools, spa pools, drains and pipes, garden walls, paths and driveways and tennis courts.

More in the - Sunday Star Times

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/6157973/New-Zealands-insurance-landscape-rocked

[Perry]

Same bleat: same response. We always hear about
how 'we' must pay more to offset 'their' losses, but
we never hear how we might pay less to offset their
times of great profit.

[jasonmv]

getting insurance with a very very old criminal conviction

Hi,

So i have a question and wondering if anyone has any knowledge of how it works and whether or not i can get a mortgage still...

I am recently turned 40, and just purchased my first home in Wellington....paper work is signed and due to take over possession in mid Feb.
The bank is giving me the money and obviously I need insurance for them to release the mortgage..

However...when I was in 23 I was convicted of importing and supplying lsd...sentenced to 4 years jail and served 2..

I have never reoffended, well learnt my lesson many times over and put it down to a very very bad decision I made as a younster, I don't do drugs and yes that does mean I don't even smoke marijuana.

Now how will insurance companies take that since I need insurance for the loan to go through?

Does anyone know of other people in similar situations who have been through it and what the outcome was?

Regards
Jason..

[eri]

maybe start by calling the insurance council of nz

04 472 5230

www.icnz.org.nz
[email protected]

http://www.icnz.org.nz/regulation/fair-insurance.php

[jasonmv]

Thank you..