Are Kiwis Over-Confident when it comes to Home and Contents?

Auckland, 7 June 2017. Latest Canstar Blue survey reveals nearly two thirds of Kiwis think they have enough home and contents insurance yet 60% don’t review their cover every year.

The survey also revealed that 78% of people renewed their insurance with the same provider and less than half of people understand their policy documents and what is covered.

Commenting on the insights, Canstar Blue general manager Jose George says:

“Our homes and what we have in them are usually our most valuable possessions and it’s worrying to see that so many people may not be taking steps to ensure they are adequately insured. It’s good to see a high degree of confidence but it worrying that for many people, it looks to be without foundation.”

According to the Insurance Council of New Zealand, home and contents insurance is one of the biggest insurance markets in New Zealand and latest figures show that in 2016, customers paid a total of $1.56 billion in premiums.

George continued: “The changes that have taken place across the New Zealand insurance market in the last few years mean it is a very different landscape to what some people were used to. The introduction of sum insured, general increases in premiums and the forthcoming increases to EQC levies mean that some people may need to re-educate themselves.

“Taking a small amount of time to calculate your rebuild costs, the value of your contents and familiarising yourself with your policy can save you time, money and stress if you find yourself having to make a claim. If in any doubt at all, talk to your insurer.

What Kiwis want from their insurer

Canstar Blue asked people who had recently made a claim, what they liked most about the experience and their insurer. In order of importance, the following qualities are what were valued most:

• Quality of service
• Communication
• Process
• Speed of response
• Value for money
• Ease of claim

For the fourth year running, AA Insurance registered a maximum five stars across all of the criteria, the only insurer to do so. They were also awarded the Canstar Blue Overall Customer Satisfaction Award for home and contents insurance for a record fifth time.

Accepting the award, AA Insurance Chief Executive, Chris Curtin, says the award reinforces the dedication the team at AA Insurance has for helping its customers protect their homes and its contents, and ensuring they get the best service possible.

“At AA Insurance our focus is on providing a great product and exceptional service to our customers, to help them protect what is often their most valuable assets. I’m extremely proud of our dedicated team who consistently offer the best service possible, and this award acknowledges that dedication.”

For further information regarding this survey, please click here.

About the survey

Canstar Blue commissioned I-view to survey New Zealand consumers across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction. The outcomes reported are the results from New Zealanders who currently have a home and contents insurance policy and have made a claim in the last three years – in this case, 626 New Zealanders.

About Canstar Blue

Launched in June 2011, Canstar Blue is a customer satisfaction research and ratings business that’s core purpose is to help consumers make better purchasing decisions. Based on independent research conducted by I-view (owned by Ipsos), our aim is to act as the real voice of the consumer. To date, more than 42,000 Kiwis have rated their customer satisfaction across more than 45 different categories.

Canstar Blue is an initiative of CANSTAR. Active since 1992, CANSTAR is New Zealand and Australia’s premier research and expert ratings agency working with over 30,000 products and more than 300 brands in the financial services industry. CANSTAR is chiefly focused on helping consumers make better financial decisions.

What are the Canstar Blue ratings?

Canstar Blue researches, compares and rates products and services according to customer satisfaction across categories including banking, telecommunications, appliances, electronics, utilities and FMCG. Results are freely available to consumers who are encouraged to use the ratings as a guide to product excellence. The full range of results can be viewed atcanstarblue.co.nz

ENDS

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