Insurance premiums across the country continued rising during the tail end of 2024, according to insurance comparison website Quashed.
The latest insurance data from Quashed for the 2024 fourth quarter (Q4) found general insurance premiums edged up 3% compared to the fourth quarter in 2023. Quashed’s platform experienced a 330% surge in activity in 2024, with people using the site to compare over $240 million in insurance premiums.
Quashed classifies general insurance as one house, one contents and one comprehensive car insurance policy.
Nationally, house insurance premiums rose 2% to $2,704, contents insurance edged up just 1% to $823 and car insurance climbed 7% to $1,325 compared to December 2023 levels.
Although Wellingtonians are still paying the most for general insurance at $6,652 in 2024, Quashed Chief Executive Justin Lim said Cantabrians had reported the biggest year-on-year increase, up $474 to $4,938. In Auckland, general insurance costs reached $4,564.
Car insurance was the highest in Auckland, up $139 to $1,600. This was higher than Canterbury’s $1,230 and Wellington’s $1,155 average car insurance cost.
There had been a 46% jump in comparing third party (incl. fire & theft) with comprehensive car insurance on Quashed’s platform.
Lim said third party car insurance costs about a third of comprehensive car insurance. With rising premiums, households with multiple vehicles would be facing higher expenses.
“I think people are weighing those two things up, going, hey, you know, if it’s a third of the cost but you know, again there’s quite a bit less in terms of cover,” Lim said.
He said switching from comprehensive car insurance to third party, fire & theft insurance reduces premiums on average by 40 to 60%.
Using a 2020 Toyota Corolla in Auckland as an example, a third party, fire & theft policy would cost $580 to $690, while comprehensive cover would range between $960 and $1,790.
“We’re seeing people kind of battle on those two fronts around whether or not they do take up third party or do they kind of shop around,” Lim said.
Wellington came out on top when it came to house insurance premiums (up $393 to $4,446) followed by $2,817 in Canterbury and $2,210 in Auckland.
On the contents insurance front, premiums were $754 in Auckland, were $891 in Canterbury and $990 in Wellington.
Age wise, Quashed found those aged 61+ are seeing the highest increases for general insurance, up 9.7% in a year to $4,898.
Those in the 25-30 year-old bracket have seen the largest increase in contents insurance costs during 2024, up 9.5% to $889. However, over the past two years, the 25-30 category has experienced the smallest overall increase in premiums at 10.2%.
In comparison, individuals in the 18-24, 40-50, 51-60, and 61+ age groups have seen their contents insurance premiums rise by 37% to 38% over the past two years.
Lim said NZ insurance premiums had risen 34% over the past two years and people had “adapted to cope”.
Shopping around and comparing insurance policies was a good way to find insurance policies with big differences in price and coverage, he said.
Quashed was launched in 2020 and lets consumers upload their insurance policy documents to access detailed information about their plans, costs, and renewal dates on one page.
The platform, which works via a browser instead of an app, also has a comparison tool that analyses and compares insurance policies with other options.
The site has 11 insurers on board with more coming onto the platform this year. Quashed also gained $1 million in investment from Turners Automotive Group last year, which represents a 13% stake in the company.
