The average NZ household now pays $5000 for insurance - $6000 if you have two cars, says Quashed

The average New Zealand household with a car, contents and home insurance policy can now expect to pay more than $5000 a year on their premiums, according to insurance comparison website Quashed.

And households with two or more cars could expect to pay more than $6000 a year in premiums.

Quashed lets people upload their insurance policy documents so they can easily read about detailed information on their plans, costs and renewal dates. Over 80,000 people have used the platform. The website also has a comparison tool which analyses and compares different insurance policy options.

Insurance data from Quashed’s 2025 second quarter (Q2) report shows general insurance - as measured by Quashed's model house, one contents and one comprehensive car insurance policy - has gone up 6% compared to a year ago, with people paying an average premium of $5154.

This is a year-on-year difference of $274 with the average general insurance yearly premium sitting at $4880 last year.

Compared to the second quarter of 2022, house insurance premiums jumped 47%; general insurance and comprehensive car insurance premiums went up 45%; and contents insurance premiums increased by 40%.

That's a three-year cost increase of $1610, made up of house insurance, up $978; comprehensive car insurance, up $386; and contents insurance, up $246.

Compared to last year’s second quarter, house insurance premiums were up 12%, to an average of $3055. That's a year-on-year difference of $330.

Meanwhile, comprehensive car insurance premiums were down 6% at $1236 - a year-on-year decrease of $81 - and contents insurance premiums had increased by 3% (a year-on-year difference of $25) to $863.

Regionally

Canterbury saw the highest increase when it came to house insurance premiums, compared to Wellington and Auckland.

Canterbury’s average house insurance premium went from $2633 to $3110 - an 18% increase year-on-year.

Wellington saw a 13% year-on-year increase, with the average home insurance premium going from $4263 to $4797, while Auckland saw a 7% jump, from $2052 to $2198.

When it came to comprehensive car insurance premiums, Canterbury saw a 6% year-on-year fall, moving from $1220 to $1148.

Wellington wasn’t too far behind, decreasing 5% year-on-year, with the average car insurance premium shifting from $1187 to $1126.

Meanwhile Auckland saw a 4% decrease year-on-year with the average car insurance premium moving from $1544 to $1479.

As for the average contents insurance premiums in Canterbury, there was a 6% increase year-on-year, going from $889 to $939. Auckland fell 3%, from $738 to $714.

In Wellington, average contents insurance premiums had seen no major change year-on-year, going from $1128 to $1131 - but this was higher than people on average are paying in Auckland and Canterbury.

Flow through

Quashed chief executive Justin Lim says given the past few years, it’s unsurprising to see premiums still rising.

While it was good to see a small dip in terms of car insurance costs compared to a year ago, house insurance has climbed 12%, Lim says.

With a spotlight on house insurance at the moment and insurers moving towards risk-based pricing, “we’re seeing all that flow through”, he says.

Quashed's chief executive Justin Lim says insurance premiums have climbed significantly in the past three years. 

Lim says it pays to shop around. Using Quashed as an example, people found cheaper house insurance 60% of the time, saving $741 on average.

Users also saved with cheaper car insurance 84% of the time and with contents insurance 73% of the time, he says.

“What that suggests is price differentials across insurers … so if consumers are actually looking around, the quantum of savings can be much bigger, which is a silver lining.”

Quashed has 12 insurers on board and it’s looking to add one more in the next month.

Turners Automotive Group has a 13% stake in Quashed after investing $1 million.