While insurance premiums haven’t, on average, majorly increased in the past year, people aged 50 and over are experiencing the largest premium rises in both dollar and percentage, data from insurance comparison website Quashed shows.
It found people between 51 to 60, were on average paying $5111 for general insurance. Quashed considers this one house, one contents and one comprehensive car insurance policy, which is a 3% year-on-year increase, or $133 extra.
Over a three-year period, this age group has seen a 28% increase with premiums initially sitting at $3854.
And for those over the age of 60, there has been a $1366 average increase - a 35% jump - since 2023. When it came to a year-on-year change, those in the 61 and over age group were paying on average $5106, which is a 2% increase. In dollar terms, that’s about a $100 jump.
Quashed chief executive Justin Lim says it will be tracking these age groups more closely over the next few months to get a better understanding of the difference.
When it came to the over 50 age group, Lim says: “We do see fewer people in that age group shopping and switching."
“One of the possibilities that we’re looking at is the fact that they’re a lot more loyal and from speaking to customers, they are typically with insurers for a much longer time," Lim says.
"That’s definitely one of the reasons why they are paying a loyalty tax for sticking with their provider for a very, very, very, very long time.”
Meanwhile people aged 25 to 30 were paying an average general insurance cost of $4722. This was a 1% decrease year-on-year ($26 drop).
Those in the 31 to 39 age group were paying $4795 and people 40 to 50 were paying $5019. These two age groups had nominal year-on-year increases of 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.
But no age group was exempt from an increase over the past three years.
The 25 to 30 age group had seen a 34% increase from $3518 ,which is a jump of $1204, while those in the 31 to 39 category experienced a 29% increase to $3713 (this is an extra $1082). People in the 40 to 50 age group also saw their average premium go up 29%, which is $1142 on top of $3877.
Quashed lets people upload their insurance policy documents so they can read about detailed information on their plans, costs and renewal dates. Around 100,000 people have used the platform. The website also has a comparison tool which analyses and compares different policy options.
The sample size was roughly 3000 people per age group.
‘Soft cycle’
On average, insurance data from Quashed’s March quarter report shows general insurance has seen no change in the past year, remaining at $5020. (This is the average premium for the first quarter of 2026 for general insurance, with no year-on-year change).
Comprehensive car insurance also saw no change, remaining, on average at $1267. Meanwhile, house insurance saw a 2% year-on-year increase, going from $2898 to $2949 while contents insurance saw a 3% decrease, going from $828 to $804.
Lim says we’re in a soft cycle when it comes to the insurance cycle and there is a benefit for consumers as insurers are a lot more active in trying to win new business, he says.
“We are seeing quite a bit of movement in terms of pricing across insurers. [So in a] softer market like what we are in now, the potential increase could be offset by what’s happening in the insurance industry itself with more competition across providers,” Lim says.
“Quotes can look vastly different across providers just because there is more capacity to compete in the market.”
Regional break down
Auckland saw a decrease of 3% when it came to house insurance premiums, compared to Wellington, which had a 2% increase and there was a slight decrease for Canterbury.
Auckland’s average house insurance premium dropped to $2063 from $2123, a 3% decrease year-on-year.
In Wellington, the average home insurance premium rose to $4738 from $4646, while Canterbury rose to $2903 from $2895.
When it came to comprehensive car insurance premiums, Auckland saw a 4% year-on-year fall, slipping to $1478 from $1535.
Canterbury saw a decrease of 3% year-on-year, with the average car insurance premium falling from $1201 to $1166.
Meanwhile Wellington saw a slight decrease year-on-year with the average car insurance premium dropping from $1120 to $1115.
As for the average contents insurance premiums in Wellington, there was no change year-on-year at $995. Auckland fell 8%, to $676 from $735.
In Canterbury, average contents insurance premiums had a 2% dip year-on-year, falling from $810 to $790.
For general insurance, Auckland saw a year-on-year decrease of 4%, from $4393 to $4217. Meanwhile Canterbury saw a year-on-year decrease of 1%, falling from $4906 to $4859.
Wellington saw a 1% year-on-year increase for general insurance - going up from $6761 to $6848.
People choosing higher excess levels
Lim says in the March quarter, Quashed has noticed people are electing for higher insurance excess across car insurance, house insurance and content insurance - bumping it up by at least 10%.
Excess is a person’s contribution to a claim while the insurer pays for the rest of the claim, and people who choose a higher excess will have a lower overall premium.
Lim says a good portion of people are now choosing excesses between $750 to $1000.
“It’s pulling the average up by quite significant amounts.”
He says it’s now very common to see excess levels at $1000 or more.
“When we look at the Wellington data, people are definitely electing for a much higher excess there because the average house premium is more than double that of Auckland.”
Quashed has 12 insurers on its platform for comparison. Turners Automotive Group has a 13% stake in Quashed after investing $1 million.
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