Buying guide
What can void home insurance in NZ?
Don’t get on the wrong side of your policy wording.
Last updated: 25 September 2024
Insurance policies have got to be among the least fun ways of spending money. But, when you need them, boy are you glad you have them.
Given that your home is likely to be the most expensive thing you ever buy, house insurance takes on a whole new level of importance. Not least because many banks won’t lend to you if you don’t have it.
As you’ll soon learn once you start looking into home insurance policies, attention to detail is key. And not only do you need to be absolutely sure that your policy is going to cover you for everything you require, you also need to be aware of what might invalidate, or void, the protection you think you have in place.
What can invalidate your home insurance policy?
1. You miss your renewal date
Okay, we get that this sounds obvious. But, particularly if you’re in your first home and you haven’t had to deal with this before, it can be easy to miss your renewal date and forget to pay your home insurance premium. If, due to the busy nature of everyday life, you forget to pay your home insurance premium, your cover may be cancelled.
From a financial perspective, it’s always most cost-effective to pay your premium annually, as opposed to weekly or monthly. However, the irregularity of payments can make them even easier to forget. While your insurer will likely send you reminders just before your policy is due to expire, we recommend setting yourself a reminder a week or so before so you can make sure your renewal is processed on time. If you haven’t been pleased with the provider, setting yourself these reminders slightly earlier also gives you time to shop around for a new insurer.
2. You provided inaccurate information
When you buy a home insurance policy in Aotearoa you’ll be asked to provide information about the property itself, as well as your personal information.
This information will include things like when the property was built, its size, the build quality and the materials used in key elements of the construction such as the walls and the roofs. This info is important to the insurers in order for them to gauge how much of a risk your property represents to them financially.
While it’s understandable that you want to keep your home insurance premiums as low as possible, it’s vital that you provide honest and accurate information at this stage. If you give misleading information at this stage about, for example, the slope of the section your house is built on (which can impact how vulnerable it is to natural disasters), your insurer can use this as a legitimate reason to void your policy, if you need to claim for a related incident.
In other words, as tempting as it may be to bend the truth in return for a slightly lower premium, don’t. If you’re unfortunate enough to need to claim on your house insurance policy, you might find out that this little lie means you aren’t actually covered at all.
Study your policy carefully to understand the rules and regulations.
3. You leave your home unoccupied
If you’re planning a long vacation, it’s a good idea to inform your insurance company. Leaving your home empty for an extended period can jeopardise your coverage. In Aotearoa, this is usually around 60 days; beyond that, your home may be classified as unoccupied and could lose its insurance protection.
As always, if you’re unsure, your first port of call for more information should be your policy document, and then contacting the insurance company itself. It could be the case that your policy validity isn’t impacted by leaving your home unoccupied, but better safe than sorry – you don’t want to find out the hard way.
4. You’re lax about maintenance and repairs
Not only does regular maintenance protect your investment, but it also plays a crucial role in ensuring your insurance coverage remains valid. Insurance companies may deny claims if they determine that damage was caused by neglect or inadequate upkeep.
For instance, if your roof has leaks due to a lack of repairs, and you file a claim for water damage, the insurer may investigate the cause. If they find that the leaks resulted from your failure to maintain the roof, they could deny your claim. Regular inspections and timely repairs can prevent this, safeguarding both your home and your insurance policy.
In addition to ongoing maintenance, addressing any existing damage is vital. If you’ve postponed repairs on issues like cracked foundations or broken windows, this can also cause you trouble if you try to claim. When filing a claim, insurers may assess whether the damage you’re claiming was exacerbated by prior neglect. For example, if you have a pest problem that you ignored, and it leads to structural damage, your claim may be voided because the damage could have been prevented with timely action.
5. You regularly forget to lock up
Okay, we know Kiwi in some parts of Aotearoa might be breaking into a cold sweat reading this one. As a nation, we sometimes have a somewhat liberal attitude to locking our houses.
However, insurers are unlikely to share this view. Just because you’ve bought home insurance, doesn’t mean you stop caring about your home security. Insurance providers expect you to play your role in taking reasonable care to look after your home, and locking the door is part of this.
So, if you’re one of those people who gets five minutes down the road and hears that nagging voice in your head asking “did you lock the door?”, it might just be worth listening to it. While it might sound silly, you can even create a little internal ritual as you leave the house to make sure you remember. People who often forget whether they’ve locked up say it’s helpful to say to themselves something like “this door is locked” as they turn the key, to turn this into a conscious action.
Regularly forgetting to lock up can void your home insurance policy.
6. You failed to contact the police
Experiencing a break-in to your home can really put your head into a spin. The thought of someone rootling through your stuff, and potentially causing substantial damage to the house at the same time, is very upsetting.
However, if you’re planning to make a claim, your insurer will usually request to see a police report as proof of what happened before they pay your claim.
At this point, we also want to remind you of the difference between house insurance and contents insurance. Home insurance, often referred to as building insurance, covers the physical structure of your home and any permanent fixtures, such as walls, roofs, and built-in appliances. Whereas, contents insurance specifically covers the personal belongings inside your home. So, if you’re burgled, and the thieves take things like laptops, jewellery or clothes, these items won’t be covered by your home insurance.
*Disclaimer: This article is intended as a general guide to home insurance. Home insurance policies from different providers can differ in what they cover, their associated costs and what may void them. Be sure to read any home insurance policy carefully before purchasing so that you fully understand the terms and conditions associated with it.
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