Cover for the house itself, and the risks of renting to tenants.
Get a quote in seconds and cover online in minutes with New Zealand’s easiest landlord insurance.
What does our Landlord Insurance cover?
We include, by default, the things you need as a landlord
Loss of Rent
Up to 12 months or $20,000 following damage to your house
Deliberate Damage
Up to $25,000 for damage or theft by your tenants
Meth Contamination
$30,000 of cleaning cover, and additional loss of rent
Landlord Contents
$20,000 of standard cover, with options to increase
More of our excellent benefits
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Replacement Cover
Full rebuild cover for the house, up to your replacement sum insured.
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Legal Liability
$2 million legal liability costs if an accident damages other property, or people.
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Excess-free Blocked Pipe
Up to $1,000 to unblock underground pipe, with no excess.
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Hidden Gradual Damage
$3,000 for gradual water damage from a hidden water or waste pipe.
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Excess free Keys & Locks
$1,000 of cover for replacing keys and associated locks, with no excess.
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Loss of Rent - Tenant Eviction or Vacation
Six weeks of cover if tenant’s are evicted for non-payment, or abandon tenancy.
Useful Tools
Compare our Cover
Want to see how our cover stacks up against other landlord insurance providers?
House Rebuild Calculator
Not sure what it would cost to fully rebuild your rental if it was completely destroyed?
You're in control with the Initio Dashboard
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Manage your insurance entirely online
Every customer gets access to their own personalised dashboard login.
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Need an insurance statement/tenant certificate for your new or renewing lease?
Download at anytime directly from your initio dashboard.
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No more waiting on the phone!
You can make changes to your policy, lodge claims, add and cancel policies or get documents all online on your smart device or computer.
New Zealand's Landlord Insurance Specialists
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Used by the Best
Insurance partner of the New Zealand Property Investors Federation. We insure New Zealand’s leading landlords.
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Designed for Landlords
Policy made specifically for landlords. We understand the cover you need, with a quick and easy platform for managing your insurance online.
Tenant's dog was locked in the property. The doors, walls and carpet didn't win the fight, but initio came to the rescue. We cover pet damage.
Leaking pipe behind the sink soaked the bathroom vanity and into the floorboards below. Tenant found the damage when their foot went through the floor. Claimed under hidden gradual damage.
Meth lab was discovered in garage. Police raided causing more damage. Initio picked up the tab for the damage, cleaning and loss of rent.
Wind storm blew the front fence over. Initio paid out for a nice, new replacement.
Wooden window sill rots and needs to be replaced. Wear and tear is not covered. This is a maintenance cost, and not insurable damage.
Tenants leave your house untidy, with lots of rubbish to be removed. There is no damage, so there is no cover. Our policy covers physical damage.
Tenants leave the carpet worn, scuffs on walls and general wear throughout your house. Our policy covers outright damage to the property, not maintenance costs.
Shower tray leaks over time and the tenant doesn't inform the landlord about the damage. Gradual damage has to be from a hidden pipe.
This is not an exhaustive list and it doesn't imply all loss types described are covered or not. Claims are like butterflies, each unique with its own facts that we need to apply to our policy.
Why initio?
We use technology to save you time and money
100% Online
Instant online quotes in seconds, with the same approach to claims.
Support Focused
We're here to support you, not sell. Let us show you the way to better insurance.
Great Cover
We don't expect you to build your own policy. We include the things that matter, bells & whistles too.
You’re in safe hands
If disaster strikes, you’re in good hands. Initio policies are underwritten by IAG New Zealand Ltd. Standard & Poor’s has given IAG a AA ‘Very Strong’ Financial Strength Rating.
Learn more about our financial strength rating
Common questions about landlord insurance
Standard house insurance is for homes you live in yourself, while landlord insurance is designed for properties rented to tenants.
Initio’s landlord insurance includes cover for rental-specific risks like tenant damage, meth contamination, loss of rent (due to damage or tenant default), and landlord contents. These are not typically included in a standard house insurance policy.
Learn more about landlord insurance.
Yes – our landlord insurance includes loss of rent protection in these situations:
Your rental becomes uninhabitable due to sudden, accidental damage covered by the policy (like fire or flooding)
Your tenant stops paying rent, abandons the property, or is legally evicted
We’ll pay up to 12 months’ rent, capped at your selected loss of rent limit.
With initio, you can arrange landlord insurance in less than 5 minutes:
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Enter the address of the property you want to insure
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Answer a few quick questions
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Select the cover that suits you
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Choose your payment option (monthly or annual)
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Make your payment
Your policy documents are sent straight to your email and are also available anytime in your initio dashboard– 24/7.
Start by getting your instant landlord insurance quote.
The contents section of initio’s landlord insurance covers items that you own which are provided for tenants’ use. This includes:
- Whiteware (e.g. fridge, washing machine)
- Furniture
- Curtains and blinds
- Loose floor coverings
It does not cover tenants’ belongings, your own personal effects or items you’ve left at the address in storage.
Learn more about landlord contents cover.
Understand the difference between contents cover options
Yes. Initio includes automatic protection for malicious damage and theft by tenants, up to $25,000 per event. This includes things like intentional wall damage or theft of your appliances. This protection is designed to help landlords manage the risks associated with renting out their property.
Changes to the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2019 mean you can only hold your tenant responsible in some circumstances (depending on whether the damage is accidental, careless or intentional). For an overview of who is responsible, read more here.
For full details on what’s included and excluded, check out our landlord insurance policy wording.
Yes. With initio’s landlord insurance, an excess applies per event of damage. If the tenant damage is made up of multiple unrelated events, then multiple excesses can apply.
For example, if you discover different types of unreported damage – such as holes in walls and carpet stains – after the tenant vacates, and they appear to be from unrelated events, each incident could attract its own excess.
However, if the damage is clearly from a single event (like an out-of-control party), then only one excess may apply. Generally, initio applies one excess per room or per item of damage, rather than for every individual scuff or mark, but each claim is assessed individually.
Read our guide on excesses for tenant damage claims to learn more.
You should insure your rental for the full replacement cost – that means
- Building materials and labour to rebuild to existing size and quality
- Demolition and debris removal
- Council and professional fees (eg architects, engineers, permitting)
- GST
- Inflation buffer
- Permanent structures and outdoor features, such as garages, retaining walls, patios, fences, sheds, swimming pools and pergolas.
Let us know if you have any recreational features such as swimming pools over the policy limit of $45,000 or retaining walls collectively over the policy limit of $25,000.
If you’re unsure about the rebuild costs, we recommend using the Cordell SumSure Calculator to help estimate an appropriate sum insured. Learn more about choosing your sum insured.
Yes. Your initio dashboard lets you:
- Update cover limits
- Add or remove landlord contents cover
- Change your excess
- Cancel or renew policies
- Download your documents anytime
You can also make a claim straight from your dashboard – no paperwork and no waiting on the phone. Simply upload your supporting documents and track updates as they happen.
You’re in full control of your landlord insurance 24/7. Log in to your dashboard