How does monthly insurance work?
Monthly insurance cover means that it is renewed and paid for each month. It’s a month-to-month policy that automatically renews and is charged to your credit card each month
Will you tell me if my monthly insurance payment changes?
We’ll let you know in advance if your monthly payment is going to change.
Your total insurance cost will typically change on the anniversary of your policy (i.e the day and month you first started the cover). This means that your monthly payment will remain the same for the year. The exception being that if there is a government levy change (for example Fire & Emergency New Zealand levy rate change) that is mandated to be applied from the effective date of your next monthly renewal.
Each month we will send you an email confirming the renewal of your policy. In that email, if the next month’s payment is going to be different (i.e its the anniversary renewal) we’ll let you know.
Your initio dashboard will also show you the date and amount of your current and next months payment.
Why does the cost of insurance change?
There are a number of reasons why your house or car insurance premiums can change each year. Some of the more common reasons are:
- Change in the costs of materials and labour, which makes repairs to houses and cars more expensive (Covid supply chain issues put pressure on materials costs)
- Increased in the frequency and severity of weather events (Nelson Floods 2022, Napier floods 2021, Auckland tornado 2021 to name a few)
- Government earthquake levy changes (increasing by $207 inc gst per year for new policies starting from 1 October 2022, or existing policies with an anniversary date after 1 October 2022)
- Fire Service levy change (last increase 1 July 2017).
- Increased re-insurance costs due to the way international insurers view New Zealand’s natural disaster risk (NZ is one of the highest risks in the world unfortunately)
- For cars, the main driver may have had birthday or an accident which changes the risk and in turn changes the premium (up or down) at the next policy anniversary renewal.
When will my card be charged?
When you first purchase your policy the first payment will be withdrawn from your card on that day. All following monthly payments will be withdrawn from your card the day that your policy renews (your chosen renewal date).
For example, if you buy a new policy on the 1st of January and the start date of the policy is the 5th of January, you’ll be charged on the purchase date (1 Jan), then all future monthly payments starting from the February renewal will be withdrawn on the 5th of each month.
How can I pay monthly?
Our monthly payment is only available with a debit or credit card payment. We don’t offer a monthly direct debit from your bank account.
For details on switching between monthly and annual payments, check out our article on ‘Switching Payment Frequency‘.