Insurance for Multi-Unit Rental Properties

Comprehensive insurance for blocks of up to 8 flats/units, owned by one landlord — all on a single landlord insurance policy.

It’s New Zealand’s easiest all-in-one cover for blocks of flats that includes the building itself and the landlord risks.

Get an instant quote and start your cover online.

Get instant quote Policy benefits

Initio knows multi-unit property insurance

We’re the only insurer in New Zealand that allows you to insure the block of units you own online. Our multi-unit rental policy provides cover for the important events like fires, earthquakes and floods. The policy also provides protection against more malicious events, including damage by your tenants, loss of rent, meth damage, theft of landlord’s contents, and landlord liability.

If you own just one townhouse/unit in a row of units, please look to our landlord product designed to cover a single unit.

Endorsed by the New Zealand Property Investors Federation

Initio is the insurance provider to members of the NZPIF. We created both our landlord product and our multi-unit insurance policy with professional property investors in mind.

Using technology to reduce your premiums

We use technology to make insuring blocks of units easier than any other insurer in New Zealand, which lets us pass the premium savings onto you. We’re devoted to the digital experience, so that means you receive an instant certificate of insurance and the freedom to change your multi-unit policy anytime through your personalised dashboard.

Here are some of the great features of the Initio policy

Comprehensive House Insurance

Cover up to your chosen Insured Value
Excess is your choice of $400 / $650 / $1,150 / $2,000

Loss of Rent - following property damage

Covered up to 52 weeks
Rents cover from $20,000 to $80,000 per unit

Loss of Rent - Other

Eviction for non payment - 6 weeks
Vacating without notice - 6 weeks
Prevention of access - 6 weeks
(per unit)

Landlords Contents

Items under five years of age
covered for replacement
Cover from $20,000 to $60,000 for all units in total

Major Malicious Damage

Fire & Explosion covered
up to the chosen insured value

Deliberate Damage by Tenant

Covered up to $25,000 per unit

Retaining Walls

Included up to $25,000
(can be increased on request)

Methamphetamine Contamination

Covered up to $30,000 per unit
Excess $2,500

Natural Disaster

Cover up to your chosen Insured Value
Excess $5,000

Recreational Features

Swimming Pools, Spa Pools and Tennis Courts
Included up to $45,000
(can be increased on request)

Owners Legal Liability Cover

Limit of cover $2,000,000
Your chosen excess

Policy Wording Document

Download policy wording for full details of cover

Common questions about multi-unit insurance

It’s a collection of up to 8 residential units under the same roof, all units being owned by a single landlord and rented on standard long term residential leases. These are sometimes referred to as a block of flats or a block of units.
Work out whether your property can be insured under our multi-unit rental policy

Its an insurance policy that provides protection for multiple rental property units in a block, where you own all the units. Multi-unit insurance provides cover for the entire block of units based on your selected insured value, and also provides landlord insurance benefits including loss of rent, landlord contents, deliberate damage by tenants, meth damage and more.

If you only own one unit in a block please refer to our Landlord insurance product designed for one unit.

For the purposes of this particular product, the houses/units you are insuring need to be attached. If they are rentals that share a wall, a roof, or some other structure like a pergola or deck, they can be insured under our multi-unit rental policy. For example, the following are able to be insured under our multi-unit policy:

Two separate dwellings that are connected by a shared carport or garage
A two-storey house with one tenancy upstairs and another downstairs
A block of six flats (three on the ground floor, three on the first floor)

All of these can be insured as a multi-unit rental property. If the houses/units are on the same section/title but are physically separate from one another then please use our landlord product. You will need to insure each house/unit separately, so a rental policy for each house/unit.

You can get quotes for each of these as single rental properties online with initio (under our standard landlord policy). More information can be found here – initio rental property insurance .

Loss of rent insurance is a form of income protection. It pays the property owner the income they would normally get if the tenant was still in the property. Loss of rent is a key element of landlord insurance, and most banks require property owners to have this insurance in place when they provide a mortgage.

There are two types of loss of rent:

Loss of rent resulting from the property being damaged (e.g., fire) and becoming uninhabitable.
Loss of rent from a tenant leaving without notice or being evicted.

The Initio policy provides automatic cover for both types of loss of rent, each with different payment limits.

Learn more about loss of rents.

This particular policy is not suitable for a single unit. However, we can potentially insure your single unit on our standard Landlord or Own Home (owner-occupied policy). Provided it meets the below requirements, we are able to consider cover.

Not part of a Body Corporate
Not immediately attached (by connecting walls) to more than two other units that you don’t own and
Does not have another person’s unit above or below yours.

For example, if you own the middle unit in a single row of six units, we can provide cover as you are only immediately attached to any two. If another third unit is immediately attached to your back wall, we cannot provide an option of cover.

We, and most insurers, take this position because if there is a major claim to the entire property, there are often major arguments and delays caused due to multiple insurers trying to indemnify their customers.

It’s important to insure the block for the cost of replacing it with a new one. Be sure to include additional items such as fences, driveways, and swimming pools. You should also account for inflation in the cost of materials and include coverage for demolition and site cleanup.

We recommend using an online tool like SumSure or obtaining a valuation from a quantity surveyor, such as CCC. For more information on obtaining a rebuild valuation, see here.

Please note that online replacement value calculators may not be fully accurate for multi-unit properties. Therefore, it’s crucial to double-check the numbers to ensure you’re comfortable with the replacement value in the event of a major loss.

Learn more about calculating insurance values here.

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Helpful links for multi-unit properties

Multi unit buildings in an earthquake

The Earthquake Commission has defined multi-unit buildings several ways. These are often a singular building with several dwellings within it (such as an apartment block), a mixed-usage building (such as a residential flat above a commercial warehouse), or two or more dwellings that are connected by party walls or a carport.
Learn more about how the EQC treats multi unit properties.

Landlord's fire safety checklist

As a landlord, you have obligations to ensure you’re maintaining your property to a suitable standard. This includes ensuring that it’s fire safe for renters. Learn more about fire protection at your rental property by Fire and Emergency NZ

Landlord’s fire safety checklist by Fire and Emergency NZ