Which car insurance do you need? Let’s keep it simple.
Answer 6 quick questions and see which of the 3 types of cover fits your situation, what each one pays for, and what to check before you get a quote. No registration, no email, no sales calls.
General information, not financial advice. We are not an insurer, broker or adviser. How we make money.
Third party only
- Damage you cause to other people's vehicles and property Yes
- Your car stolen No
- Your car damaged by fire No
- Accidental damage to your own car No
Third party fire and theft
- Damage you cause to other people's vehicles and property Yes
- Your car stolen Yes
- Your car damaged by fire Yes
- Accidental damage to your own car No
Comprehensive
- Damage you cause to other people's vehicles and property Yes
- Your car stolen Yes
- Your car damaged by fire Yes
- Accidental damage to your own car Yes
This is what the three kinds of cover are, by definition. What an individual policy covers, excludes and limits is set by its own wording — see what each insurer’s policy says, and read the wording before you buy.
The 3 types of car insurance, side by side
Every insurer in New Zealand sells some or all of these three, under the same three names. The names are worth taking literally: “third party” means somebody else’s car, not yours.
Third party only
- Damage you cause to other people's vehicles and property Yes
- Your car stolen No
- Your car damaged by fire No
- Accidental damage to your own car No
Covers the damage you do to others. Nothing for your car.
Third party fire and theft
- Damage you cause to other people's vehicles and property Yes
- Your car stolen Yes
- Your car damaged by fire Yes
- Accidental damage to your own car No
Third party, plus your car if it burns or is stolen.
Comprehensive
- Damage you cause to other people's vehicles and property Yes
- Your car stolen Yes
- Your car damaged by fire Yes
- Accidental damage to your own car Yes
The only level that pays for your own car in a crash you caused.
This is what the three kinds of cover are, by definition. What an individual policy covers, excludes and limits is set by its own wording — see what each insurer’s policy says, and read the wording before you buy.
Last checked against insurers' own wordings on 2026-09-16
How it works
Answer 6 questions
About the car and your situation. Nothing that identifies you.
See the cover types that fit, and why
Published rules, applied to your answers. You can read every rule before you start.
Get quotes, with the checklist in hand
You go to the insurers. We do not quote, and we do not pass your details to anyone.
We don’t collect your details or pass them to anyone.
Before you get a quote, check these
The level of cover is one decision. These six are the ones that decide what actually happens at claim time, and most of them never appear on a marketing page.
The excess
What you pay towards your own claim — and which extra excesses stack on top.
Read more →Agreed or market value
Decides what gets paid if the car is written off. Set long before it happens.
Read more →Who's named to drive
Some policies cover anyone with your permission. Others cover only named drivers.
Read more →Windscreen cover
Sometimes free, sometimes a separate excess, sometimes an optional extra.
Read more →Hire car after a claim
Limits published by insurers run from 21 days to 30 days, or a dollar cap.
Read more →Work use and ride-share
Private policies commonly exclude carrying goods or passengers for hire or reward.
Read more →Not sure which cover you need?
Start here. The other five questions are on the next page.
Five more questions on the next page. Takes a couple of minutes.
Insurers we cover
8 New Zealand car insurers, with 68facts quoted from their own pages and policy wordings — and 18fields marked “Not checked yet” because nobody publishes them.
AA Insurance
A direct insurer selling car insurance online and by phone, with three levels of cover.
What its policy says →AMI
A direct insurer selling car insurance online and by phone, with three levels of cover.
What its policy says →Cove Insurance
An online-only insurer. Of the eight insurers on this site it is the only one that sells a single level of cover.
What its policy says →NZI
Sold through insurance brokers rather than directly, in three product tiers — Distinction, Select and Echelon. There is no online quote and no published excess.
What its policy says →State
A direct insurer selling car insurance online and by phone, with three levels of cover.
What its policy says →Tower
A direct insurer selling car insurance online and by phone, with three levels of cover.
What its policy says →Trade Me Insurance
A direct insurance brand selling online, underwritten by Tower Limited, with three levels of cover.
What its policy says →Vero
Sells three levels of cover under the MotorPlan policy. Its wording names more kinds of excess than any other insurer on this site.
What its policy says →Every list of insurers on this site is in alphabetical order by name. Nothing is ordered by whether an insurer pays us, and no insurer can pay to change its position, its facts or whether it appears at all.
How the links work. We have no paid partners yet. Every link on this site is an ordinary, unpaid link to the insurer's own website, and no insurer pays us for a mention, for placement or for anything we publish. Every list of insurers on this site is in alphabetical order by name. Nothing is ordered by whether an insurer pays us, and no insurer can pay to change its position, its facts or whether it appears at all. How we make money.
Who’s behind this
Simple Car Insurance is written and checked by Simple Car Insurance. We are not a financial adviser, an insurance broker or an insurer. The site explains cover in plain English and points you to insurers for quotes, and every policy fact links to the wording it came from, with the date we read it.
How we make money
The plan is referral fees from insurers, for links marked Partner. We have no paid partner yet, so at the moment we earn nothing from any link on this site — and we would rather say so than imply otherwise.
Every list of insurers on this site is in alphabetical order by name. Nothing is ordered by whether an insurer pays us, and no insurer can pay to change its position, its facts or whether it appears at all.
Guides
Comprehensive vs third party
There is really only one question separating them: does the policy pay for your own car? Third party only never does. Third party fire and theft does, but only when the car is stolen or burnt. Comprehensive is the only one that pays when you crash it yourself.
Read it →Excess explained
An excess is the amount you pay towards your own claim. The part that catches people out is that there is usually more than one: an additional excess for a young driver, an unnamed driver or a glass replacement can sit on top of the standard one, and they add up.
Read it →Agreed vs market value
Agreed value fixes the payout figure when you take the policy out. Market value works it out after the loss, based on what the car was worth just before it happened. The difference only shows up once — when the car is written off or stolen — and by then it is settled.
Read it →Car insurance under 25
Every New Zealand insurer we checked treats a driver under 25 as a higher risk, but in three different ways: an extra excess on top of the standard one, an option to exclude under-25s from the policy, or no cover at all below a set age. Which one applies changes what a crash costs you.
Read it →Learner and restricted drivers
Yes, a learner or restricted driver can be covered on New Zealand car insurance, usually by being added to the policy of the car they drive. The catch is the licence conditions: AMI, Cove, Tower and Vero all write that there is no cover when the driver is breaking them, such as a learner driving without a supervisor.
Read it →Is car insurance compulsory?
No. New Zealand has no law requiring you to insure a car, unlike Australia or the UK. ACC covers injuries from road crashes whoever caused them, but damage to cars and property is a separate matter: if you cause a crash with no insurance, you can be pursued for the repair bill yourself.
Read it →Insuring someone else's car
Usually, yes. New Zealand insurers can insure a car for someone other than the registered owner, such as a parent insuring a car their child drives. What matters is that the insurer is told the truth: who owns the car, who the main driver is, and who else drives it. A policy built on the wrong main driver is the risk.
Read it →Rental car insurance
Two different things get called rental car insurance. One is cover for the excess you owe a rental company if a hire car is damaged, which you can reduce with the rental company or cover through some travel insurance. The other is the hire car your own insurer provides while your car is repaired after a claim, which varies a lot by insurer.
Read it →Classic car insurance
Classic car insurance is car insurance written for older, collectable vehicles that are driven less and are worth what a buyer would pay for them, not a book value. The policies usually insure for an agreed value, may limit how far and how often you drive, and often ask how the car is stored. Some general insurers cover classics, and there are specialist policies too.
Read it →Modified car insurance
Tell your insurer about every change from the factory specification before it matters: engine and exhaust work, suspension, wheels, body kits, and anything that affects performance or value. Undeclared modifications are a common reason claims are reduced or declined. Some modifications also need Low Volume Vehicle (LVV) certification before the car is road legal.
Read it →Bank car insurance
None of New Zealand's big five banks underwrites its own car insurance. ASB and BNZ policies are underwritten by IAG New Zealand Limited, Westpac and Kiwibank policies by Tower Limited, and ANZ policies by Vero Insurance New Zealand Limited. The bank arranges or refers the policy and is paid a commission; the insurer sets the terms, prices the risk and decides your claim. Every one of those statements is on the bank's own site, quoted below with the date we read it.
Read it →Protecta insurance
Protecta is now Assurant. Policies are still issued by Protecta Insurance New Zealand Limited, as agent for Virginia Surety Company Inc (New Zealand branch), which underwrites them; both are part of the US-listed Assurant group. It sells car, motorcycle and classic vehicle insurance direct at assurant.nz, and mechanical breakdown insurance (MBI), GAP and payment protection mostly through car dealers and finance companies. If you bought a Protecta policy at a car yard, your claim and any complaint now go to Assurant.
Read it →Questions
Is Simple Car Insurance an insurer?
No. We do not sell, arrange, underwrite or administer any policy, and we never will. We publish general information about the three kinds of car cover, a questionnaire and a checklist, and we link out to the insurers that do sell policies.
Do you give financial advice?
No. Under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 a contract of insurance is a financial advice product, and an opinion about acquiring one is financial advice, which only a licensed provider may give. We describe kinds of cover in general and state facts about policies, both of which Schedule 5 cl 7 puts outside that definition. The full working is on our disclosure page.
How do you make money?
By referral fees from insurers, for links marked Partner. We have no paid partner at the moment, so right now every link on this site is an ordinary unpaid link and we earn nothing from any of them. When that changes, the link will say Partner and the fee will be named. How we make money.
Do I have to give my details?
No. The questionnaire asks for no name, email, registration, address or date of birth, and stores nothing — your answers travel in the address bar of the result page. Nothing on this site passes anybody's details to an insurer.
Is car insurance compulsory in New Zealand?
No. No law requires you to insure a private car in New Zealand. ACC covers injuries from road crashes whoever caused them, but you are still liable for damage you cause to other people's cars and property. Is car insurance compulsory in NZ? has the sources and what happens if you crash without cover.
What's the difference between agreed and market value?
Consumer Protection defines them: “Market value — what your vehicle is worth just before it is damaged. Agreed value — a value you and your insurance company agree on when you take out your policy and each time it renews.” Which insurers offer which is in our guide.
What is an excess?
The amount you pay towards your own claim. Consumer Protection: “Apart from some windscreen cover, you will pay an excess no matter which policy or cover type you have.” Seven of the eight insurers we checked publish no standard excess figure at all — here is what each one does publish.
How up to date is this information?
Every policy fact carries the document it came from and the date we read it. Everything on the site was read on 2026-09-16, and facts are re-checked at least every 120 days. A fact past that date renders as “Not checked yet” rather than staying on the page. Methodology.
A few minutes now can save a nasty surprise at claim time
Six questions about the car and your situation, no details collected, and a list of what to ask each insurer at the end.
Source for the definitions and the general statements on this page: Consumer Protection (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment), Car insurance, and the eight insurers’ own pages and policy wordings, all read on 2026-09-16.