Comprehensive car insurance in New Zealand
Comprehensive is the only one of the three kinds that pays for accidental damage to your own car in a crash you caused. It also does everything the two third party levels do. It is the broadest cover sold here, and it is the level lenders most often require on a financed car.
Last checked against insurers' own pages and wordings on 2026-09-16
How does comprehensive compare with the other levels?
The only level that pays for your own car in a crash you caused. Of the four things the three levels differ on, it pays for 4: damage you cause to other people's vehicles and property; your car stolen; your car damaged by fire; accidental damage to your own car.Limits and exclusions are set by each policy’s own wording.
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.
- Worth reading first
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.
What it pays for
- Accidental damage to your own car, including in a crash that was your fault.
- Your own car if it is stolen, or damaged or destroyed by fire.
- Damage you cause to other people's vehicles and property.
- In most wordings, a written-off car is paid out at either the agreed value or the market value — which of the two depends on the policy, and the difference can be large.
What it does not pay for
- Whatever the particular wording excludes. Common exclusions across the wordings read for this site include wear and tear, mechanical breakdown, and use the policy was not sold for.
- Carrying goods or passengers for hire or reward, on a private car policy. If the car is used for courier work, deliveries or ride-share, that is a conversation to have with the insurer before you buy.
- Your excess. You pay that on every claim except, on some policies, a windscreen repair.
What should I check before buying comprehensive?
4 things, and none of them is settled by the level you pick. They are the points where two policies with the same name behave differently at claim time, so they are worth asking about on the quote call rather than reading about afterwards.
- Agreed value or market value, and if agreed value, who sets the sum insured and what happens to it at renewal.
- Your standard excess, and every additional excess that can be stacked on top of it. One wording read for this site names six kinds of additional excess.
- What happens when a driver under 25 is at the wheel: a higher excess on some policies, an exclusion on others, and on one insurer no cover at all below age 21.
- Whether glass, a hire car and roadside assistance are included or optional, and what each one costs.
Which NZ insurers sell comprehensive?
8 of the 8 insurers on this site publish that they sell it: AA Insurance, AMI, Cove Insurance, NZI, State, Tower, Trade Me Insurance, Vero. Each one is quoted below from its own page, with the date we read it. 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.
“Third Party — Cover for accidental damage that you have caused to someone else's car” — AA Insurance, Car Insurance, read 2026-09-16
“Comprehensive / Third Party, Fire & Theft / Third Party Only” — AMI, Car Insurance, read 2026-09-16
“At this time all Cove car insurance policies are for comprehensive cover.” — Cove Insurance, Car Insurance, read 2026-09-16
“Third Party Only — This option covers damage you cause to someone else's vehicle or property. Available for NZI Select and Echelon.” — NZI, Vehicle Insurance, read 2026-09-16
“Comprehensive / Third Party, Fire & Theft / Third Party Only” — State, Car Insurance, read 2026-09-16
“Third party cover: This option pays for damage you cause to other people's car and property, but not your own.” — Tower, Car Insurance, read 2026-09-16
“Third Party Fire & Theft: Pays for damage you cause to other people's cars and property, but not your own. You're also covered for loss through fire or theft.” — Trade Me Insurance, Car Insurance, read 2026-09-16
“With three levels of motor insurance cover — Comprehensive, Third Party, Fire & Theft, and Third Party” — Vero, Car Insurance, read 2026-09-16
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it or mark it unchecked. We aim to do that within 5 working days.
Common questions about comprehensive
Do I have to have comprehensive if my car is on finance?
Lenders commonly require it, and often require the lender to be recorded on the policy as an interested party. The requirement is in your loan or lease agreement, not in insurance law and not on this page. Read the agreement, and ask the insurer whether it can record an interested party.
Is comprehensive worth it on an old car?
That is a judgement about your own money, and nobody who has not seen your situation should make it for you — including us. The arithmetic is: what the extra premium and excess cost, against what the insurer would pay out if the car were written off. The questionnaire walks through the same question without giving you an answer.
What is an excess?
The amount you contribute towards your own claim. Consumer Protection puts it plainly: “Apart from some windscreen cover, you will pay an excess no matter which policy or cover type you have.” See excess explained.
Sources
- Consumer Protection (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment), Car insurance
- AMI, Car Insurance (cover levels)
- Tower, Car Insurance (cover levels)
- Trade Me Insurance, Car Insurance (cover levels)
- Vero, Car Insurance (cover levels)
Read on 2026-09-16. If a source and this page disagree, the source is right.