Cover type
Third-party fire & theft
Pays for damage to other cars, plus theft and fire of yours. Doesn't pay for crashes you cause to your own car.
- Premium band
- $45–$110/mo on a typical car
- Insurers offering
- 8 of 8
In plain English
What tpft actually means
Third-party fire & theft is the middle cover type. It pays the other person if you crash into their car (the third-party part), and it pays you if your car is stolen or burnt out (the fire & theft part). What it doesn't do is pay for damage to your own car from a crash. The premium gap between TPFT and comprehensive is often surprisingly small — sometimes only $20–$40/mo. The case for TPFT is when your car is worth too much to abandon if it's stolen, but not enough to bother insuring against your own crashes. That's a narrower window than most people realise.
What it covers
- Damage to other people's cars and property
- Theft of your car
- Fire damage to your car
- Sometimes weather/natural-event damage (varies by insurer)
What it doesn't cover
- Damage to your own car from a crash you caused
- Damage to your own car from a crash someone else caused (you'd claim against their insurer)
- Vandalism, in some policies
- Mechanical breakdown
Best for
Cars worth $2,000–$5,000 that you'd want to replace if stolen, but where the comprehensive premium feels disproportionate to the car's value.
Not right when
Your car is worth $5,000+ — the comprehensive uplift is usually small enough to be worth it. Or it's worth under $1,500 — third-party property only is usually fine.
NZ insurers offering tpft
Every mainstream NZ insurer sells this cover type. The premium and the small print vary; click through for the editorial on each.