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Understanding your total sum insured

When you first take out BNZ PremierCare home insurance, you’ll be asked to specify the total amount you would need to rebuild your home to the same size, specifications, and quality, including any retaining walls, recreational or special features. This is known as your ‘total sum insured’.

Your total sum insured is the maximum amount IAG will pay after any applicable excess has been deducted, if your home is wiped out by a natural disaster or suffered significant damage from major events like flooding or fire.

What to include in your total sum insured

Your total sum insured is an amount you choose. It should include your house sum insured (which includes sub-limits for any retaining walls and recreational features), special features sum insured, and other automatic and optional additional benefits under your policy.

Your total sum insured should reflect the estimated maximum amount it would cost to repair or rebuild your home if it was damaged, including consideration for how costs could change over time (i.e. inflations).

Factors to take into account include:

  • demolition costs
  • council consents and other professional fees
  • rising building costs
  • labour costs
  • the floor area of your home
  • fixed floor coverings e.g. carpet
  • land slope
  • construction materials
  • quality of materials and finish
  • fixtures and fittings e.g. baths, toilets, ovens, heat pumps
  • number of levels
  • your home’s design e.g. villa, bungalow, contemporary, one-off architectural
  • outbuildings e.g. detached garages and carports, granny flats
  • driveways, decks, paths, and fences
  • public utility services e.g. power and telephone lines, supply and wastewater pipes
  • any recreational features e.g. swimming pools and tennis courts (which are subject to specified sub-limits)
  • special features e.g. bridges, cable cars, or jetties (which are only covered if specified on your policy)
  • retaining walls, which are subject to specified sub-limits.

Check your policy wording for everything you need to consider in calculating your sum insured.

Estimating your sum insured

You can use the Valocity MyRebuild calculator to estimate the cost to rebuild your home. Enter your address and the calculator will prepopulate information about your property as a starting point for you to add additional features that need cover or any renovations you’ve made.

The estimated rebuild cost is a guide only and is not intended to replace a professional valuation or quantity surveyor estimate. Not all the prepopulated information provided by the calculator will necessarily be accurate for your home. You’ll need to decide whether the estimate is appropriate, or if you should amend it based on your knowledge of your home and property. It’s your responsibility to correct any information if it’s not accurate.

Estimate your sum insured with Valocity MyRebuild

Keeping your total sum insured up to date

It’s your responsibility to set the total sum insured when you apply for insurance, and renew your policy. It’s important to regularly review your sums insured to make sure that they’re up to date and that you have the right level of cover.

We’ll adjust your sum insured at renewal to factor in rising building costs and changes in the market. However, our adjustment doesn’t account for your unique situation such as any changes you’ve made to your home since you last set your sum insured. Nor will our adjustment necessarily reflect the actual change to the replacement cost of your house.

If you set your total sum insured too low, you may not be able to repair or rebuild to the same size and quality, or you could find yourself paying for some of the repairs or rebuild cost yourself. You can review and update your sums insured at any time by contacting the IAG PremierCare team.

Get in touch

To update or discuss your total sum insured, contact the IAG PremierCare team, available Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm, Sat-Sun 8.30am-5pm.