A New Zealand law change that doubled the home building insurance cap under the EQCover scheme to $NZ300,000 ($277,000) has fully rolled through. 

All insured homeowners have now renewed their insurance policies to include the upgraded building cap, which was increased from October last year to keep pace with house prices and building costs. 

Homeowners receive EQCover for their home and part of their residential land if they have a private home insurance policy in place.  

The cover provides first loss insurance for damage caused by volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, land slips, and hydrothermal activity, and also provides some limited insurance for residential land damage from storms and floods. 

“EQCover was created to enable access to affordable home insurance to support the initial losses suffered by communities after a natural hazard event,” Toka Tu Ake EQC CEO Tina Mitchell said. 

“New Zealand has one of the highest levels of home insurance in the world, with around 90% of homes with insurance. This is critical to community recovery after large scale events.” 

Claims for damage to land have been more frequent in the last 18 months with extreme weather events across New Zealand. 

“Limited land cover is a unique benefit that only homeowners in New Zealand can access. However, it is also complex and takes time to work through.  It is also only designed as a contribution to actual repair costs,” Ms Mitchell said.