Tower Insurance NZ: Cover, Pricing and How It Works

Tower has been insuring New Zealand homes, cars and contents for more than 150 years, but the business looks very different today. It is the country’s largest locally-domiciled general insurer, it is listed on the NZX, and it is the company that pioneered address-level risk-based pricing in New Zealand — quoting each property on its own natural-hazard risk rather than on a regional average. That single feature changes the maths depending on where your home sits. This guide explains what Tower covers, how its pricing works, how natural-hazard cover fits with the government scheme, how claims run, and how Tower compares with its main rivals. It is general information, not financial advice or a recommendation.

Who Tower is

Tower began in 1869 as the Government Life Insurance Office, a state-owned life insurer whose policies were sold through the national network of post offices. It became Tower Corporation in 1987, was owned by its policyholders as a mutual, then demutualised and listed on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges in 1999 (NZX/ASX: TWR). Over the years it sold off its Australian, life and medical arms, so today it is a general insurer only, focused on personal lines. You can read the company’s own history and corporate details at tower.co.nz.

Two things make Tower distinctive. It is the only significant general insurer listed on the New Zealand stock exchange — its major shareholders include ACC and Public Trust, which makes it the closest thing New Zealand has to a locally-owned major insurer, in a market otherwise dominated by the Australian-owned IAG (AMI, State) and Suncorp (Vero, AA Insurance) groups. And it sells directly to customers, online and by phone rather than through brokers, which keeps distribution costs lower. If you would rather have an adviser shop the market for you, our guide to using an insurance broker explains how that compares with buying direct.

What Tower covers

Tower focuses on personal-lines insurance, with a broad product range:

• Home is offered on a specified sum-insured basis — you nominate the rebuild cost, which has been standard across New Zealand since the Canterbury earthquakes — with flexible excess tiers, optional add-ons and multi-policy discounts. Our house insurance basics guide explains how a sum insured is set.
• Contents covers belongings inside the home on a sum-insured basis, with optional portable-contents and accidental-damage cover.
• Car comes in three tiers (comprehensive; third party, fire and theft; third party only), with a choice of agreed or market value, plus named-driver, multi-car and roadside-assistance options — see our car insurance guide for how the tiers differ.
• Boat, caravan and motorhome, plus travel, pet and small business cover, round out the range.

Policies and claims are managed through the My Tower app (iOS and Android), the online portal or by phone. The app is consistently rated among the better insurer apps in the New Zealand market.

How Tower’s risk-based pricing works

This is the most important thing to understand about Tower, because it changes the maths depending on where your property sits. Historically, New Zealand insurers used broad community rating — everyone in a region paid roughly the same regardless of their individual property’s risk, so lower-risk homes cross-subsidised higher-risk ones. Tower prices each address individually instead, using its specific flood, earthquake, liquefaction, coastal and construction risk alongside claims history.

Tower was the first New Zealand insurer to publicly introduce risk-based pricing: it began with earthquake risk in 2018, added inland flood risk in 2021, and extended the model to landslide and coastal sea-surge (storm-surge) risk in August 2025 — a step reinsurers have described as a world first. When the 2025 change took effect, Tower reported that more than 90% of customers saw the natural-hazard portion of their premium fall, by an average of around $70, while close to 10% — roughly 150,000 households — saw it rise, with nearly half of those increases exceeding $300 a year. In practice, that means a Tower quote carries information about your property’s risk profile.

Since Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Anniversary floods in 2023, the conversation about climate-related insurance risk in New Zealand has shifted permanently, and other insurers have moved toward more risk-reflective pricing too. The Insurance Council of New Zealand (icnz.org.nz) has set out how natural-hazard risk is increasingly reflected in premiums across the whole industry, and the Reserve Bank has flagged that this shift improves fairness but can raise affordability and availability concerns for the highest-risk homes.

Natural-hazard cover and the government scheme

Getting this right matters for any New Zealand home policy, and it changed recently. Natural-disaster damage in New Zealand is covered in two layers. The government’s natural hazards cover (naturalhazards.govt.nz) provides the first layer, and your Tower policy sits on top of it up to your sum insured.

The correction worth flagging: the government scheme — now the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake, formerly EQC — covers the first $300,000 + GST of building damage and some land, but it no longer covers contents. Contents cover was removed when the Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023 took effect on 1 July 2024, so natural-disaster damage to your belongings is now covered only by your private contents policy, such as Tower’s. For events on or after 1 July 2024 you also lodge the claim through Tower rather than the Commission directly. Our contents insurance guide explains how to set a realistic sum insured now that the government contents layer is gone.

Claims

You can lodge a claim through the My Tower app (with photo uploads and real-time tracking), the online portal, or by phone, with a 24/7 emergency line for urgent situations such as a burst pipe, fire or break-in. Tower aims to acknowledge new claims within about two business days and assign a claims consultant. Straightforward claims — a smashed windscreen, a stolen bike — tend to move quickly; larger structural claims use a panel of approved repairers, though you can sometimes arrange to use your own contractor if agreed upfront.

Tower generally scores well for its digital claims experience, with routine claims resolved efficiently. As across the industry, complaints tend to cluster around large natural-disaster events, where the interaction between the government scheme, Tower’s policy and the assessment process becomes complex and response times can stretch. Consumer NZ (consumer.org.nz) periodically surveys insurer claims satisfaction, which is worth checking before committing to any provider.

Financial strength and regulation

Tower is an NZX-listed public company (NZX: TWR), so its financial position is publicly disclosed and market-scrutinised. It holds a financial-strength rating and is licensed by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010. Its conduct is overseen by the Financial Markets Authority (fma.govt.nz) under the Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regime, and it is a member of the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman scheme (ifso.nz) for free, independent dispute resolution. Tower is smaller than the IAG- and Suncorp-backed insurers but has reported strong recent results and manages its natural-hazard exposure through reinsurance and its risk-based pricing.

How Tower compares

Tower’s main personal-lines competitors are AMI and State (both IAG), Vero, and AA Insurance (a Vero/Suncorp and NZAA joint venture). Our AA Insurance guide covers that insurer’s range and pricing in detail if you are deciding between the two.

Tower’s model tends to suit properties in lower natural-hazard-risk areas, people who prefer managing insurance through an app, and those who want an NZ-listed insurer with transparent, individualised pricing. Compare carefully if your property is in a known flood plain, coastal or high-liquefaction zone, if Tower’s quote is notably higher than others (a signal about your risk), if you have a complex claims history at the address, or if you prefer dealing through a broker.

Practical tips before you buy

• Get at least three quotes. Tower’s pricing can sit well above or below competitors depending on your property, so never assume either way.
• Get your sum insured right using a rebuild-cost calculator, or a quantity surveyor for higher-value homes, since underinsurance is a real risk in New Zealand.
• Review your excess. A higher excess meaningfully lowers your premium if you can afford to cover it in a claim.
• Bundle home, contents and car for multi-policy discounts.
• Check your risk zone using LINZ and council flood and liquefaction maps before you quote.
• Read the full policy wording, not just the summary — exclusions such as gradual damage, wear and tear and unoccupied property are worth understanding upfront.

If you are buying a home, remember that your lender will require house insurance to be in place at settlement — see our mortgage and home-loan hub for how that fits into the process.

Disclaimer: This article is general information about Tower Insurance and insurance in New Zealand. It is not financial advice, and not a recommendation to take out or cancel any policy. Cover, premiums, exclusions and the rules around natural-hazard cover change, and risk-based pricing means quotes vary widely by property — always read the policy wording (Product Disclosure Statement) and compare at least a couple of insurers before deciding. For natural-hazard cover see the Natural Hazards Commission (naturalhazards.govt.nz); for disputes see the IFSO (ifso.nz).

Frequently asked questions

Who owns Tower Insurance?

Tower Limited is a New Zealand-domiciled, NZX-listed public company (NZX: TWR) — the only significant general insurer listed on the New Zealand stock exchange. It is shareholder-owned, having demutualised in 1999, with ACC and Public Trust among its major shareholders, and it traces its history to 1869.

What is Tower’s risk-based pricing?

Rather than charging everyone in a region a similar premium, Tower prices each address individually using its specific flood, earthquake, liquefaction, coastal and construction risk, plus claims history. Lower-risk homes often pay less; higher-risk homes pay more, or may not be offered standard cover. Tower introduced earthquake pricing in 2018, flood in 2021, and landslide and sea-surge in 2025.

Does Tower cover earthquakes and other natural disasters?

Yes, in two layers. The Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake (formerly EQC) covers the first $300,000 + GST of building damage and some land, and your Tower policy covers the rest up to your sum insured. For events on or after 1 July 2024 you claim through Tower.

Is contents natural-disaster damage still covered by the government scheme?

No. The government scheme stopped covering contents when the Natural Hazards Insurance Act took effect on 1 July 2024. Natural-disaster damage to contents is now covered only by your private contents policy, such as Tower’s.

Is Tower cheaper than AA, AMI or State?

It depends entirely on your property. Because Tower prices each address on its risk, it can be cheaper for lower-risk homes and dearer for higher-risk ones. Get quotes from Tower and at least two others, and compare the cover, not just the price.