Over sixties best at managing home insurance

Over sixties most confident of new home insurance responsibilities, AA Insurance survey shows

Auckland, 5 August, 2015 – Of all New Zealanders, the over-sixties are the most confident they’re managing their home insurance well, according to a new home survey by AA Insurance.

Three quarters of all over 60 year olds (74 percent) said they had the right sum insured figure for their most valuable asset, because they were more likely to have read information about it from their insurer and from the media, and more likely to use multiple calculation methods.

Younger home insurers were also confident (64 percent) even though the sum-insured method of calculating was only recently introduced.

“The younger home owners had the benefit of starting their insurance afresh with the sum insured method, looking into their cover and what they needed to know, so haven’t been concerned with the fairly recent change from full replacement,” said Amelia Macandrew, Customer Relations Manager for AA Insurance.

“Meanwhile, older home owners not only take a more active interest in communications from their insurer or in the media, and they are also likely to have been familiar with the sum insured method, which was the way we insured our homes up until the 80s.”

Respondents aged 30-44 years had significantly lower confidence in their ability to manage how much they insured their home for, with just 55 percent of this group feeling confident they had it right.

The survey, which asked over 1,000 regular Kiwis aged 18+ years with home insurance based on a sum insured figure, found confidence was related to two factors: the respondent’s ability to calculate the figure, and the amount of research they did.

“Research often meant multiple methods of finding out information,” said Amelia. “It included using an online calculator, seeking professional advice or, for the younger home owners, finding out information during the process of taking out a new policy.”

“If you’re not feeling very confident, we urge you to take advantage of free tools such as the online calculators, or seek the help of a professional. There are also plenty of tips and answers to common questions on our website and, if you’re an AAI customer and really need help, our staff are only a phone call or mouse click away for more information. That’s what we’re here for.”

One customer was very pleased he’d taken the time to get his sum insured right. A stray cigarette butt started a meter box fire that caused extensive damage to the top two floors of his Wellington rental property, while water damage meant the lower flat was also uninhabitable. Our customer was fully covered for the $400,000 worth of repairs, as well as loss of rent. One of the tenants, and also an AAI customer, had to replace most of his contents.

“As with every big change, Kiwis were initially a bit nervous about this new responsibility for their home insurance, but it makes sense they determined their sum insured because no one knows their home or situation better than they do,” said Amelia. “So, it’s great to see the majority are using the resources available to them and are feeling comfortable and confident deciding the right figure for their homes.”

Curious to see how much you know? Go to aainsurance.co.nz/sum-insured-quiz/ to take the full survey and see how your knowledge compares. The survey only takes a few minutes.

* In 2015, AA Insurance surveyed 1,000 regular Kiwis aged 18 years or over who have home insurance based on a sum insured figure. The maximum margin of error on the total sample of n=1000 is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

ENDS

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