Policy Changes

Jump to section (newest first):

• GI Policy Wording Changes - Summary - 1 July 2024
• Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023 (effective from 1 July 2024)
• Fire and Emergency Levy Increase from 1 July 2024
• MAS insurance premium factors 2024
• EQC cap and levy rate changes
• Changes to Business Risks Premiums (effective from 1 September 2022)
• Changes to House, Contents and Motor Vehicle Premiums (effective from July 2022)
• New design and language for House, Contents and Motor Vehicle Policies (effective on renewal from 28 March 2022)
• Corrections to multi-product and Goldshield discounts
• Changes to Motor Vehicle Premiums (effective from 8 September 2021)
• New exclusions added to General Insurance policies (effective from 1 July 2021)

GI Policy Wording Changes - Summary - 1 July 2024 

This summary highlights changes to your MAS General Insurance (GI) policy wording. These changes are to provide greater clarity, support the Mutual and our Members’ needs, and to update references to legislation.  

Importantly, this document is not part of your contract of insurance with MAS. It is only a summary of the enhancements and changes, so please ensure you read your renewal documents and the full policy wordings, which are available on our website at mas.co.nz 

You can also request a copy of your policy wording to be emailed or posted to you by emailing us at info@mas.co.nz or calling our Member Support Centre team on 0800 800 627 (select option 2). 

Note: The changes in this document will apply to you if you are renewing your policy on or after 1 July 2024. 

House Insurance Policy, including Holiday Home, Lifestyle Property House & Residential Rental Policies 

Contents Policy, including Holiday Home Contents, Lifestyle Property Contents and Residential Rental Property Contents Policies 

Motor Policy 

Boat Policy 

Contract Works Policy 

Goods in Transit and Goods in Storage Policy 

Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023 from 1 July

From 1 July 2024 there will be new governing legislation, the Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023 (NHI Act). This Act modernises and replaces the Earthquake Commission Act 1993 (EQC Act).

What’s changing

From 1 July 2024, EQC Toka Tū Ake will change its name to Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake (NHC) as part of the Natural Hazards Insurance Act taking effect. Read more at www.naturalhazards.govt.nz

The other noticeable change for policy holders, is that policy schedules and invoices will now reference an NHI levy instead of EQC levy and NHCover instead of EQCover.

The NHI Act introduces changes to improve the experience of homeowners who need to make a natural hazards insurance claim. The NHI Act takes into account lessons learnt from the Canterbury earthquake sequence, the Kaikōura earthquake, and other natural hazard events, as well as the Public Inquiry into the Earthquake Commission completed in 2020.

Your insurance provider will manage your NHI claim

In the event your home is damaged by a natural hazard event, please contact MAS to make a claim. We will assess and manage your claim from start to finish, including the NHCover portion on NHC’s behalf. MAS will be your single point of contact during the claim process and can answer any questions you have.

Where to go for more information

Please go to naturalhazards.govt.nz/know-your-cover/ to find out more about how the NHI Act affects cover and claims.

Fire and Emergency Levy Increase from 1 July 2024

What’s changing?

For renewals and new business from 1 July 2024, the Fire and Emergency (FENZ) levy rate has increased as shown in the table below.

Note: the above rates are exclusive of GST.

What is the FENZ levy?

The FENZ levy is used to fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand, so that they have the resources to respond to:

• fires
• floods
• vehicle incidents
• animal rescues
• and more.

We are required by law to collect the levy and pass it on to FENZ.

Further information

You can find out more about the FENZ levy rate changes on the FENZ website.

MAS insurance premium factors 2024

Each year when MAS insurance policies renew, we apply an inflation rate to the insured amount. This helps your cover to remain suitable over time so that future claims under each policy can be paid appropriately. The inflation rates used have generally remained consistent each year, but we do benchmark them against external sources such as the Capital Goods Price Index data series from Statistics NZ. 

When inflation rates are adjusted on MAS policies, premiums are also likely to adjust as they are calculated as a percentage of the amount insured on the policy.  

Severe weather events 

The severe weather events across the country during 2023 have have had a significant impact on MAS home, contents, motor vehicle, and business insurance portfolios. The risk of similar events occurring in the future is priced into insurance premiums as they renew. 

For those living in flood-prone areas, premiums will increase over time across the insurance industry as the nature and impact of these risks become better understood.  

Increasing reinsurance costs 

Reinsurers are the ‘insurance companies for insurance providers’, so they provide insurance cover for insurers across the globe, including MAS. This allows us to insure against most of the costs of a catastrophic event like an earthquake or cyclone, protecting our capital reserves.  

Traditionally, the primary risk reinsurers have considered in New Zealand is seismic. Due to the increasing frequency and severity of weather events, reinsurers are beginning to look at Aotearoa New Zealand differently and they are beginning to pass through significant increases in reinsurance premiums to New Zealand insurers. These costs are a significant portion of operating costs, so increases will be factored into premiums as they renew. 

We can help with options 

It is important to retain appropriate levels of cover in case the worst happens – a lesson reinforced by the sheer scale of flooding and storm damage to properties, contents, and motor vehicles in January and February this year.  

We have a useful contents calculator on our website that can help you assess whether you have appropriate contents cover in place. Just enter your address to get started. 

However, if you’d like to discuss options to optimise your premiums or to discuss your cover, please email us at info@mas.co.nz or call us on 0800 800 627.    

Changes to Business Risks Premiums (effective from 1 September 2022)

MAS is committed to providing consistent and fair value premiums for Members over time, which is why we are adjusting premiums for our Business Risks policies.

Key things we are changing

Minimum premiums are increasing to meet the costs of providing cover.

Contents cover rates are increasing and will vary across a number of sum insured bands resulting in a different outcome across levels of cover.

Why the changes are needed

We regularly review our products and pricing structures to make sure they are suitable and continue to protect what matters most to our Members now and for the future.

These reviews consider the frequency and cost of claims, future costs of providing cover, economic indicators such as energy prices, increasing costs of goods and services and global supply constraints, environmental factors such as increased severe weather events, and the financial requirements of MAS.

When will these changes take effect?

We will introduce the new rates effective 1 September 2022 for all new policies we issue. For existing policies, the new rates will apply to your policy at renewal. 

Your renewal pack and tax invoice will contain your new total annual premium payable.

Does the insurance still meet your needs?

It is important that you regularly review your cover and cover limits, and that you also make sure you understand what is and what is not covered.

Our specialist Business Risk Advisers can help you with this and help you with the right balance between the cost of the covers and the cost of the risk.

If you would like to speak to a specialist Business Risk Adviser about these changes, or for a general check-up on your insurance needs, please call us on 0800 800 627 or email us at businessinsurance@mas.co.nz.

Changes to your House, Contents and Motor Vehicle Premiums (effective from July 2022)

MAS is committed to providing consistent and fair value premiums for Members over time, which is why we are adjusting premiums for our General Insurance policies.

Why the changes are needed

We regularly review our products and pricing structures to make sure they are suitable and continuing to protect what matters most to our Members now and for the future. These reviews consider the future costs of providing cover, economic indicators such as energy prices, increasing costs of goods and services and global supply constraints, environmental factors such as increased severe weather events, and the financial requirements of MAS.

Key things we are changing

General rate increases across House, Contents and Motor Vehicle Policies. 

House

• Inflation rate increase on residential buildings to align with national indexing practices.
• Standard excess increasing to $500

Contents

• Standard excess increasing to $500.

Motor Vehicle - Comprehensive, Third Party, Fire and Theft, Third Party Fire and Theft

• National vehicle indexing adjustments to reflect current vehicle sums insured.
• Reduction of the Named Drivers discount to 10%*.

*Over 25's Driver Option and Named Drivers Only. 

Over 25's Driver Option and Named Drivers Only option will now give the same discount of 10% on your premium. If you have selected Named Drivers Only and choose to swap to Over 25's, which has fewer policy restrictions, we can change this with no additional impact to your premium. 

When you have selected Named Drivers Only on your policy, authorised drivers are restricted to only those drivers you have nominated, limited to 5 regular drivers. When you have selected Over 25's on your policy, authorised drivers are restricted to only those over the age of 25 driving your vehicle without needing to be individually named. Additional excesses are payable in the event of a claim if these policy conditions are not met. To discuss if the options you have previously selected are still appropriate for you, please call us on 0800 800 627 or email us here. 

When these changes will take effect

We will introduce the new rates in July 2022 for all new policies we issue. For existing policies, the new rates will apply to your policy at renewal. 

Your renewal notice will contain your new total annual premium payable.

Does the insurance still meet your needs?

It's important to review your insurance regularly to make sure it continues to meet your needs.

If you would like to speak to an adviser about these changes, the ongoing affordability of your insurance, or for a general check-up on your insurance needs, please call us on 0800 800 627 or email us here. 

New design and language for House, Contents and Motor Vehicle Policies (effective on renewal from 28 March 2022)

During 2021, in an effort to further improve your MAS Member experience, we have updated our house, contents, and motor vehicle policy documents making them easier to read, understand, and navigate.

The changes involve rewriting the documents in line with plain language principles. Where possible complex legal or insurance terms have been explained more simply, and unnecessary legal and insurance jargon has been removed.

The documents have also been redesigned to incorporate digital navigation tools in order to help you find policy information more easily.

While these changes are intended purely to improve the design and readability of the documents and not affect the terms and conditions of the policy, there are a couple of changes you should be aware of that we have made to better reflect the way the policies are managed in practice. These changes are explained below.

House policy document

We have made the following changes to the house policy in relation to natural disaster cover:

1. Changed the name of the “Natural Disaster Cover” benefit to “Natural Disaster Damage” and moved it to Section 1: loss to your property, Automatic additional benefits, page 27. As part of this change we have updated the benefit explanation to better reflect the way the benefit works under the policy and with EQC.

2. Clarified that the policy does not cover loss arising from a natural disaster other than the cover provided in the automatic additional benefits section of the policy for natural disaster damage.

3. Updated the “one excess – one event” section of the policy, on page 14, to clarify that more than one excess may apply if the claim involves EQC cover (as separate EQC excesses may apply).

You can view the new House policy wording here.

Motor Vehicle policy document

We have updated our Accidental Death benefit to better reflect how the benefit is intended to operate. This change means that the cover under this benefit now only applies when a sudden accidental event has occurred while the insured is ‘in or driving the vehicle’.  You can find the new wording on page 21 of the Motor Vehicle policy document.

What do you need to do?

The new documents are provided to you on renewal. You will receive an email notifying you that your insurance is to be renewed and in this letter, there will be a link to your new policy document.

Until your policy comes up for renewal, you should continue to consult your existing policy documents.

We recommend you review your policies annually to ensure you have suitable cover and our support team can help with any questions you may have about your policy, including options to reduce your premiums. If you have any questions and would like to talk to a team member please call us on 0800 800 627.

The changes will be introduced to new policies and renewing policies from 28 March 2022 onwards and will apply to your policy when it comes up for its annual renewal.

If you would like to read the previous policy wordings, you can do so on our Insurance Resources page.

Corrections to multi-product and Goldshield discounts

We are making some corrections to the way we apply discounts for Members who hold more than one MAS general insurance policy.

Some Members have been receiving discounts for which they weren’t eligible, while other Members may have missed out on discounts they should have received in previous years. These corrections will come into effect when policies come up for their annual renewal.

If you are owed a discount, we will apply it to your policy and be in touch to confirm the refund you will be receiving for previous overpayments.

If you have been receiving a discount for which you weren’t eligible, we won’t ask for any repayment but we will remove the discount from the policy and adjust your next year’s premiums accordingly.

These corrections apply to the following discounts:

• Members are eligible for a multi-product discount if they hold two different MAS policies out of house, contents, or private motor vehicle insurance.
• Members are eligible for a Goldshield discount if they hold house, contents and motor vehicle insurance with MAS.

If you’re a personal Member and your policies are split between yourself and your partner, or your family trust, we’ll extend any eligible discount across the shared policies.

Changes to Motor Vehicle Premiums (effective from 8 September 2021)

We are making some changes to the premiums we charge for our motor vehicle policies. These changes will be introduced from 8 September, and will take effect when policies come up for their annual renewal.

1. The 7.2% base premium discount offered due to COVID-19 lockdowns has expired. This was introduced in September 2020, to recognise the savings we had made on claims during the nationwide COVID lockdown due to cars being kept off the roads. You can read our original announcement about this discount here.
2. As a mutual, we endeavour to keep premiums as low as possible, and motor vehicle premiums have not been changed for five years. We now need to reassess premiums to take account of changes in the motor vehicle industry and the rising costs of car parts due to COVID disruptions globally, along with the increasing sophistication of car parts generally.

These changes won’t affect all our policyholders in the same way but will instead take account of factors such as the location where the insured vehicle is usually parked and driven; the number of drivers named on the policy; and the make of the insured vehicle.

In general, these changes will result in premium increases for most of our policyholders, although the increases will be relatively modest. Around 70% of our policyholders will receive an increase of less than $100.

When considering your motor vehicle policy options, it is important to remember the benefits covered by your MAS premiums. These include:

• Free cover for windscreen damage if you have comprehensive motor vehicle insurance
• Automatic cover for trailers valued up to $2,000
• Accidental death cover up to $20,000

There are various ways to reduce your motor vehicle premiums, such as setting a higher voluntary excess for higher value vehicles, naming drivers on your policy, or restricting drivers of the vehicle to over-25-year-olds only.

We recommend you review your policies annually to ensure you have suitable cover for your vehicle, and our support team can help with any questions you may about your policy, including options to reduce your premiums.

You can make changes to your policy online using our Make a Change to a Motor Vehicle Policy form.

New exclusions added to General Insurance policies (effective from 1 July 2021)

You can read the new policy wordings here:

MAS is introducing some changes to the wordings for our general insurance products – the group of insurance that covers things like house, car, and contents insurance, as well as business risk insurance.

Just as our Members buy insurance from MAS, MAS buys its own insurance from reinsurers.

Our reinsurers have changed their policy wordings for general insurance policies to more clearly exclude loss or damage connected with pandemics, cyber-attacks, and legal liability associated with asbestos.

We understand that because reinsurers are introducing these changes across the reinsurance market, it will impact other insurers as well as MAS.  

The purpose of the changes is to make it clearer what is intended to be covered, and what is not covered, rather than to materially change the cover currently provided.

As a result, we expect it’s highly unlikely that MAS policyholders will be affected by these changes.

Our policies already excluded certain types of loss and damage relating to pandemics, cyber-attacks, and asbestos-related issues. We could not identify practical examples of Members who would be affected by the change.

The changes will be introduced to new policies and renewing policies from 1 July 2021 onwards, and will apply to your policy when it comes up for its annual renewal.

If you would like to read the previous policy wordings, you can do so on our Insurance Resources page.