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Standard house insurance


Buy an eligible house policy by 17 Feb and be in to win 1 of 10 prizes of a year's premium up to $2,500.* Prize drawn 25 March.

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*Excludes Contract works. Ts&Cs apply.

Cover you can trust

Enjoy award-winning home and contents insurance with a forward thinking insurer.

Compare our standard house insurance

Our standard house insurance policy covers the essentials. Great for the budget conscious or those who want the safety of insurance without the extras.

If you’re unsure of what the best house insurance is for you, check out our house insurance buyers guide. You can also try out our house insurance calculator - it can help you work out the rebuild cost of your home.

Save up to 20% with our multi-policy discount

Save up to 20% with our multi-policy discount

Buy multiple car, house, contents, landlord or boat policies and save up to 20%. Ts&Cs apply.

earthquake and flood risk rating house insurance

Your risk rating

We accurately calculate house insurance premiums based on flood and earthquake risk. Get a quote to check the risk rating for your home.

sum insured for fire house insurance

Extended sum insured for fire

If your house is destroyed by fire, this benefit gives you up to 20% more cover than your sum insured. Excludes fires following natural disasters.

One event, one excess

One event one excess

If one event means you need to claim on multiple Tower car, home and contents policies, you’ll only need to pay one excess. It’s the highest excess that will apply.

Easy to understand policies with Tower

Easy to understand policies

Our policies meet the WriteMark Plain Language Standard, which means our policy wording is easier to read and understand.

Award winning insurance

We're award-winning

We're over the moon to have won Canstar ’s 2023 Outstanding Value Home & Contents Insurance Award, as well as the General Insurer of the Year 2022 at the NZ Insurance Business Awards.

Our standard house insurance policy includes

This is a summary only. For all of these benefits, please make sure you read the policy wording to understand the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions that may apply.

Standard

Replacement to sum insured 
If your home is completely destroyed, we’ll pay up to the sum insured amount on your policy to rebuild your home. Learn more about sum insured
Replacement to sum insured
If your home is completely destroyed, we’ll pay up to the sum insured amount on your policy to rebuild your home. Learn more about sum insured
Natural disaster damage 
If your home suffers natural disaster damage, which is more than the EQCover limit, we’ll pay the difference up to the sum insured.
Natural disaster damage
If your home suffers natural disaster damage, which is more than the EQCover limit, we’ll pay the difference up to the sum insured.
Extended sum insured for fire 
If your house is destroyed by fire, this benefit gives you up to 20% more cover than your sum insured. Excludes fires following natural disasters.
Extended sum insured for fire
If your house is destroyed by fire, this benefit gives you up to 20% more cover than your sum insured. Excludes fires following natural disasters.
Carpets extended replacement 
If you have matching carpet throughout your home and some of it’s damaged, if we can’t find a suitable match, we’ll replace the lot.
Carpets extended replacement
If you have matching carpet throughout your home and some of it’s damaged, if we can’t find a suitable match, we’ll replace the lot.
Gradual damage 

Up to $1,000
We’ll repair damage to your home, which is caused over time by a leak or overflow from an internal water pipe, hose or tank.
Gradual damage
We’ll repair damage to your home, which is caused over time by a leak or overflow from an internal water pipe, hose or tank.
Up to $1,000
Sustainability upgrade 

Up to $15,000
If your house is destroyed, we'll provide up to $15,000 for you to add or upgrade to sustainable products in your new house. Excludes natural disaster losses.
Sustainability upgrade
If your house is destroyed, we'll provide up to $15,000 for you to add or upgrade to sustainable products in your new house. Excludes natural disaster losses.
Up to $15,000
Temporary accommodation 

Up to $15,000
We'll cover the costs of temporary accommodation if your home suffers damage that makes it uninhabitable.
Temporary accommodation
We'll cover the costs of temporary accommodation if your home suffers damage that makes it uninhabitable.
Up to $15,000
Landscaping 

Up to $1,000
You’re covered for damage to your lawn, flowers, trees, hedges or shrubs, caused by fire damage to your home, or damage from a vehicle.
Landscaping
You’re covered for damage to your lawn, flowers, trees, hedges or shrubs, caused by fire damage to your home, or damage from a vehicle.
Up to $1,000
Glass breakage reduced excess 
If your claim is only for glass breakage, we’ll reduce your excess and it won’t change your no claims bonus.
Glass breakage reduced excess
If your claim is only for glass breakage, we’ll reduce your excess and it won’t change your no claims bonus.
Garden retaining walls 

Up to $15,000
Cover for garden retaining walls automatically included.
Garden retaining walls
Cover for garden retaining walls automatically included.
Up to $15,000
Key and locks 

Up to $500
We’ll organise the replacement of your keys or locks if they’re stolen, lost, or illegally duplicated, and you won’t need to pay an excess.
Key and locks
We’ll organise the replacement of your keys or locks if they’re stolen, lost, or illegally duplicated, and you won’t need to pay an excess.
Up to $500
House under minor alteration 

Up to $10,000
Extra cover to protect your home and renovation materials while it's undergoing non-structural renovations that don't require building consent.
House under minor alteration
Extra cover to protect your home and renovation materials while it's undergoing non-structural renovations that don't require building consent.
Up to $10,000
Liability protection 
If there’s an accident at your home which causes damage to someone else’s property, we’ll cover you for your legal liability.
Liability protection
If there’s an accident at your home which causes damage to someone else’s property, we’ll cover you for your legal liability.
Pay only one excess 
Pay only one excess when claiming on multiple policies for a single incident at the same address. The highest excess applies.
Pay only one excess
Pay only one excess when claiming on multiple policies for a single incident at the same address. The highest excess applies.
No claims bonus 
If you haven’t had a claim with us (or another insurer) during the last year of your insurance, you’ll receive a discount on your premium.
No claims bonus
If you haven’t had a claim with us (or another insurer) during the last year of your insurance, you’ll receive a discount on your premium.
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More products from us

Save up to 20% with our multi-policy discount.**

Info, ideas and inspiration

Tips on protecting the things that matter the most to you.

Deep clean inside your home

With these handy deep cleaning tips, you can help prevent damage inside your home over time, while also enjoying a beautiful home environment for your family.

Be fire aware: Home fire prevention

Don’t just leave it for daylight savings. Doing fire safety checks all year-round could make all the difference in protecting your home and belongings from fire.

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Is there anything better than the great Kiwi BBQ? A safe Kiwi BBQ! Barbecues can be a fire risk, so check out these tips to help you use yours safely.
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House insurance FAQs

It's important that the amount you insure your house for is enough to cover all costs to rebuild your house. This includes things like demolition costs, debris removal, professional fees and council fees.

Learn more about calculating the house sum insured amount

When calculating the premium for a property, one thing we take into account is the specific natural disaster risk at your address. We call this risk-based pricing. For example, Wellington has a higher risk of earthquake damage than Auckland.

We believe this is the fairest way to determine the cost of insurance.

Why we’ve changed to risk-based pricing for house insurance

We use various sources of data to assess the level of risk each address faces. This includes information about the building itself like age, construction materials, and sum insured as well as its geographical location. To help us better understand the earthquake and flood risk in New Zealand, we’ve partnered with Risk Management Solutions (RMS) – one of the world’s leading catastrophe modelling companies. RMS earthquake and flood models are built using advanced technologies, science, and data, including lessons from historical events, geologic data, ongoing global research and damage statistics. Assessing properties with this level of detail means earthquake and flood damage risk can vary from one address to another, even for properties on the same street. These differences are reflected in our premiums.

You don't have to tell us if your house is unoccupied for a short period of time – you'll still be covered. But please let us know if your house will be unoccupied for more than 60 consecutive days. An additional excess may apply if your house in unoccupied for an extended period.

Looking to insure your holiday home? Just call us on 0800 379 372 and we'll tell you how we can help.

Our Premium, Plus, and Standard house insurance policies are designed for owner-occupiers. If you're looking to rent out your property, you will need our Landlord insurance policy.

Our Landlord insurance is designed to cover you for all sorts of renting-related issues. This includes deliberate damage, loss of rent and methamphetamine contamination.

Landlord insurance

Yes! If you have two or more car, house and contents policies with us you could save up to 20% off your premiums (Ts&Cs apply). Also, if a single event means you need to claim on more than one policy, you'll only need to pay one excess. The highest excess applies. Start your house and contents quote online now

Yes. If your house is damaged in an earthquake or natural disaster your Tower House insurance covers you up to your sum insured for the cost to repair or rebuild your house.

For more detailed information, check the Standard, Plus and Premium House policies or call us on 0800 379 372.

Damage to your home made through daily life, ageing and normal wear and tear is not covered. However, we do cover you for gradual damage caused by water leaking from a concealed water pipe, tank or hose. Limits apply.

We are pet lovers too, and know that from time to time they are not always as well behaved as you may like. Unfortunately, our policies don’t cover damage to your house or furnishings caused by your pet.

** Multi-policy discount Ts&Cs apply.

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