Cover for your home and land
We provide natural hazards cover for your home, and some related buildings and structures such as sheds and garages.
Although our scheme is mostly intended to help repair damaged homes, it also provides some cover for the land used for supporting and accessing a home.
Read more detail about your cover on our About natural hazards cover page.
You're covered for:
- your home or holiday home
- related buildings or structures that are used as part of your day-to-day living, such as sheds, garages, or pergolas
- some essential services associated with your home, such as water supply, gas or electricity
If your home is damaged by a natural hazard we can generally provide up to the first $300,000 plus GST towards repairing or replacing your home and related buildings.
New Zealand is one of the only countries in the world with access to residential land insurance, provided by NHC Toka Tū Ake. This land cover is limited, and is generally a contribution to repairs. It may not be enough to fully repair the damage to your land. It’s important to understand these limits and how you can manage the risks to your property.
You're covered for the land:
- under and up to 8m around your home, related buildings and structures; and
- under your main access way up to 60m from your home.
You are also covered for some retaining walls, bridges and culverts, to a limit.
You are covered for the cost of repairing damage, up to the land cover cap, which is generally based on the value of your insured, damaged land.
What if the cost of repairing damage is more than the land cover cap?
Five things you should know
- You automatically have NHCover if you have a home insurance policy that includes fire cover
- You are covered for damage from a range of natural hazards, not just earthquakes
- We cover the first $300k of damage to your home, then your private insurance policy kicks in
- We provide limited cover for the land under and around your home
- If you need to make a claim, call your private insurer.
Five things you can do
- Regularly check your private insurance policy provides enough cover to rebuild your home
- Understand which areas of your land might not be covered by natural hazards cover
- Learn about the risks to your property, and how the land around you might be affected
- Seek expert advice about how to reduce your risks from builders, engineers, or our website
- Plan for how you'd manage after an event; insurance claims and rebuilding takes time.
EQC is now the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake
On 1 July 2024 our new governing legislation, the Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023, came into effect, replacing the Earthquake Commission Act 1993.
Know your cover
This information provides a general summary of the insurance we provide under under our governing legislation, being the EQC Act for claims for damage that occurred before 1 July 2024, and the NHI Act for claims for damage that occurred on or after 1 July 2024. The Acts will always prevail over the content of this webpage.
- We use the term “home” in this information while the Act uses the term “dwelling”.
- Generally, everyone with valid private insurance for their home or holiday home that includes fire insurance pays the Natural Hazards Insurance levy and has access to our insurance cover.
- Some insurers may offer additional top- up cover for land structures such as retaining walls, bridges and culverts. Talk to your insurer to find out what extra cover is available.
- Information in this webpage is valid for homeowners who pay the Natural Hazards Insurance levy through a private insurer that is a member of the insurance partnership with us. For Direct NHCover customers or those whose private insurer does not partner with us, details on how you access NHCover or make a claim may be different.