How do you value a car for insurance in NZ?

Car insurance is not a legal requirement in New Zealand (Tower guide), so the cover type and value are choices you make at quote time.

An estimate helps in three ways. It shows whether the agreed value an insurer offers is sensible. It tells you what a total loss would realistically pay, so you can see whether you could cover any shortfall from savings. And it flags whether a loan balance is likely to be higher than the car's worth.

	Market value	Agreed value
Who sets the figure	A valuer approved by the insurer, at the time of the loss	You and the insurer, when cover starts, changes or renews
When it is fixed	After the loss	Before the loss, shown on your certificate of insurance
Premium	Lower, according to Tower	Higher, according to Tower
Tower says it suits	Older, unmodified cars	New cars, modified cars and cars with a loan

Sources: Tower wording and Tower on market and agreed value.

Under market value cover, Tower's wording has a valuer it approves assess the value at the time of the loss, so your own estimate is a sense-check rather than the figure that decides the claim. Under agreed value cover your estimate matters more, because the number you agree is the number written on the certificate.

1. Use the details the wording uses. Make, model, year, kilometres travelled and condition are the factors in Tower's market value definition (Tower wording). Have the exact variant and odometer reading ready.
2. Look at retail asking prices. Market value is a retail figure, so compare cars of the same make, model, year and kilometres advertised by dealers. Asking prices are what sellers want, not what a car sells for, so treat them as an upper guide.
3. Try a free online valuation tool. Many start from a registration number or VIN and give only a rough guide. Run two or three and note the spread between them.
4. Be honest about condition. Dents, worn tyres and service gaps lower retail value. An estimate based on a clean car overstates what a valuer will find.
5. Remember what is excluded. Tower says market value is not the price of a similar new car, what you paid, any collector value or a dealer trade-in (Tower on market and agreed value). A trade-in offer is therefore the wrong benchmark.

That page does not say who pays, whether Tower will accept a valuation you commission, or whether these are the valuers who assess a claim, so ask your insurer before you pay for one.

If a valuer's report is what the insurer will rely on, ask what it covers: the car as it was, with its kilometres, condition and fitted extras. A report that ignores a recent service history or new tyres can understate the figure.

Those items are listed on your certificate. Under that benefit the claim pays the least of the repair cost, the item's current value or the sum insured you chose for them (Tower wording).

In practice, a modified car's value is worked out in two parts: the car as the maker built it, and the listed extras. QuoteHub's modified car insurance guide covers what counts as a modification and what an unlisted one does to a claim.

If the car is financed, Tower pays the finance company when it has been told about the lender's interest (same wording). If you owe more than the settled value, you carry the difference yourself, so compare your loan balance with your estimate before you choose a cover type.

For repairs, the most Tower pays is the least of the repair cost, the market value at the time of the loss and the agreed value on the certificate. A lower valuation can therefore limit a repair payment as well as a write-off. For the claim steps, see QuoteHub's car insurance claims guide.