Comparison methodology

What we compare, which insurers are on the panel, what we leave out, where the data comes from, and how we're paid.

What "best" means on this site

QuoteHub NZ does not publish a ranked list of the "best" insurer in New Zealand, because no such single answer exists. A policy that is the right choice for a 34-year-old with a mortgage and two children can be a poor choice for a self-employed 58-year-old with a health history, and the difference is usually underwriting and policy wording rather than price. Pages titled "best life insurance NZ" or "best health insurance NZ" therefore set out a decision framework and say plainly that there is no single best insurer.

Where QuoteHub NZ does compare insurers directly, the comparison is of published, checkable facts — benefit definitions, premium structure, financial-strength ratings, solvency margins and claims statistics — each attributed to its source and labelled with the period it covers. Any statement that one option suits a particular person better than another is made by an authorised adviser after a needs analysis, not by a web page.

The insurer panel

Comparisons on QuoteHub NZ are drawn from the insurers that Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver holds agency agreements with in New Zealand: AIA, Partners Life, Fidelity Life, Chubb Life, nib, Asteron Life and Southern Cross. That is a panel, not the whole New Zealand market, and the limitation matters: an insurer outside the panel is not assessed, and its absence from a comparison is not a judgement about its products.

• AIA
• Partners Life
• Fidelity Life
• Chubb Life
• nib
• Asteron Life
• Southern Cross

Full products-and-providers disclosure

What a comparison actually looks at

A QuoteHub NZ comparison weighs five things, and price is only one of them: the policy wording and benefit definitions, the insurer's underwriting approach for that individual, how the premium behaves over time, the insurer's financial strength and claims record, and how well the cover fits the needs analysis. Headline premium alone is treated as the weakest of the five, because it hides the definitions that decide whether a claim is paid.

Policy wording and benefit definitions

What actually triggers a claim — the trauma definitions, the income protection definition of disability, stand-down and benefit periods, and the exclusions. This is where two policies at a similar price diverge most.

Underwriting approach

How an insurer treats the applicant’s health history, occupation, pastimes and family history, and how likely a loading or exclusion is for that particular person.

Premium structure over time

Whether the premium is stepped or level, and what the premium path looks like over the years the cover is actually needed — not only the first-year price.

Financial strength and claims record

The insurer’s current financial-strength rating from AM Best or S&P, its published solvency margin, and its published claims statistics, each cited with the period it relates to.

Suitability against the client’s needs analysis

Whether the cover amount, structure and ownership match the dependants, debts, income and budget recorded in the needs analysis. A cheaper policy that leaves a gap is not the better option.

What is excluded, and the limits of any comparison

A comparison on QuoteHub NZ covers the six personal and business insurance types Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver is licensed to advise on — life, income protection, trauma, health, mortgage protection and business protection — for New Zealand residents buying from New Zealand insurers. Everything below sits outside that, and is stated here so a reader is not left to assume otherwise.

Insurers outside the panel above are not assessed, and their absence is not a judgement about their products.

General insurance — house, contents, vehicle, travel and pet cover — is outside the advice scope and is not compared on this site.

Group and employer-arranged schemes are not compared, because their terms are set by the scheme rather than by the individual.

No premium shown anywhere on this site is a quote. Any figure is an indication used to explain a concept, and the price an individual is offered is set by the insurer after underwriting.

Comparisons are for New Zealand residents buying cover from New Zealand insurers under New Zealand law.

Where the data comes from

Product facts on QuoteHub NZ come from each insurer's current published policy wording and product material. Financial-strength ratings are attributed to the rating agency that issued them, AM Best or S&P, and solvency margins and claims statistics are taken from the insurer's own published disclosures with the financial year or calendar year they relate to shown alongside the figure.

Regulatory and scheme detail comes from the responsible New Zealand body — the Financial Markets Authority, ACC, Inland Revenue, or the legislation itself. Where a page states a number, that number is dated, because an insurer's claims-acceptance rate or solvency margin is a snapshot of one reporting period rather than a permanent fact.

How the comparison is paid for

QuoteHub NZ charges no fee to the reader and is remunerated by commission paid by the insurer when a policy is placed and while it stays in force. Commission is a conflict of interest, and it is disclosed rather than implied. Recommendations are made on the basis of the needs analysis, product features and suitability, not on which insurer pays more, and QuoteHub NZ advises across multiple insurers precisely so that no single provider drives the outcome.

No insurer pays to appear in a QuoteHub NZ comparison, and no insurer pays for a position within one. Comparisons are general information, not personalised financial advice. QuoteHub operates under Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver (FSP 712931).

Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance.