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Some Kiwis considering ditching insurance due to rising costs
Some people are considering taking the gamble to ditch insurance as prices continue to rise.
Stats NZ figures show at March last year house insurance was up almost 25 percent, contents insurance up about 28 percent and car insurance up almost 23 percent compared to the previous year.
A leading economist told Checkpoint the country is still in a cost of living crisis and it could take months to get out of that hole, with inflation going up.
According to Stats NZ in the past year food prices have gone up 4.4 percent, the biggest jump since December 2023.
Customers weighing up worth of insurance to battle rising costs
New figures from Centrix show almost half a million people are behind on debt repayments, with nearly 22,000 in mortgage arrears.
Company liquidations have also risen 27 percent year-on-year.
Checkpoint spoke to three women all considering altering their insurance to keep costs down.
Jan said it is impossible to ignore the price of insurance as it continues to rise.
“It goes up every year, no matter what. It’s nothing to do with you claiming and losing, your no claims bonuses, and you don’t have to research much to find that it’s rising like five or six times faster than our incomes are.”
The price of her housing and content bundle has increased twice over the past two years.
“[It] went up $50 a month two years ago, and then it went up $50 a month last year again.”
For Jan, the increase doesn’t go unnoticed.
“It’s pretty tough. It’s like if I add up my insurance and my health insurance and my rates. It’s about 25 percent, 30 percent of my income just for those three things.”
“My husband passed away in December, so he was a high-income earner. So now it’s a big change for me to be on an average income on my own. Rates and insurance are the same and the same outgoings, regardless of circumstances, aren’t they?”
She is now also considering the value of her health insurance.
“It will go up as you age, so you have to relook at it each year.”
Joan has also noticed the cost of her insurance skyrocketing, something she called “insane”.
“The price has gone up substantially. We’ve got several insurance with the same company and we pay monthly and I used to pay about $440 a month. So it’s up to about $660 a month now. So that’s insurance on the properties, insurance on vehicles. Just everything in the packet.”
She is now looking at other ways the cost of her insurance could be brought down.
“I am going to get all the policies out. I’m gonna have a look at them all. See if we put the excess up so that might bring the policy down, possibly get rid of one or two, I don’t know.”
Like Jan and Joan, a tough economy is also leading Babette to consider the worth of her insurance plans.
“Insurance costs have skyrocketed. Quite a few people have are not taking content insurance because they can’t afford it. I’m mulling over that at the moment for the number of times that I that I have not claimed on insurance, not that I’ve needed to. I think the costs are very high.”
She has already been taking measures to lower the cost, but thinks she may have to do more.
“To get my insurance rates down, I have raised the excess on my house and contents and car. So that you know I could get the premium down, but I’m not too sure how I’m going to be faced when my next insurance policy falls due.”
rnz
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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