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About the New Zealand financial system

Insurance sector

An overview of New Zealand's insurance sector. The sector is made up of both private and government-owned insurers.

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The private insurance sector

The private insurance sector is small by international standards. There are 84 licensed insurers currently operating in New Zealand. See the current Register of licensed insurers in New Zealand for the full list of entities.

Large private insurer businesses in New Zealand are made up of the following types:

  • General insurance
  • Life insurance
  • Health insurance

New Zealand’s life insurance share of total insurance business is low compared to what is seen overseas. This is partly due to our well-developed welfare system, and the use of life insurance as a tax-efficient way to save money elsewhere in the world.

The public insurance sector

New Zealand also has several large government-owned general insurers that are not required to have a licence to operate here.

These are:

  • the Accident Compensation Corporation (compulsory accident insurer),
  • the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake (co-insurer of residential dwellings for certain natural disasters),
  • the Southern Response Earthquake Services (a government-owned insurer resulting from the bailout of private insurer AMI following the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010-11).