INSURANCE · NEW ZEALAND · 3 MIN READ
How to calculate your contents sum insured (without a dodgy guess)
Three ways to calculate your contents sum insured in NZ — insurer estimate, room-by-room count, or full inventory — plus what replacement value actually means.
Your sum insured is the overall limit on covered contents. It's your number to set, and it pays to get it right: too low and you're underinsured, too high and you're paying premium on cover you'd never claim. Here are the three ways to calculate it, honest about the trade-offs.
Method 1: the insurer's quick estimate
Most insurers offer a calculator — answer questions about your rooms, occupants and lifestyle, get a figure.
- Good: takes five minutes.
- Not so good: it's based on averages. If you own more (or less) than the average household, the figure drifts from your reality.
Fine as a rough benchmark. Risky as your only source.
Method 2: the room-by-room estimate
Walk through your home and put a rough dollar figure on each room's contents — furniture, electronics, clothing, kitchenware. Add the rooms up.
- Good: grounded in your actual home; takes 30–60 minutes.
- Not so good: still a guess. Guesses made calmly in your hallway are better than guesses made on an insurer's web form, but they're guesses.
Method 3: the full inventory
List your belongings with today's replacement values, room by room. That gives you an estimate and a list you can share with an assessor if you need to claim.
- Good: accurate, reusable, and you only do the big effort once.
- Not so good: takes a weekend the first time.
Use the room-by-room checklist to make it fast, or start with the 30-minute version and finish it later.
A worked example (fictional, to show the maths)
Say your inventory comes out roughly like this:
| Area | Replacement value |
|---|---|
| Living areas | $14,000 |
| Kitchen and dining | $9,000 |
| Bedrooms | $21,000 |
| Garage and shed | $7,000 |
| Everything else | $6,000 |
| Total | $57,000 |
That total is your candidate sum insured — if your policy is replacement cover. This example is illustrative only; your number will be yours.
What "replacement value" means
Take a five-year-old TV that cost $1,800. The equivalent new today might be $900. On a replacement policy, your sum insured should reflect the $900 — today's cost, not the original price. On an indemnity policy, the payout is today's second-hand value — lower again, because the TV has depreciated. Replacement value means today’s new-equivalent price. Indemnity value means today’s second-hand value. Your policy can use both methods, and item limits and excesses can affect what you receive.
Read the Insurance Council’s guide to replacement and indemnity cover
The omissions list
Whatever method you use, check you've counted: rugs, curtains and blinds (check which policy covers fixed carpets and fittings), pantry and freezer contents, the garage and garden, electronics and their accessories, jewellery and watches (often treated separately by policies), clothing, and sports or hobby gear.
Sanity-check, set, revisit
If your full inventory lands miles away from the insurer's quick estimate, find out why before deciding which to trust. Then set the figure, and revisit it once a year at renewal and after any big purchase or renovation.
Keep it in one place
Mynestvive keeps your inventory and values current so your sum insured stays honest as things change. See current pricing.