How am I protected?
House Insurance provides cover for sudden and unforeseen accidental physical loss or damage to the house unless excluded by the policy, and also provides cover for:
Loss of income from rent
If your house is being let, lent, leased, rented or tenanted at the time of the loss, and suffers loss or damage for which a claim is accepted, you are covered against loss of rental income for up to six months (maximum $15,000) if your house becomes uninhabitable as a result of the event giving rise to the claim under the house policy.
House owners’ liability
You are covered up to $2,000,000 for your legal liability as owner of your house, for claims made on you as a result of accidents at the house that cause damage to other people’s property which happen during the period of insurance.
Gradual damage
You are covered for up to $5,000 to repair resulting damage (but not the cost of locating and repairing the leak) for gradual damage to your house caused by a permanent and hidden internal water supply or waste disposal pipe or an internal water supply tank provided the leak first occurred during the policy period.
Landscaping
If your house suffers loss or damage as a result of fire or impact by a vehicle for which a claim is accepted and at the same time your lawn, flowers, trees, hedges or shrubs are also damaged, this additional benefit pays up to $2,500 towards their replacement.
Temporary accommodation expenses
If your house becomes uninhabitable as a result of loss or damage for which a claim is accepted under your policy, the additional reasonable cost of temporary accommodation will be paid, up to a maximum of $25,000 in total. This also includes the reasonable boarding out fees of your domestic pets.
Earthquakes and natural disasters
If your house is insured for loss caused by natural disaster, the Earthquake Commission provides cover of up to $100,000 plus GST against certain natural disasters such as earthquake and landslip.
A $5,000 excess will apply for driveways, fences, pools and paths that are damaged by natural disasters. This excess will apply instead of your usual voluntary excess. This $5,000 excess only applies to natural disasters - for all other events your normal policy excess will apply. If you do not have damage to a driveway, fence, pool, or path this excess will not apply.
Automatic extension of cover
With TSB Insurance, your policy is automatically extended to include cover for those parts of your house not covered by EQC (such as paths, tennis courts, swimming pools and spa pools).
