If you’ve been renewing two or more insurance policies with the same provider thinking the bundle is saving you money, the numbers say otherwise. Kiwis who shop their car, house, and contents policies separately save an average of $1,560 per year compared to those who stick with one insurer for everything. That’s not a small bonus — that’s a week’s rent or a decent chunk of your annual petrol budget.
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This article is general information only and does not constitute professional advice. For your specific situation, consult a qualified professional.
Between 2024 and early 2026, every major New Zealand insurer scrapped its multi-policy discount. State and AMI started phasing theirs out in 2024. AA Insurance followed on 28 January 2025. Vero, AMP, and ANZ removed theirs from 1 May 2025. Tower and Trade Me Insurance — the last holdouts — ended theirs in January 2026. What was once a reliable 10–20% discount for bundling two or more policies is now effectively dead across the market. The reason isn’t a secret: insurers have moved to risk-based pricing, where your premium reflects the specific risk of each individual asset, not how many policies you hold with them. Here’s what you actually need to know.
The central concept here is risk-based pricing. Instead of offering a blanket discount for holding multiple policies, insurers now price each policy on its own merit — your car’s theft stats, your suburb’s flood risk, your driving history. Algorithms do the math, and there’s no room for a loyalty bonus when every asset is evaluated in isolation.
What I tend to notice is that people assume bundling still works the way it did five years ago. It doesn’t. The numbers have flipped, and the old logic now costs you real money. If you haven’t checked what your individual policies would cost on their own, that’s the first move worth making.
To understand what you’re actually losing by sticking with one insurer, it helps to see the timeline. Every major player pulled the multi-policy discount within roughly 18 months of each other.
→ Scroll right to see all columns
| Insurer | Discount removed | Parent company |
|---|---|---|
| State Insurance | Phased out from 2024 | IAG |
| AMI | Phased out from 2024 | IAG |
| AA Insurance | 28 January 2025 | Vero / Suncorp |
| Vero | 1 May 2025 | Suncorp |
| AMP | 1 May 2025 | Underwritten by Vero |
| ANZ | 1 May 2025 | Underwritten by Vero |
| Tower Insurance | January 2026 (two-stage) | Tower |
| Trade Me Insurance | January 2026 | Trade Me |
Quashed’s Q1 2026 market scans found an average price gap of $1,143 for house insurance and $431 for contents insurance between the cheapest and most expensive providers. That means even if you’re getting a so-called loyalty discount, you’re likely still paying more than you would by switching your house policy to a different insurer and your car policy to another. The gap is so wide that the old multi-policy discount — even at its peak of 20% — couldn’t close it. If your combined premium is $4,000, a 20% discount saves you $800. But shopping separately saves you $1,560. The math is that clear.
What about the one holdout? Trade Me Insurance removed its multi-policy discount in January 2026, but it still offers a separate Trade Me Member discount of up to 15% off premiums (excluding levies and taxes). That’s a membership perk, not a bundling reward. It applies to individual policies, so you can still get it while shopping each policy separately.
Four ways Kiwis are still losing money on insurance bundles
The loyalty trap on auto-renewal
The biggest mistake is auto-renewing without checking. Consumer NZ warns that staying loyal to an insurer can cost you more due to what they call the ‘loyalty tax’. Insurers know that many people won’t switch, so they quietly increase base premiums on existing customers while offering lower rates to new ones. The research backs this up: 81% of drivers who compared found cheaper car insurance elsewhere, with an average saving of $377. If you’ve been with the same insurer for more than two years, you’re almost certainly paying more than a new customer would for the same cover.
Assuming the discount is still there
You might still see a line item on your renewal notice labelled “Multi-Policy Discount.” That doesn’t mean you’re getting a deal. As the research shows, base premiums on bundled policies are often inflated so that the “discount” is just a deduction from a price that was already too high. One family audited their renewal and found their 2019 Mazda and 2015 Toyota were both overpriced by roughly 15% each, even after the supposed bundle discount. The only way to know is to get standalone quotes for each vehicle and compare.
Ignoring silent depreciation on agreed value
Here’s a trap that catches people mid-renewal. Your insurer recalculates the agreed value of your car at every anniversary. One real example from the research: a family SUV renewal showed a premium increase of 15%, but the payout value had been slashed by $8,000 without any clear notice. If you’re bundling and not checking the individual policy terms, you can end up with significantly less cover than you think. This is especially painful if you have a car valuation guide that suggests your vehicle is worth more than what the insurer is now offering to pay out.
Not checking bank bundle terms separately
Banks like ASB offer multi-product discounts that bundle insurance with a mortgage or credit card. These can look attractive, but you need to verify whether the underlying underwriting cost is actually competitive against a standalone insurer. The research shows that bank-underwritten policies (like ANZ’s, which is backed by Vero) removed their multi-policy discounts on the same timeline as the rest of the market. The banking relationship discount might still be there, but the insurance component itself may not be any cheaper than going direct to a separate provider.
How to structure your insurance shopping for maximum savings
Get individual quotes for each policy
The first step is to stop treating your insurance as a single purchase. Request standalone quotes for your car, house, and contents from at least three different providers each. Don’t tick the “I already have a policy with us” box when getting a quote — you want the new-customer price. The research found that using two specialised providers (for example, a dedicated car insurer combined with a separate home insurer) can beat a bundled price from a single provider every time.
Compare across the market, not just the big names
The market is more diverse than most people realise. IAG owns AMI and State (plus NZI). Vero underwrites AA Insurance policies. Then there are digital-first players like Cove that offer monthly subscriptions with no lock-in contracts, and fully online operators like Tower that use transparent pricing factors. The cheapest option for your specific risk profile might be one you’ve never heard of. The research shows an average savings of $908 on house insurance alone for the 67% of homeowners who found cheaper cover by switching.
Check your agreed value every renewal
When you get your renewal notice, don’t just look at the premium. Check the agreed value column. Insurers recalculate it every year, and the drop can be steep without any clear flag on the document. If your car’s market value has held up better than the insurer’s default calculation, you may want to negotiate the agreed value up. That’s worth doing before you accept the renewal, not after.
What’s coming next: net-rated pricing becomes the norm
By mid-2026, the shift to net-rated pricing is complete across all major NZ insurers. That means the price you see is the price of your specific risk — no discounts, no loading for loyalty, no bundling bonus. The silver lining is that this makes comparison far more transparent. You’re no longer guessing whether a discount is real or inflated. The price is the price. And because digital challengers are entering the market with aggressive upfront pricing, the gap between the most and least expensive provider for the same risk is likely to widen, not shrink.
If you’re weighing whether to bundle or split, the practical guide to checking if you’re overpaying on car insurance walks through the exact quotes to request and what to look for in the fine print.
Frequently asked questions about multi-car and multi-policy insurance in NZ
Does any NZ insurer still offer a multi-policy discount in 2026? ▾
What if I have a Trade Me membership — does that still save me money? ▾
If I already have a bundled policy, should I cancel it mid-term? ▾
Will shopping separately affect how claims are handled? ▾
Does having a mortgage with a bank affect insurance pricing? ▾
How often should I compare insurance prices to avoid overpaying? ▾
Bundling is a relic — the savings are now in splitting up
The end of multi-policy discounts isn’t a temporary market blip. It’s a structural shift in how insurers price risk. Algorithms, not loyalty, now determine what you pay. The practical consequence is clear: the old strategy of keeping everything under one roof costs you money, not saves it. The research puts a precise figure on that — $1,560 a year for the average household. That’s real cash that doesn’t require any sacrifice in coverage or service. It just requires a willingness to treat your car, house, and contents as three separate buying decisions rather than one lazy one.
Remember: this article is general information only. For advice on your specific situation, speak to a qualified professional.
If this was useful, you might also want to read How to Save on Monthly Premium Car Insurance Costs in New Zealand.
Sources and Further Reading
The Ultimate Car Insurance Checklist Every Kiwi Driver Needs — A practical walkthrough of the nine things to check on every car insurance policy before you sign.
Quashed (2026). Do multi-policy insurance bundles still save you money in NZ?. 🔗
Quashed (2026). End of multi-policy discounts in New Zealand (2026). 🔗
InsurSpy (2026). The End of Multi-Car Discounts: Why NZ Insurers Are Scrapping Perks in 2026. 🔗
Better Money NZ (2026). Car Insurance NZ Guide. 🔗
