Make a Home claim

When your home gets damaged, it’s not just your property that matters – your emotional wellbeing and safety is important too. So stay calm and know you’re in good hands.

While it might be tempting to quickly jump in and tidy things up, don’t forget to take a few pictures of any damage to your home (but only if it’s safe to do so!)

Let’s get your claim started.

It’s helpful to have the following details at hand, but not essential to start the claim:

Your Policy number – this is on your policy documents
Any photos of the incident or damage

Insurance provided by Vero

After you’ve submitted your claim:

Keep your claim number handy. Include it in the subject line of any emails you send us, so we can match it to your claim and avoid delays.

An assessor may visit to check the damage. This helps us understand your claim better. We’ll contact you to arrange a time if needed.

We’ll inform you if your claim is accepted. We aim to get things sorted for you as quickly as possible, but timeframes will vary depending on the complexity of the claim.

Home FAQs:

What about my contents?

Yes, you’ll need to complete both the Home and the Contents claim form.

We always recommend letting your broker know if you make a claim. Your broker details will be on your policy documents or we can provide them to you.

What can I start doing right now?

If your home is determined to be unsafe to live in due to damage covered by your policy, there may be a temporary accommodation benefit, which will contribute to the cost of accommodation for you to live elsewhere while your repairs are being completed.

Talk to our team who will be able to advise you on what to do next.

Our team is here to help you day and night. If you have an urgent situation, give us a call on 0800 800 134.

Please make sure you are safe and wait for any flood waters to subside. When it is safe to do so, if you are able, you can undertake some basic clean-up activities and we will look to support you with suitably qualified contractors as soon as we can.

No, it’s important to keep damaged property so we can inspect it.

If you need to dispose of items urgently for health and safety reasons, take plenty of photos and/or get an inspection report from an independent, qualified professional like a plumber or builder.

If you’ve already disposed of the items, please give us the full details of what you have done to dispose of the damaged property and any costs you have incurred.

How do I know what’s covered and what’s not?

Your policy wording details your insurance cover including any exclusions you need to be aware of. Your policy schedule will also help you understand what excess may apply.

If you have a broker, they will be able to help you understand what is covered by your policy.

You can always lodge your claim and our team will let you know what is and isn’t covered by your policy.

When you insure your home, a portion of your cover is provided to the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake (NHC), which is a Government entity. In the event of a natural hazard, NHC will pay your claim up to their maximum amount, currently $300,000, and we will cover the cost of any remaining damage to your home up to your sum insured amount. We will manage these claims on behalf of the NHC to streamline the claims process, giving you a single point of contact for your claim.

For more information on the NHC visit Natural Hazards Insurance Act :: Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake.

Generally, the water damage caused by a burst pipe would be covered by your policy.

It would depend on what caused the pipe to fail, as to whether the burst pipe is also covered.

Please contact our claims team who will help determine what is covered.

Gradual damage is damage that has been occurring over a period of time, commonly caused by water.

As such, many insurance policies exclude cover for gradual damage.

Some Vero policies provide limited cover for this type of damage, which is outlined in your policy wording.

When you claim, we’ll ask you questions about what or who caused the loss. You’ll also have the opportunity to provide us with any extra information that you think will help.

For example: if your claim is related to water leaking from a pipe and you recently had some work done by a plumber, or your claim is for a damaged letter box which was knocked over by your neighbour, let us know.

Our Home, Contents and Motor policies provide a personal liability benefit, which may cover you if you are legally liable for causing accidental bodily injury to others or accidental damage to their property in New Zealand.

If you are involved in an accident, it is important that you do not admit fault, speak to us first.

See your policy wording for more details or contact our Claims team to find out what you’re covered for.

How are repairs managed?

Sometimes we may need a loss adjuster to come and look at the damage, so we can get a better understanding of your claim and how to best resolve it.

A Loss Adjuster is someone who has experience in building and construction and will be able to assess the property damage. They will provide a report which identifies what needs fixing and can arrange for quotes to be completed by an appropriate ‘tradie’.

We will determine if a Loss Adjuster is required and arrange for one to contact you.

Yes you can, and if they are one of our Vero-approved suppliers we provide a guarantee of the workmanship.

If your builder is not a Vero-approved builder, we will pay you the assessed cost of repairs, allowing you to arrange repairs directly with the builder of your choice.

Every claim is different. The degree of loss or damage will impact how quickly we can get things sorted. Once your claim has been lodged we’ll be in touch to let you know what is required and approximate timeframes.

Do I need to pay an excess?

Your excess is the amount you will contribute to the claim cost. You can find your excess information on your policy wording and schedule. Excess amounts may vary depending on the claim.

You may be required to pay this to Vero by credit card or bank transfer or directly to a repairer or supplier. Alternatively we may deduct the excess from any monies owed to you.

We will advise you about the excess amount and how to pay it during your claim. If you have any queries or concerns our consultants will help you.

In most cases we will only charge one excess if you’re claiming on both your home and contents policy provided the damage was caused by the same event. It will be the highest of the two excesses.

Depending on the claim, we may be able to deduct the excess from any monies owed to you. Contact us to talk through the options.

You can cancel your claim at any time. You may have to pay an excess if repairs have started. Please contact our Claims team as soon as possible.

Our claims promise

We know that claim time can be particularly stressful for customers. Our claims teams aim to settle straightforward claims immediately.

If your claim is a bit more complicated, we’ll work with you and your broker or adviser to ensure your claim gets processed as quickly and efficiently as possible. Either way, we promise to treat all our customers fairly.

We’d love to hear your feedback, whether it’s good or bad. Give us feedback or make a claims complaint.

We are a member of the Insurance Council of NZ and adhere to the Fair Insurance Code, which provides you with assurance that we have high standards of service to our customers.