Fire + General Insurance
Every business owns something it can't afford to lose — whether that's a building, a fleet, a client contract, or its own reputation. Fire and general insurance is the umbrella term for commercial property and liability cover, and getting the structure right is the difference between surviving a major loss and being wiped out by one.
Arranged through our referral network. Commercial fire and general cover is placed through specialist general insurance brokers we work closely with — professionals who understand the commercial market and can tailor cover to your specific industry and risk profile. Talk to us first and we'll connect you with the right people.
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Material Damage and Business Interruption are the foundation of any commercial insurance programme — and they work best when structured together. Material Damage covers the physical assets of the business: the building, fit-out, plant, stock, and equipment. Business Interruption covers the revenue that stops flowing when those assets are damaged and the business can't operate.
Most businesses instinctively focus on insuring what they own. But the financial impact of a major loss event is rarely just the cost of repairs — it's the weeks or months of lost revenue while the business rebuilds. A well-structured commercial property programme addresses both exposures, with sums insured set at current reinstatement values and a Business Interruption indemnity period long enough to cover realistic recovery time.
Covers physical loss or damage to your business property — buildings, fit-out, plant, machinery, stock, and equipment — caused by fire, storm, flood, earthquake, accidental damage, or malicious acts. The policy should be structured to cover reinstatement (rebuild or replacement at current cost) rather than indemnity value, to avoid shortfalls after a major claim.
Key things to check: full replacement value vs indemnity basis, whether tenant improvements are covered under a lease, and whether seasonal stock fluctuations are accounted for in your declared sum insured.
When physical damage forces you to close, material damage covers the repair cost — not the revenue lost while the business is offline. Business Interruption insurance covers ongoing fixed costs and lost gross profit during the period it takes to get back to normal trading. It's frequently the most financially critical part of a commercial insurance programme, and consistently the most underestimated.
Key things to check: the indemnity period (how long BI cover runs — typically 12–24 months), whether the gross profit figure reflects realistic recovery time, and whether supply chain disruption triggers a contingency extension.
Standard material damage policies exclude mechanical or electrical breakdown — they only cover sudden, accidental external damage. Machinery breakdown cover fills this gap, covering repair or replacement when equipment fails internally. Particularly important for businesses that depend on specific plant or production equipment to generate revenue.
Key things to check: whether the policy includes a business interruption extension for machinery breakdown events, and whether hire of temporary replacement equipment is covered during repairs.
Goods and equipment can be damaged or stolen while being transported between sites, to clients, or at trade shows and exhibitions. A standard material damage policy typically only covers assets at the nominated premises. This extension ensures your assets are covered wherever they go.
Key things to check: whether cover applies to assets in employee vehicles, at off-site events, and during domestic and international freight movements.
The indemnity period is the most commonly underestimated decision in commercial insurance
Most businesses choose a 12-month BI period by default. But if your building is destroyed and needs to be fully rebuilt, 12 months will often run out before you're back trading — leaving you covering fixed costs out of your own pocket. For larger commercial properties or businesses in complex supply chains, a 24-month indemnity period is worth the modest additional premium.
Liability cover
Liability insurance protects your business against the financial consequences of causing harm to others — whether that's a customer injured on your premises, a client who suffers a financial loss because of your work, or a regulator that investigates your business practices. Unlike property cover, liability claims can arise with no warning and result in costs that far exceed what most businesses hold in reserve.
New Zealand's liability environment has some covers that are unique to our legislation. Statutory liability — which responds to unintentional breaches of NZ law including the Health and Safety at Work Act — is not found in most other markets and is often overlooked by businesses that focus only on public liability. Getting the right combination of covers, structured with adequate limits, is essential for any business with staff, clients, or contractors.
Covers your legal liability for bodily injury or property damage to third parties arising from your business operations. If a customer slips on your premises, your work damages a client's property, or your product causes harm — public liability responds. Almost every operating business needs this cover in place as a minimum.
Key things to check: the limit of indemnity (typically $1M–$10M depending on your industry), whether products liability is included, and whether contractual liability is covered for indemnity clauses in your client agreements.
A cover unique to New Zealand — and one that many businesses don't know they need until it's too late. Statutory liability covers defence costs and fines for unintentional breaches of New Zealand legislation, including the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Resource Management Act, the Fair Trading Act, and the Consumer Guarantees Act. Legal costs alone for a regulatory investigation can run to six figures, even where no conviction results.
Key things to check: whether the policy covers both defence costs and fines/penalties, and whether cover extends to your directors, officers, and employees as well as the company itself.
What it does not cover: IRD proceedings, Police prosecutions, breaches that are reckless or deliberate, and work carried out before the policy commenced. The policy only responds to unintentional acts occurring after the cover is in place.
While ACC covers work-related injuries, it doesn't cover all claims an employee might bring against their employer — particularly where negligence is alleged or ACC doesn't fully compensate. Employers liability covers legal costs and damages if an employee or former employee takes action against the business beyond what ACC provides.
Key things to check: whether the policy covers employment disputes and personal grievance claims, and the interaction with your ACC levy structure and obligations.
Directors and officers can be personally liable for decisions made on behalf of the company — including decisions relating to employment, financial management, health and safety, and regulatory compliance. D&O cover protects the personal assets of your leadership team and covers defence costs when the company cannot indemnify them directly.
Key things to check: whether the policy includes entity cover (company as well as individuals), employment practices liability, and Side A cover for when the company is insolvent and cannot indemnify its directors.
HASWA exposure is real for every business
Since the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, WorkSafe NZ has significantly increased its investigation and prosecution activity. Fines for PCBU liability can reach $500,000 — defence costs alone can easily exceed $100,000 even where no conviction results. Statutory liability is not optional for a business with staff or contractors.
Contractual liability limits in client agreements
Many commercial contracts — especially in construction, consulting, and professional services — require you to hold minimum public liability limits as a condition of the work. Check what your contracts actually require before setting your indemnity limit. Being underinsured on a contracted requirement can void the contract itself.
Fleet & vehicle cover
Commercial motor cover is fundamentally different from personal vehicle insurance — and that distinction matters the moment you make a claim. Personal policies are designed for private use, and most contain a business use exclusion that can void cover entirely when the vehicle is being used for work purposes, whether it's a company car, a ute, or an employee driving to a client site.
Commercial motor policies are built for trade use — they cover mixed fleets of different vehicle types, allow flexible driver arrangements, and can be structured to include goods in transit, hired plant, and third-party liability for freight and logistics operators. For any business where vehicles are a core part of operations, the right commercial motor programme reduces both the financial risk and the administrative overhead of managing cover across the fleet.
The scale of the risk in New Zealand
New Zealand has over 600,000 commercial vehicles on the road. Around 30% of all accidents involve a driver at work — and approximately 1 in 4 work vehicles is involved in some kind of accident each year. For any business operating a fleet, commercial motor is one of the most likely covers to be called on.
A single policy covering multiple vehicles under one premium and one renewal date. Fleet policies can cover a range of vehicle types — cars, vans, utes, trucks, and trailers — and allow for flexible driver arrangements, including any licensed driver. This simplifies administration and often delivers better premium rates than insuring each vehicle individually.
Key things to check: whether the fleet policy covers all vehicle classes you operate, agreed vs market value, and whether the no-claims bonus structure suits your claims history.
Trucks, heavy machinery, and specialised equipment require cover designed for the risks involved — higher values, greater liability exposure, and specific use requirements. Policies can be tailored to owner-operators through to large transport fleets, and can include third-party goods in transit liability for freight operators.
Key things to check: Gross Vehicle Mass classifications, whether hired-in plant is covered, and whether ancillary equipment mounted on the vehicle is included.
When employees use business vehicles — or their own vehicles for business purposes — a standard personal motor policy may not respond to a business-use accident. Commercial motor can extend to cover employee-driven business vehicles and allow for mixed business and personal use without voiding cover in either scenario.
Key things to check: whether the policy covers any licensed driver (not just named drivers), and whether there is a business use extension available for employee-owned vehicles used for work.
Covers physical loss or damage to goods being transported — whether you're moving your own stock between locations or operating as a logistics provider. Goods in transit cover protects the cargo, not the vehicle carrying it. Essential for any business where the value of what's in the vehicle exceeds what standard motor cover includes.
Key things to check: per-consignment limits, unattended vehicle clauses, and whether the policy covers all modes of transport (road, air, sea) if your supply chain uses multiple.
Professional & cyber
Professional Indemnity and Cyber Liability are the two covers that have grown most rapidly in relevance for New Zealand businesses over the last decade — and they both respond to risks that other policies typically exclude. PI covers the financial consequences of professional errors and omissions; Cyber covers the growing threat of digital incidents including data breaches, ransomware, and system failure.
What these covers share is that neither is visible until something goes wrong — and by then, the costs are already accumulating. Increasingly, clients and contract counterparties require proof of PI cover as a condition of engagement, and privacy legislation creates notification obligations that make cyber events immediately expensive even for small businesses. Both covers are more accessible in cost than most people expect, and are best put in place before they're needed.
Covers your legal liability for financial loss suffered by clients as a result of errors, omissions, or negligence in the professional services you provide. Even where you've acted correctly, defending a PI claim is costly — and losing one can be catastrophic. Mandatory in many professions and increasingly required as a condition of commercial contracts.
Key things to check: that the policy is on a claims-made basis (the policy in force at the time of claim responds), the retroactive date, and whether prior acts are covered for work done before the current policy period.
Covers your business against losses from data breaches, ransomware attacks, system failure, and cyber extortion. This includes your own costs — forensic investigation, notification expenses, business interruption — as well as third-party liability if client data is compromised. Cyber is one of the fastest-growing and most frequently claimed commercial insurance lines in New Zealand.
Key things to check: whether the policy covers first-party (your own loss) and third-party (liability to others) cover, whether ransomware payments are included, and whether you get access to a breach response team when an incident occurs.
A bundled policy combining D&O, statutory liability, and employers liability into one commercial package — a practical and cost-effective option for small to medium businesses that need all three. Designed to protect the company, its directors, and officers from the growing range of legal and regulatory exposures that businesses face in New Zealand.
Key things to check: whether the bundled limits are adequate for each cover line individually, and whether the entity limits and individual limits are separate or shared across the policy.
Covers losses from employee theft, fraud, or dishonesty — including theft of money, stock, or data. Employee fraud is one of the most consistently under-anticipated risks for small businesses. Fidelity cover responds where standard liability policies won't — because the harm comes from inside the business, not from an external third party.
Key things to check: whether the policy covers electronic fraud and social engineering attacks (eg. fake supplier payment requests), and whether coverage extends to contractors and temporary staff as well as permanent employees.
Professional Indemnity is a claims-made policy — the timing matters
Unlike most insurance policies, PI cover responds based on when the claim is made — not when the work was performed. This means if a PI policy lapses (eg. when closing or selling a business), you can still be exposed to claims made after the policy ends for work done while it was in force. Run-off cover exists to bridge this gap and should always be considered when changing insurers or ceasing professional services activity.
Marine insurance
Marine insurance is one of the oldest classes of commercial cover — and one of the most misunderstood. Despite the name, it applies to goods moving by any mode of transport: sea, air, or road. Any business that imports, exports, or moves goods regularly along a supply chain has a marine insurance exposure, whether they realise it or not.
The key question is where the risk of loss passes from one party to another under your trading terms — and whether your cover is in place for the right portion of the journey. For businesses that operate vessels commercially, marine liability adds a further layer, protecting against the third-party costs that can arise from maritime incidents. Marine is a specialist class and the cover structure matters as much as the premium.
Covers the physical loss or damage of goods during transit — from manufacturer to warehouse, warehouse to customer, or across international supply chains. Cover can be structured on a per-shipment basis or as an open cover policy that automatically covers all movements within defined parameters. Importers and exporters particularly need this in place alongside their motor and property policies.
Key things to check: whether the policy covers all Incoterms in use (CIF, FOB, EXW etc.), the basis of valuation (invoice value plus mark-up for duty and freight), and whether country exclusions affect your supply chain routes.
If you operate as a freight forwarder or logistics provider, you carry legal liability for goods in your care, custody, and control — even when physical damage is caused by a third-party carrier. Freight forwarders liability provides the specialised cover your business needs when clients hold you responsible for transit losses that weren't directly your fault.
Key things to check: whether the policy aligns with the trading conditions you operate under (NZIFFA, FIATA, or bespoke terms), and that limits are adequate relative to the value of goods you handle at any one time.
Covers vessels used commercially — charter boats, dive vessels, water taxis, fishing vessels, and workboats. Commercial craft face different risk profiles to recreational vessels and require policies designed specifically for commercial operation, including liability for passengers and crew, and compliance with Maritime NZ requirements.
Key things to check: whether the policy covers passenger liability, crew personal accident, and pollution liability — all increasingly required for commercial maritime operations in New Zealand waters.
Covers a range of third-party liability exposures that arise from marine operations — including collision liability, wreck removal costs, and third-party property damage. For businesses that own or operate vessels regularly, marine liability is a critical component of the overall cover programme sitting alongside the hull and cargo policies.
Key things to check: the scope of collision liability (running down clause), whether fixed and floating objects are covered, and whether environmental liability (fuel spill response) is included in the cover.
What to watch out for
Commercial insurance is more nuanced than personal cover — and the cost of getting it wrong is usually much higher. Most gaps don't become apparent until a claim is made, by which point it's too late to fix the policy. The issues below are not edge cases; they are the most consistently recurring problems we see when reviewing existing commercial programmes.
The purpose of a regular insurance review isn't just to check premiums — it's to make sure the cover still matches the business as it is today. Businesses change faster than most people update their insurance, and even small changes in operations, headcount, premises, or revenue can create meaningful coverage gaps that only emerge when something goes wrong.
Business Interruption indemnity period too short
A 12-month BI period is often inadequate for businesses in commercial premises or with complex supply chains. The indemnity period needs to cover the realistic worst-case recovery time — including resource consenting, rebuilding, re-equipping, and restoring trading. Many businesses that thought they were covered find themselves out of BI cover before they're back on their feet.
Stock and asset values not kept current
Material damage sums insured need to reflect current replacement cost — not what you paid years ago. Inflation in construction costs, equipment values, and stock prices has been significant. Where a declared value is materially below actual replacement cost, insurers can apply proportional reduction (average clause) to any claim payout — even for partial losses.
Public liability without statutory cover
Public liability only responds to injury or property damage caused to third parties. It does not cover regulatory investigations or fines — which is where statutory liability applies. Many businesses carry public liability but leave themselves completely exposed to HASWA, RMA, and employment-related regulatory actions that can result in substantial penalties.
Cyber treated as an optional extra
Ransomware and data breach events affect businesses of all sizes — including small operators. A cyber incident can trigger costs across investigation, recovery, Privacy Act 2020 notification obligations, business interruption, and client liability. It's no longer a cover that's only relevant for large companies, and premiums are more accessible than most people assume.
Mixed-use vehicles on a personal motor policy
Vehicles used regularly for business purposes — including employee vehicles used to travel between client sites — may not be covered under a standard personal motor policy. If a claim involves business use, personal motor policies frequently decline on a business use exclusion. This is a simple gap to address and an expensive one to discover after an accident.
Cover not reviewed as the business grows
A commercial insurance programme that was right three years ago may leave significant gaps today. New equipment, new revenue streams, new staff, new premises, and new contracts all change your risk profile. Annual reviews are a minimum — a mid-year check after any significant business change is good practice and takes less time than most people think.
Assuming EQCover applies to commercial premises
EQCover — the government-backed natural disaster cover administered by the Earthquake Commission — only applies to residential buildings. It does not cover commercial properties. Businesses operating from commercial premises or mixed-use buildings need to ensure their material damage policy explicitly includes natural disaster cover, particularly for earthquake, flood, and volcanic events. This is not automatic and needs to be confirmed in the policy wording.
Also worth considering
Physical assets and liability cover keep the business operational — but the biggest risk for most businesses is what happens if a key person can't work. We also advise on life, income protection, key person, and shareholder cover for business owners and their teams.
