What do these changes mean for you?
Below is a summary of how these changes affect you, depending on your circumstances.
Please note this document is a summary of some of the changes made for general information purposes and
does not form part of your insurance contract with Vero.
Home, Contents and
Motor Vehicle Policies
Included cover for civil claims
for bodily injury
Vero have always provided
cover for liability to pay
compensation in a civil claim for
accidental property damage
but have now introduced bodily
injury cover as well including
emotional harm. This means in
practice that if there is a civil
claim brought against you
seeking compensation for
accidentally causing someone
bodily injury including emotional
harm, which is not covered by
ACC, you will now be covered
for your liability to pay any
damages as compensation for
financial losses up to the policy
limit. You will also be covered for
your legal defence costs and
the legal costs which the other
parties have incurred if you are
liable to pay these. Cover
doesn’t apply if the claim
against you is for exemplary
damages instead of
compensation.
Included cover for reparation
In December 2014 the
Sentencing Amendment Act
2014 came into force. Under this
Act, if you’re convicted of a
criminal offence, the courts may
order you to pay compensation
to the victim by way of a
reparation order. If so, you may
now be covered for your liability
to pay the reparation order to a
victim who has suffered
accidental property damage or
accidental bodily injury, as the
result of the criminal
proceedings up to the following
limits:

accidental bodily injury up
to $1,000,000;

accidental property
damage up to $2,000,000
under home and contents
policies, or $20,000,000
under motor vehicle
policies.
For reparation cover to apply,
you must tell your Advisor or Aon
New Zealand, as the broker,
immediately if you are charged
with an offence that could result
in a reparation order covered by
the policy. The liability must
result from an accidental or
careless act, as there is no cover
for liability resulting from reckless
or intentional acts. You should
note that defence costs are not
covered for criminal
proceedings, and the reparation
cover does not apply to
offences under health and
safety legislation.
Policy exclusions will also apply
to loss or liability if it results from
the intentional or reckless act of
a person covered by the policy.
Home Policies Only
Introduction of
methamphetamine
contamination cover
Methamphetamine (also known
as P) contamination is an
increasing issue for homeowners.
The impact is worrying, not only
for the health risks associated,
but also the increase in claims
relating to testing,
decontamination and repair of
homes.
In order to keep premiums
affordable, the industry has
moved toward excluding and/or
introducing limitations on cover
for this type of
contamination. Vero’s stance will
be to exclude cover for any
illegal drug contamination
(arising from the manufacture,
supply, storage, possession or
use) in all home policies,
however will introduce limited
cover specific to
methamphetamine
contamination for tenanted
properties under a Home Premier
policy only, up to $30,000 and
provided the landlords meet
their policy obligations.
Tenanted properties are defined
as those having a tenancy
agreement of no less than 90
days. Cover will be excluded for
holiday homes as well as those
which are unoccupied. When
the home is owner occupied
and the contamination is
caused by unknown persons
breaking into or entering the
home without permission when
unattended, cover will be up to
the sum insured.
Enhanced landlord’s extension
cover
Home Premier policies
Vero have updated the optional
Landlord’s Extension cover
available with Home Premier
policies to now include benefits
normally obtainable under a
separate Landlord’s Protection
policy. I.e. on top of the
landlord’s furnishings cover and
loss of rent due to loss covered
by the policy, the optional
Landlord’s Extension will now also
include:

malicious damage or theft
by tenants and their guests –
up to $30,000; and

loss of rent due to nonpayment by tenants –
subject to varying limits
depending on
circumstances.
The updated optional cover is
competitively priced and is
available on request by all
existing Home Premier policy
holders whom have tenanted
properties. To ensure you are
adequately covered, and to
discuss upgrading to the new
cover please call your Advisor or
Aon New Zealand, as the broker,
on 0800 50 90 90.
Where you have previously
taken landlords extension cover,
but do not wish to upgrade to
the new cover, the existing
“limited” cover will be honoured
for the duration of your existing
policy.
Where you have previously
taken a separate Landlords
Protection policy, and do not
wish to take the Vero landlord’s
extension cover, no changes will
apply.
Home Restricted policies
Optional Landlords Extension
cover is now available with
Home Restricted policies.
However it will be “limited” to
cover the landlord’s furnishings
and loss of rent due to loss
covered by the policy.
The optional cover is
competitively priced and is
available on request by all
existing Home Restricted policy
holders whom have tenanted
properties. To ensure you are
adequately covered, call your
Advisor or Aon New Zealand, as
the broker, on 0800 50 90 90.
Landlord’s Obligations
Home policies now contain
specific Landlord obligations you
need to comply with concerning
selection of tenants, regular
inspections and monitoring of
rent payments.
Occupancy status will now be
captured
Where Vero have previously
been advised if your home was
owner occupied or not, the
possible types of ‘occupancy
status’ have now been
increased to better reflect
client’s circumstances. The
possible occupancy status
options now include:
1. owner occupied
2. rental
3. owner occupied + rental
4. unoccupied
5. holiday home
(owner/family)
6. holiday home (owner/family
+ rental)
7. other
Where your occupancy status
falls within options 3-7 above, to
ensure Vero are correctly
advised, please call your
Advisor, or Aon New Zealand, as
the broker, on 0800 50 90 90.
Requirements for body
corporates/multi-unit complexes
To comply with the Unit Titles Act
2010, additional information is
required if your home
is included in a body corporate,
or part of a multi-unit complex.
Information required relates to
the number of homes/units
included in the body
corporate/complex and the
number of levels high they have
been built.
Contents Policies Only
Who resides at the home will
now be captured
In addition to capturing the
occupancy status, with contents
policies, Vero now also need to
be advised the details of who
resides at the home to allow for
a range of circumstances.
Who resides at the home can
determine what cover, if any,
can be provided. Options
include:

yourself and your family

yourself with unrelated
flatmates

tenants
Motor Vehicle Policies
Only
Exclusion for incorrect fuel type
There is now an exclusion for
damage to your vehicle caused
by the incorrect type of fuel
being used.
Private versus business use for
vehicles has now been clarified
Clarification has been provided
around the activities which are
covered as private use of your
vehicle as opposed to business
use.
Private use continues to cover
you for social, domestic,
pleasure, religious or welfare
purposes. Business use incurs a
premium loading and could
include cover for your vehicle
being used in connection with a
business or trade.
For full details of the activities
covered, please refer to the
policy wordings or call your
Advisor or our team on 0800 50
90 90.
For full details of the terms,
conditions, limits and
exclusions please refer to
the policy wording
documents at
www.stylecover.co.nz
Excesses have been simplified
To simplify the application of
excesses at claim time, Vero
have restructured the additional
excesses applicable to motor
vehicle covers to now be:

drivers under the age of 21 =
$1,000

drivers aged 21 to 24 = $500

drivers over the age of 25
who haven’t had an NZ
licence for more than 12
months = $500

unnamed driver (where you
have selected a named
driver discount, but the
driver is not named) = $500
Important Note
Insurer Financial Strength Rating: Vero Insurance New Zealand Limited has been given an A+ Insurer Financial
Strength Rating by Standard and Poor’s. The rating outlook is stable. The rating scale is: AAA Extremely Strong; AA
Very Strong; A Strong; BBB Good; BB Marginal; B Weak; CCC Very Weak; CC Extremely Weak; SD Selective Default; D
Default; R Regulatory Supervision and NR Not rated. Ratings from 'AA' to 'CCC' may be modified by the addition of a
plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories. The rating scale above is in
summary form. The full version of this rating scale can be obtained from www.vero.co.nz