FENZ Changes
From 1 July 2026, the way the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) levy is charged on insurance policies has changed. The FENZ levy is a government charge, set by legislation, that is collected through your insurance policy and paid directly to Fire and Emergency New Zealand to fund fire and emergency services. We collect it on behalf of the government.
What’s changed?
- Residential policies: Maximum levy reduces slightly.
- Residential Home charge is capped at $107.40, (down from $119.50)
- Home Contents capped at $21.48 (down from $23.90)
- Motor vehicles: A new flat levy of $25 per vehicle will apply. The levy flat charge will also apply to third-party only policies.
- Commercial & rural property: The levy rate changes from 11.95c per $100 (applied to indemnity value for non-residential property) to 7.76c per $100 (applied to replacement value sum insured). Therefore, the main notable change under the revised structure, is the FENZ levy will be based on the replacement value sum insured rather than indemnity value.
- Mixed-use properties (i.e. residential & non-residential): The levy is calculated based on the split of residential occupancy and business occupancy.
- Some items that were previously exempt (such as fences, water tanks, livestock, forestry and aircraft) will now attract a levy.
What this means for you:
If you own vehicles, commercial property, rural property, or mixed-use buildings, your levy charges may change more noticeably.
The levy you pay may increase or decrease depending on your insurance type and sums insured. We will automatically apply the correct levy to your policies from 1 July 2026.
We are here to help explain what this means for your cover. If you need more information, please contact us if you would like to discuss how the new levy will apply to your insurances.
