Tools and tips

At AA Insurance we’re working hard to ensure we’re transparent, open and honest when it comes to your insurance.

Did you know that it’s a government recommendation that every home has an emergency kit with food and water to last 3 days? Learn how by being prepared and having the right resources on-hand could eliminate a great deal of stress if there is an emergency.

Learn more about the difference between our two contents insurance policies with real life examples to show you what they cover, and which one may be right for you.

Kiwis love their BBQs, but we all need to use a bit of common sense to avoid accidentally damaging other property – especially as foliage can be tinder-dry during our hot summer months. Here are a few thought starters.

To give you some inspiration these school holidays, we asked five AA Insurance staff members to share their favourite activity to share with their kids - minus a screen!

When our insurance experts go on holiday they make sure their homes are secure and safe. We’ve put together some of their best tips to help you have a relaxing break, so you needn’t worry about what’s going on at home.

Many tradies may find themselves dreaming about going out on their own. To help, we’ve pulled together some simple ways and things to think about to help prepare you to do business with your best boot forward.

Running a small business can be stressful. We've put together a few simple and important tips on how to deal with stress and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Wrapping your head around small business insurance may feel like a challenge and just another thing to add to your to-do list. So to give you a hand, we’ve spoken to our Small Business team to get their best tips on how to get started and what to consider.

If you’re just starting out with renovations to your home, you’ll need to make sure your property’s protected. Our home and contents insurance expert, Aaron Dickinson, shares five tips to get you started.

You’ve packed your bags, left the cat with the neighbour, and organised some travel games for the kids. But what have you done to secure your home before heading away on holiday? Here are a few tips to help you get away.

Read the answers to commonly asked questions about insurance for electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.Read the answers to commonly asked questions about insurance for electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Burglars aren’t the only threat to your home during the break. It’s entirely possible to have broken water pipes, burst hot water cylinders and power outages that cause headaches for homeowners. Here are our top three tips to keep your home in check while you’re away.

If your set of wheels is a Honda, Nissan, Mazda or Subaru that’s over 10 years old, you might want to check out AA Insurance’s latest Top 10 Stolen Vehicles list.

Whether you're new to home buying or an old hand, it's a good idea to check a property from top to bottom for any issues that could haunt you later.

AA Insurance insures over 4,000 motorcycles and mopeds for Kiwis across New Zealand. Recently, we extended the list of motorcycles we offer cover for Ducati, Triumph, Aprilia, Victory, Buell, Cagiva and Harley Davidson. To help you navigate your way around motorcycle cover, we’ve put together answers to some frequently asked questions.

Your gran may have called them handy household hints, but nowadays they’re known as life hacks or, as we like to say, smart solutions to life’s little problems. Here are a few to get you started.

Electric bicycles (e-bikes) are growing in popularity. They’re used for both recreation and commuting. Office workers are enjoying biking to work without arriving all hot and sweaty. Staff at AA Insurance who use e-bikes say a more comfortable ride, fluid speed, and efficient braking are reasons they wouldn’t go back to a traditional bike.

We’re well into motorcycle season with many riders taking to the roads to make the most of the long, warm days. While you’re taking in the incredible New Zealand scenery, bear these tips in mind to ensure you and your ride stay in good nick.

While cost is often a motivating factor when considering home, contents and car insurance, cheapest isn’t always best for your circumstances. But don’t despair! There are a number of ways you can reduce your insurance without compromising the type of cover you have.

If you damaged someone’s vehicle in a car park, would you leave a note? How about if no one saw you? It’s quite the dilemma among Kiwi drivers, because while most say they wouldn’t hesitate to leave their details, the reality is that very few do.

There are more than 550,000* rental properties scattered throughout New Zealand, so it makes sense that as the market grows landlords better understand their rights and responsibilities. With this in mind, AA Insurance has put together a few tips to help make the property investment journey a smoother one.

If you’re like the growing number of Kiwis who’ve been shopping online this year, then you should have your items delivered to where you’ll be during the day, or risk thieves doing their own style of shopping.

It’s a debate (almost) as old as the wheel itself – who’s the better driver, men or women? Or rather who thinks they are the better driver? It may come as no surprise, or perhaps it does, that according to a recent AA Insurance Driver Survey, men remain more confident in their ability behind the wheel than women.

It’s that time of year again when would-be DIYers and Weekend Warriors - inspired by warmer weather, longer days, and home make-overs shows - pick up a hammer, trowel or pliers and take a stab at renovating their own homes.

Kiwis have always been mad about man caves, silly about sheds, and wild about workshops. But the trend has grown, from the humble potting shed to purpose-build she-sheds, mini museums of collectables, and garages converted into sports bars.

If you’re struggling to calculate the cost of rebuilding your home, then we’ve got some good news. AA Insurance is giving customers added confidence with the introduction of Cordell Sum Sure, the next generation in online calculators.

We’ll be there for you if the unexpected happened at your place – but as with most things, prevention is far better than cure. So, we’ve dipped into our Home Security Survey for a few facts and created some helpful tips to keep your home, safe and secure.

With the cold snap hitting the country, we’ve put together a few winter tips to help you look after your home and car.

We’re often asked why some things are covered by insurance while others aren’t, like the damage caused from a leaky tap. So we thought we’d explain it here with a few examples.

It’s true that losing your entire home to a fire is rare, but when it does happen it’s devastating, so it’s essential to improve the safety of your home, including your garage.

Moving house or flat is often a stressful time in life, but a little preparation can go a long way. So before you start wrapping and packing, consider this handy checklist.

We’ve put together a few ways to help you protect your property before you hand over your keys and put the welcome mat out. Find out more.

If you’re heading away for the break, or even only out for the day, here are a few ways to keep your property safe while you’re gone.

Every home is different and so too is the cost to rebuild it, should the worst happen. We’ve put together a few hints and tips to help you calculate the right Sum Insured figure for your place.

‘A dark and stormy night’ may be the classic way to start a novel, but in reality wild weather can cause havoc at any time of the day or night, be it high winds or torrential rain. So, our AA Insurance experts have come up with some great ways to help keep you and your property safe.

Summer is all about being outside, enjoying the weather and nature, so remove those digital devices and encourage the kids to get outdoors with these simple boredom busters.

Most of us consider what others have said before we make a purchase. Whether we ask a friend about the appliance they’ve bought, or go online to Tripadvisor to get the low down from people who’ve ‘been there, done that’ before us.

Christmas holidays can either be fabulous or fraught, so here are 12 ways to keep your belongings safe and yourself stress-free.

It’s fair to say we know our stuff here at AA Insurance, especially when it comes to handy hints and clever tips for helping prevent damage to the stuff you love, or at least making things a little easier. So, here’re a few ideas if you find yourself asking ’What do I do when.....?’

There are a few myths and legends about what insurance covers, so we’ve put together answers to the three most common questions customers ask about the accidents that happen around their home.

Our house insurance experts know their stuff, and have shared seven clever ways that you can look after your property, to keep it in tip top condition.

Fortunately insurance is there to help you pick up the pieces after a break-in. But preventing the crime in the first place would save a serious amount of stress.

Did you know that claiming for an extra pair of trainers that weren’t stolen, or for a mobile that was deliberately broken is considered insurance fraud? How about telling the insurance company that $1,000 worth of belongings had been flood damaged, when it was actually $100?

Remember to set your clocks forward an hour this Saturday night before heading off to bed, so 2am becomes 3am.

Like most Kiwis, your home is probably your castle and your most valuable asset. So it makes sense you would want to protect it from potential damage and related costs. The obvious way to do this is by having an appropriate home insurance policy.

Wherever your home is – from Bluff to the winterless North – you’ll no doubt shop around to make sure your belongings and home are insured by the experts. But, what do you do to protect your home from break-ins in the first place? It doesn’t take much to deter most burglars if you follow simple home security tips and remain vigilant.

It needn't take much to brighten someone's day, so we've put together a list of simple things you can do to make your friends, family or even a complete stranger smile.

Here’s a great way to get started and get to grips with what contents insurance is – how it works, why you need it, what it covers and what it doesn’t.

Cheap car insurance is tempting but, like most important purchases, price should be only one factor worth considering before handing over your hard earned cash.

The term ‘generation rent’ highlights the fact that 30 per cent of all Kiwis are now renting. As the market grows, it therefore makes sense for tenants to better understand their rights and responsibilities. So, AA Insurance has put together a few tips to help renters protect themselves, and their property, while renting.

If you’re sick of hearing ‘I’m bored’ these holidays then get the kids involved in a few boredom buster ideas that needn’t cost a fortune.

If you’re going on a road trip over the school holidays, or spending at least an hour in the car with the kids, then here are a few non-digital boredom busters to help you (all) survive the journey.

Almost half of all Kiwis who keep photos, videos and music digitally risk losing their treasured memories because they don’t back them up properly.

Keeping your home in good nick sounds like a chore, but it does help you have a safer home, protects your investment and ensures your insurance cover stays in place.

It may start with the best of DIY intentions, but all too often they can turn into DIY disasters. You only wanted to add bit of pizazz to a room, as well as save yourself some money, and yet one thing led to another and now you’re covered in paint, have a hole in the wall and your TV screen is smashed to smithereens.

Being covered for the unexpected is one of the reasons we have insurance. But it isn’t just about protecting your property; it’s also about protecting yourself from unforeseen costs if you accidently cause damage to someone else’s property.

If you’re just starting out with renovations to your home, you’ll need to make sure your property’s protected. Our home and contents insurance expert, Aaron Dickinson, shares five tips to get you started.

Should the unthinkable happen, it's good to know how to make a claim to get your insurance sorted quickly.