The Council of Financial Regulators (CoFR) has published terms of reference for a six-month, cross-agency review of residential house and contents insurance pricing and affordability, focused on closing data gaps and understanding the drivers of affordability pressures. The programme brings together The Treasury, the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment, the Commerce Commission, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Financial Markets Authority, with scope to involve other public agencies and external stakeholders. Phase one centres on improving market data and analysis, including trends in affordability, availability, uptake and underinsurance across regions and demographics, and the drivers of change such as Natural Hazards Commission and Fire Service levies, reinsurance markets, insurer risk assessments, construction costs, competition dynamics and regulation. It also includes international comparisons, consumer engagement on affordability experience, and an initial competition assessment led by the Commerce Commission covering market shares, barriers to entry and switching, and insurer financial performance, culminating in an assessment of whether policy action may be warranted and whether any critical data gaps require ministerial decisions or legislative change. A second phase, if commissioned, would move into policy development and is contingent on phase-one findings. Governance is via a Treasury-chaired steering group meeting monthly and an inter-agency working group, with a joint report to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs due in mid-2026 recommending whether to proceed to phase two.

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