How we compare insurance

This page explains where our prices come from, how we check them and how we put plans in order. It applies to every quote, price page, comparison and guide on this site.

Where the prices come from

We work out each price from the insurer's own rates. We get those rates in one of three ways:

• The insurer's online quote. Where an insurer sells online, we read its prices from its own quote pages and rate them the same way for your answers.
• The insurer's published price table. Some insurers publish their premiums in a brochure or price list. We use those figures and show the date we read them ("As at").
• No online price. Some insurers give prices only through their agents or their own site. We still list them, and say why there is no price.

Promotions and promo codes are included only while they run, with their end date where the insurer gives one. A promotion that needs a code names the code on the plan.

Prices include GST.

How we check them

We check our figures against the insurers' own sites and documents, most of them every week. When an insurer's price, plan or promotion changes, we update our rates. When your answers fall outside what an insurer's rates cover, we show no price for that insurer and say why, rather than guess.

How plans are ordered

• By price (the default). Plans are listed from the lowest premium up.
• By best value (your choice). Each plan gets a score out of 100 against the other plans for your answers: price counts for 50%, the cover that differs between plans for 35%, and the excess for 15%.

Commission never changes the order. Insurers pay us commission when you buy through us.

What the example prices mean

Our price pages, comparisons and "best this month" pages show prices for a set example, such as a 40-year-old driver with a 50% no-claim discount. Each page lists what it assumed. Your own price depends on your answers, so every page links to the quote form with those answers filled in.

Our guides

Our guides explain insurance in plain English. The prices in them come from the same rates as our quotes, and they link to the matching price pages. We don't rewrite a guide once it is published, except to correct a fact.

Something wrong?

If you see a price or detail that doesn't match the insurer's, email us at [email protected] and we will check it.