Motorhome Insurance -
information for your holiday
 

When renting an RV or camper in New Zealand, it's highly recommended to secure insurance to reduce your excess or protect your bond.
Upon pick-up, hire companies typically require a bond payment ranging from $3,000 to $7,500.

Having insurance or covering your bond is crucial to safeguard yourself in the event of an incident.

To help you understand your options, we will answer some common questions about RV insurance.
If you need further information about hire company insurances or the Camper Cover protection, please feel free to contact our team in Auckland.

1 - Do I need to take an insurance when hiring a vehicule in New Zealand? 
2 - Can my bank card covers the excess in case of an accident? 
3 - Does the hiring company offers vehicle insurance?
4 - What are the advantages / disadvantages of All-Inclusive insurance?
5 - What are the advantages / disadvantages of third party such as Camper Cover?
6 - What is the price to cover the excess?
7 - What happens if I don't have the excess amount available?
8 - What does the Camper Cover contract cover?
 

1 - Do I need to take an insurance when hiring a vehicule in New Zealand? 

Vehicle insurance is not legally required in New Zealand. However, if you have an accident with another person, even if you are not at fault, the vehicle hire company (motorhome, campervan or car) is legally entitled to collect repairs for the campervan on your behalf. The conditions and amount are usually specified at pick up when you sign for you rental agreement. The hiring company will freeze a few thousand dollars (excess) to be used in case of an accident.
You can cancel this excess if you souscribe to the company optional insurance or a third party insurance provider such as Detour Travel with our Camper Cover.

 

These banking companies offer insurance. However, in general, the policy covers vehicles of less than 8m3 (a standard small car) or less than 3500kg. A motorhome or campervan is much larger than 8m3 and sometimes heavier than 3.5T so you are not covered by insurance through your credit card but it depends on your contract. It’s important to contact your bank or read your contract to see if you are covered or not.
 

Our suppliers offer you the opportunity to insure your campervan or motorhome so you can travel with peace of mind and, above all, to be covered if you have an accident.
After all, we think it is important to have a carefree holiday! Generally, our partners offer different types of insurance (Standard / All inclusive) Here's a little overview of the different types of insurance. I have all included below third party insurance such as our own insurance.
 

This insurance is included in the standard price. This is the third party insurance. You are covered for damage you cause to another vehicle. You will need to pay extra for things like table and chairs, prepaid gas bottle, gps, babyseats etc. Your bond will be between NZ$5,000 to NZ$10,000 (depending on the supplier).
The supplier will take a bond by freezing the amount on your credit card (not charged until accident occurs). This payment will be returned in full, in part or not at all depending on the state of your motorhome at the final delivery.

ATTENTION: Make sure you check the suppliers terms and conditions when you are at the depot before you sign. So you are aware of all the insurance exceptions
 

This insurance rises to $32NZ - $89NZ per rental day (depending on the vehicle). This insurance allows you to be completely covered in the case of an accident, whether you are at fault or not.

Depending on rental company it waivers the cost for items such as :  the tax on diesel, filling the gas bottle, table and chairs (in some cases GPS and babyseats). 

ATTENTION: Make sure you check the suppliers terms and conditions when you are at the depot before you sign so you are aware of all the insurance exceptions. Or ask us for this before you arrive.
 
In all cases, an imprint of your credit card will be taken, in case you return your motorhome in a non-acceptable condition (smoking inside, ripped seating or damage to the interior). Also note that insurance contracts are cancelled if you do not meet the conditions of the supplier (complete roll-over of the vehicle, driving on non authorised roads etc) or if you do not obey the laws in New Zealand (driving while intoxicated, under influence of drugs, ...). Sometimes the supplier will offer you extra insurance for roll over cover. This is a cost that is optional and not offered in the full insurance.

It is important to contact our team for more details according to specific supplier for your holiday.

Our agents can clearly explain the implications of each insurance level. In all cases, enjoy New Zealand but be careful driving your motorhome.
 

Such insurances are usually cheaper and offer exactly the same conditions as the hiring company however you will have to take the standard insurance from the hiring company and get your excess frozen. In other words, it means that the hiring company will freeze between $3000 and $7500 at the start of your travel. In case of an accident, the third party insurance will refund you the excess used for the repair.


We are offering such insurance, it is roughly 50% of the price of hiring company and cover exactly the same condition and more. Ask us about our camper cover !

With All-Inclusive insurance, you have the advantage of not having to advance the excess. Also you frequently receive additional products such as a camping table or chairs.

On the other hand, the policies are often limited (most do not cover towing, loss of keys, etc.), the price is very high (between 65NZ$/day and 89NZ$/day) and there is only one excess coverage per incident.

The main advantage of our Camper Cover is its price which is almost 50% cheaper than the rental company's insurance ($35/day for vans and $39NZ/day for motorhomes).

Camper Cover also has the advantage of covering situations that are not covered by the rental company's All-Inclusive insurance.

If, for example, you leave your headlights on and you have to call a tow truck, the rental company will have proof of this and you will have to pay the costs incurred because this situation is not covered by the rental company. On the other hand, the Camper Cover covers you for this incident.

On the other hand, with Camper Cover, you must advance the excess at the start of your stay and as with all-inclusive insurance, it is an excess per incident.

 

All-Inclusive rental insurance costs between NZ$65/day and NZ$89/day of rental, depending on the vehicle chosen.

Camper Cover amounts to 35NZ$/day and 39NZ$/day of rental to cover a respective excess of 5,000NZ$ and 7,500NZ$

 

When picking up, the rental company asks you to pay an excess of between NZ$3,000 and NZ$7,500. This amount is not withdrawn from your card, but frozen, this means that you must have the amounts available on your credit card.

To avoid any problems, it will therefore be important to notify your bank in advance to let them know that you will be in New Zealand and ask them to temporarily increase your limit during your stay.

 

You will find the Camper Cover contract detailed below with all the inclusions
We can give you here some example: