In our November 2024 and April 2025 pricing reviews, we’ve reduced the FMG premium we charge on a number of products by between 4% and 12% on average. Affected products include Commercial Vehicles, Domestic Building, Domestic Contents, Farm Contents and Liability. These decreases do not apply to Government fees or levies and there have also been some increases on other products.
For those who have these insurance products, it may mean the potential for premium decreases or smaller premium increases. Overall, the decreases are estimated to have resulted in a reduction of around $23 million across all clients in annual FMG premium.
One of the advantages of being part of a Mutual insurer is that when claims and running the business is not costing us as much, we can pass those savings back to our clients and Members.
We review premiums quarterly to ensure that we only charge sufficient premium to run and sustain the Mutual.
We have also been working hard to reduce the costs associated with running the Mutual. We’re doing this through an organisation wide programme of work that we call an Owners Mindset. This looks at how we can maximise the value of every hour invested, conversation held, and dollar spent, to deliver the best outcome for the Mutual, our clients and our people.
What this means for you
While we are making efforts to keep our premiums affordable, these recent reductions contrast with increases in Government levies and inflation-driven increases in the value and costs of the things we insure.
This means not everyone will see a decrease on their next statement. It all depends on what you have insured.
To understand this a little more, total premium is calculated on three areas.
- Our charges to ensure we can cover claims and keep our organisation stable (we call this our premium rate)
- The Government charges (fees and levies)
- Individual choices about the level of cover, including adjustments such as voluntary excesses and sum insured.
You can read more about how FMG sets its premiums on our website at Understanding premiums.
FMG aims to be profit making, not profit maximising, focussed on making enough to meet both ours and our clients and Members’ needs. As such, we are doing what we can, where we can, to take the pressure off and provide a better deal for rural New Zealand Aotearoa.
