Why Insurers Care About Upgrades in Older Villas in New Zealand

Older New Zealand villas are full of charm, but when it comes to insurance, character alone doesn’t count. Insurers want reassurance that your home is safe, sound, and well maintained. If your villa hasn’t been re-roofed, re-piled, re-wired, re-plumbed, or had scrim removed, you may face higher home insurance premiums or even difficulty obtaining cover.

This is where an insurance condition report from NZ House Surveys is important – identifying risks and helping homeowners prove to insurers that their property is well maintained, and may not justify the increased premiums demanded from the homeowner. Let’s look at why these upgrades matter.

Re-Roofing – Protecting Your Home from the Top Down

In New Zealand villas, roofs were typically constructed with corrugated iron sheets, wooden shingles, or heavyweight concrete/clay tiles. While corrugated iron was durable and easy to replace, shingles and tiles were more maintenance-heavy. Most of these materials have a lifespan of 40 to 50 years, but many older villas still retain their original roofing or poorly maintained replacements.

Why old roofs are a problem:

• Leaks and water damage: Corrosion, loose fixings, or cracked tiles allow water ingress, leading to rot and mould.

• Storm vulnerability: Early corrugated sheets were often fixed with nails instead of modern screws, making them prone to lifting in high winds.

• Hidden deterioration: Shingle and tile roofs can look intact from the outside but may have broken battens or crumbling mortar underneath.

Why insurers don’t like old roofs:

• A roof past its serviceable life is considered a major risk factor for claims.

• Ongoing leaks or storm failures can lead to costly payouts for structural damage.

• Insurers may impose higher premiums or decline cover if maintenance records can’t be proven.

The solution:

A modern long-run iron or coloursteel roof provides long-lasting durability and peace of mind for insurers. For tiled and shingle roofs, evidence of regular maintenance — replacing damaged tiles and re-mortaring ridge lines — is essential to demonstrate the roof remains sound.

Re-Piling – Secure Foundations for Your Villa

Many early villas were built on Totara piles, chosen because of its natural durability. However, even Totara eventually succumbs to rot, borer, and ground movement after 80–100 years. As piles fail, the entire home begins to move.

Why old piles are a problem:

• Sagging floors: Weak or rotten piles cause uneven flooring and misaligned doors/windows.

• Structural cracking: As the home shifts, plaster, walls, and cladding crack.

• Hidden risk: Homeowners may not notice early pile failure, but insurers see it as a sign of major underlying instability.

Why insurers don’t like old piles:

• Unstable foundations make the home structurally unsound and more expensive to repair.

• Pile failure can cause cascading damage to plumbing, wiring, and framing.

• Some insurers may refuse to cover properties with obvious subsidence.

The solution:

Re-piling with modern H5 treated timber or concrete piles provides a stable base for the home. It’s one of the most significant upgrades you can make to a villa, ensuring structural integrity and giving insurers confidence that the property won’t suffer preventable damage.

Re-Wiring – From Outdated Wiring to Modern Safety

Electrical systems in villas originally used VIR (Vulcanised Indian Rubber), cotton-insulated, or lead-sheathed wiring. While functional at the time, these materials degrade badly over decades. Many villas still contain remnants of this wiring alongside outdated switchboards.

Why old wiring is a problem:

• Brittle insulation: Rubber and cotton coverings dry out, crack, and expose live conductors.

• Overloaded systems: Old switchboards can’t handle modern power demands (heat pumps, induction cooktops, EV chargers).

• Fire hazard: Faulty or exposed wiring is a leading cause of residential fires in NZ.

Why insurers don’t like old wiring:

• Outdated wiring dramatically increases fire risk, the most costly type of claim.

• Fire claims may be rejected if unsafe wiring is known or suspected.

• Some insurers require written confirmation of rewiring before issuing a policy.

The solution:

Rewiring with modern TPS cabling and upgrading to a switchboard with RCD protection eliminates these risks, ensuring compliance with today’s safety standards. Insurers view this as one of the most important upgrades for fire risk reduction.

Re-Plumbing – Reliable Water Systems for Modern Living

In older villas, plumbing was typically installed with galvanised steel pipes, later replaced in some cases with early copper or polybutylene. Unfortunately, all of these systems present problems over time.

Why old plumbing is a problem:

• Galvanised steel: Corrodes from the inside out, reducing water pressure and eventually bursting.

• Early copper: Can develop pinhole leaks from corrosion.

• Polybutylene: Known for splitting and leaking as it ages.

• Hidden water damage: Slow leaks damage framing, subfloors, and piles long before they’re discovered.

Why insurers don’t like old plumbing:

• Gradual leaks are often excluded from policies, meaning homeowners may face huge repair bills themselves.

• Burst pipes lead to expensive water damage claims.

• Old plumbing increases the likelihood of recurring issues, which insurers prefer to avoid.

The solution:

Upgrading to modern copper or approved polybutylene systems ensures reliable water flow and significantly reduces the risk of hidden leaks. Insurers see proactive replumbing as a key step in reducing gradual damage risk.

Scrim – The Hidden Fire Hazard in Villas

In many New Zealand villas built before the 1940s, interior walls were lined with scrim and sark. This method involved first fixing thin timber boards (sarking) to the wall framing, then stretching hessian cloth (scrim) tightly over the boards before wallpapering. It was a low-cost and widely used lining system at the time, but over the decades it has become one of the most problematic features in older homes.

Why scrim is a problem:

• Extremely flammable: Hessian is a coarse jute fabric. After 80–100 years it becomes dry and brittle, making it highly combustible. Once ignited, it causes fire to spread rapidly through a home.

• Aging and unstable: Scrim often sags, tears, and detaches from the sarking, leaving walls uneven and fragile.

• Health issues: The fabric collects dust, mould spores, and allergens, reducing indoor air quality and causing problems for those with respiratory conditions.

• Hides problems: Because scrim is covered in wallpaper, it can conceal leaks, rot, or even unsafe old wiring, meaning significant issues often go unnoticed until major damage occurs.

• Not up to modern standards: Scrim and sark provide no fire resistance, insulation, or structural integrity compared to plasterboard, which is the modern requirement.

Why insurers don’t like scrim and sark:

• Fire risk is too high: Many insurers will refuse cover or heavily restrict policies until scrim is removed and replaced.

• Unpredictable damage: With scrim in place, insurers cannot be certain about the state of the wiring, plumbing, or framing behind it.

• Higher claims risk: Historical data shows that homes with scrim are far more likely to suffer significant fire damage.

The solution:

Replacing scrim and sark with plasterboard is the only real fix. It immediately lowers fire risk, improves insulation, and ensures the home aligns with modern building standards. Importantly, it also makes it much easier to secure affordable insurance cover.

Why Insurers Require Upkeep

Insurance companies assess more than just the location and rebuild value of a home – they also look at how well it has been maintained. Outdated or unsafe features such as old roofs, piles, wiring, plumbing, or scrim increase the risk of fire, leaks, and structural failure. This translates into higher premiums or, in some cases, difficulty obtaining cover at all.

Protect Your Villa – and Lower Your Premiums

At NZ House Surveys, we provide comprehensive insurance condition reports that highlight whether your property has been re-roofed, re-piled, re-wired, re-plumbed, and had scrim removed. These reports give insurers confidence in your home’s condition, which can mean easier approval and reduced premiums.

Don’t leave it to chance – book your insurance condition report today.