Terms of Use

1. Acceptance of these terms

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your use of furwise.co.nz and the FurWise comparison tool (together, “FurWise,” “we,” “us,” “our”). By using FurWise, you agree to these Terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the site.

FurWise is intended for personal use by pet owners in New Zealand. You must be 18 or older to use FurWise. There’s no sign-up or account required to compare policies. These Terms apply to your use of the site regardless.

2. What FurWise is — and isn’t

FurWise is a free tool that helps pet owners compare New Zealand pet insurance policies by feature, using a transparent, citation-backed comparison. It’s a research starting point, not a transaction platform: FurWise doesn’t sell insurance, doesn’t act as an insurance adviser or agent, and isn’t a party to any insurance policy you take out.

FurWise is not a Financial Advice Provider (FAP) and does not give regulated financial advice under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. Nothing on FurWise is personalised financial advice. The comparison reflects criteria you choose. It is not a recommendation about what you personally should buy. Two things are core to how FurWise works, not just disclaimers: you set and control what's compared, not us, and FurWise never tells you to buy a specific policy. FurWise only shows the published facts for the policies you’re comparing, against the criteria you selected.

Always read the full Policy Wording Document or Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for any plan before purchasing, and consider getting advice from a licensed financial adviser for advice specific to your situation.

FurWise Limited (NZBN: 9429053894991) operates FurWise.

3. How the comparison works, and its limits

• Feature comparison. FurWise compares policy features (things like cover, exclusions, excess, co-payment, claim affordability, and more) using each provider's published policy wording. Price is never part of the comparison.
• Sourced and cited. Every fact is drawn from each provider’s published Policy Wording. Where we cite a claim, we reference the specific document, version, and section it came from, so you can verify it yourself against the provider’s current wording.
• You control what's compared. You choose which categories to compare and how the results are sorted or filtered; nothing is ranked or weighted by FurWise.
• We don’t fill gaps with guesses. If a plan’s data is incomplete or not yet reviewed, we say so rather than fabricating a figure.
• Currency of information. Insurance terms change. We aim to keep policy data current, but you should treat every result as “as at” the date shown against that provider’s data, and verify current terms directly with the provider before relying on them.
• No guarantee of accuracy or outcome. Provider information is drawn from publicly available documents and, in some cases, from documents you upload for your own comparison (see section 6). While we take care in sourcing and citing this information, we don’t guarantee it is complete, current, or error-free, and FurWise doesn’t guarantee any cover or claim outcome. Nothing shown on FurWise is a recommendation to purchase.

4. How FurWise makes money

FurWise is free to use. We earn money three ways: referral fees when you choose to buy a policy through a link on FurWise; advertising from insurers and other pet-related businesses (for example, pet food, pet accessories, and veterinary providers), which is always clearly labelled as such; and anonymised insurer benchmarking reports which are aggregated, de-identified data-subscription reports we sell to participating insurers about market-wide trends (for example, which policy features pet owners look at most closely), built only from anonymised usage data that can never identify an individual pet owner. Each subscribing insurer’s use of these reports is governed by a written data-subscription agreement that prohibits re-identification, resale, or any use beyond aggregate benchmarking. FurWise only ever accepts advertising from pet-related businesses, and will never carry advertising unrelated to pets or pet care. None of these influence how a provider appears in the comparison. Every fact we show is generated from published policy wording alone, before any commercial, advertising, or data-subscription relationship is considered. An advertised, referral-paying, or data-subscribing insurer is shown exactly the same way as any other. FurWise is not affiliated with any insurer or other advertiser. See our Privacy Policy for exactly what anonymised usage data is collected and how it’s de-identified.

Aggregated, anonymised figures from the community-led Anniversary Premium Tracker (section 7) may also be included in these benchmarking reports, under the same data-subscription agreement and the same rule: it never affects how any provider appears in the comparison. Unlike referral fees and advertising, the Anniversary Premium Tracker itself generates no revenue directly from you or from insurers displaying an “I’m interested” button. Any commercial use is limited to the same aggregated, anonymised benchmarking pathway as the rest of this section.

5. Getting a quote (referral to an insurer)

If you choose to request a quote, you’ll be asked to confirm your contact details and explicitly agree, insurer by insurer, before we pass them on. See our Privacy Policy for exactly what’s collected and how consent works. A few things are worth being clear about here:

• We’re an introducer, not a party to your policy. Once you’re referred to an insurer, whether you’re redirected to complete a quote yourself, or the insurer contacts you directly, any quote, application, or policy is between you and that insurer, on their terms, not ours. FurWise is not responsible for the insurer’s quote, pricing, underwriting decisions, claims outcomes, customer service, or the terms of any policy you take out with them.
• No obligation. Requesting a quote never obliges you to buy anything, and using FurWise never results in an insurer contacting you unless you’ve actively opted in to that specific referral.
• Once you’re referred, that insurer’s own terms and privacy policy apply to how they handle your quote and your information. We encourage you to check both before opting in.
• This is also one of the ways FurWise earns a referral fee (section 4). The fee doesn’t change which insurers you can be referred to, or affect how any provider appears in the comparison.

6. Uploading your own policy documents

If you use the “compare your current cover” feature, you may upload a copy of your current policy document. You confirm that you have the right to share this document with us (e.g. it’s your own policy, or you have the policyholder’s permission), and that doing so doesn’t breach anyone else’s rights. We process the document only to extract your cover details for your own comparison, using a third-party AI provider (Anthropic). The file itself is discarded immediately after processing and isn’t stored by FurWise. Full details are in our Privacy Policy .

7. Anniversary Premium Tracker

FurWise also offers a community-led feature, the Anniversary Premium Tracker, where pet owners can voluntarily share what their premium changed to at renewal, so other pet owners can see likely future costs for the same breed and provider. This section governs that feature specifically, in addition to the general Terms above.

• Self-reported and unverified. Every figure shown through the Anniversary Premium Tracker, including anything shown to you as a comparison, is entered by other pet owners themselves. It is not verified against a policy document, invoice, or renewal notice. We run automated checks for statistically implausible submissions (see our Privacy Policy ), but we don’t and can’t confirm that any individual figure is accurate. Treat it as a general, community-sourced indicator of what others have reported, not a quote, a guarantee, or advice about what you will personally be charged.
• It never affects the comparison. Nothing submitted to, or shown through, the Anniversary Premium Tracker is used to influence or adjust how any provider or plan appears in the FurWise comparison tool, in any way, for any provider. A provider that has many, few, or no Anniversary Premium Tracker reports is shown exactly the same as any other.
• You submit anonymously. The submission form doesn’t collect your name, email, or any other contact detail. See our Privacy Policy for exactly what is collected, how anti-spam checks work, and when and how aggregated figures may also be included in the anonymised insurer benchmarking reports described in section 4.
• What you agree to when you submit a report. By submitting a report, you confirm the figures are your own, and accurate to the best of your knowledge, and you agree we may show them, always in aggregate with other reports once enough exist, never as your individual submission attributed to you, to other visitors, and may include them (aggregated and anonymised) in insurer benchmarking reports. See section 8 for the acceptable-use rule against false submissions.

8. Acceptable use

You agree not to use FurWise to:

• submit false, misleading, or fraudulent information (including in the “my provider isn’t listed,” “get a quote,” or Anniversary Premium Tracker forms — see section 7);
• scrape, harvest, or systematically extract data from the site other than through normal individual use;
• attempt to interfere with, overload, or gain unauthorised access to FurWise’s systems, including uploading malicious files;use bots, scripts, crawlers, or other automated means to access, extract data from, or interact with FurWise (including submitting forms or Anniversary Premium Tracker entries), other than well-behaved search engine indexing; use FurWise's comparison results or citations for any commercial purpose, including resale, republication, or incorporation into a paid product or service without our written permission;
• reverse-engineer, copy, or replicate our comparison methodology or tool for a competing commercial product; or
• use FurWise in any way that breaches New Zealand law, including the Fair Trading Act 1986 and the Privacy Act 2020.

We may suspend or restrict access for anyone we reasonably believe is breaching these Terms, including submitting fabricated Anniversary Premium Tracker reports.

9. Third-party links and content

FurWise links to insurers’ websites and policy documents that we don’t control. We provide these links for convenience and as citations for the facts we show. They aren’t an endorsement, and we aren’t responsible for the content, accuracy, availability, or practices (including privacy practices) of any third-party site you reach via FurWise, including an insurer’s site after a referral under section 5.

FurWise also displays paid advertising from insurers and other pet-related businesses (section 4), which may link to a third-party advertiser’s own website. The same principle applies: an advertisement is not an endorsement by FurWise of the advertiser, its products, or its services, and we aren’t responsible for the content, accuracy, or practices of any advertiser’s site you reach by clicking an ad.

10. Intellectual property and trademarks

The FurWise name, logo, website design, comparison methodology, and all text, graphics, and other content we create (excluding third-party policy documents we cite, which remain their providers’ property) belong to FurWise or our licensors and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may view and use the site for your own personal, non-commercial research into pet insurance. You may not reproduce, republish, or commercially exploit our content or methodology without our written permission.

Trademarks. All insurer, underwriter, and product names, logos, and other trademarks displayed on FurWise as part of the comparison tool, provider guide pages, or homepage provider strip are the trademarks of their respective owners. They are displayed solely to identify and compare the products and organisations they relate to, consistent with fair comparative use. Displaying a name or logo in this context does not imply that its owner endorses, sponsors, has reviewed, or is otherwise affiliated with FurWise, and no such endorsement, sponsorship, review, or affiliation should be inferred.

Separately, FurWise also displays advertiser names, logos, and other trademarks supplied by insurers and other pet-related businesses (pet food, accessories, vets, and similar) who pay to advertise on FurWise, as described in section 4. These marks remain the property of their respective owners and are displayed under the advertiser’s own arrangement with FurWise, not as a citation for comparison purposes. Displaying an advertiser’s mark does not imply that FurWise endorses the advertiser or its products or services, and does not imply that the advertiser endorses FurWise, any insurer, or any other advertiser, or is affiliated with any of them. If you are a trademark owner and have a concern about how your mark is displayed on FurWise, whether in the comparison tool or in advertising, please contact us.

If you submit content to us (e.g. a message via the contact form, or a policy document upload), you retain ownership of it, but you give us the licence we need to use it for the purpose you provided it. For example, extracting cover data from an uploaded document to build your comparison, or responding to your enquiry.

11. No warranty

To the maximum extent permitted by law, FurWise is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including as to accuracy, completeness, reliability, or fitness for a particular purpose. We don’t warrant that the site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses or other harmful components.

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, the Fair Trading Act 1986, or any other law that can’t lawfully be excluded.

12. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, FurWise (and our officers, employees, and contractors) won’t be liable to you for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential loss, or for loss of profits, savings, or opportunity, arising from your use of the site, reliance on comparison results, or any decision to purchase (or not purchase) a policy, including through a referral under section 5. This doesn’t limit any liability that can’t lawfully be limited or excluded, including under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

Decisions about which insurance policy to buy are yours. FurWise is a research tool, not a substitute for reading the full policy wording or getting advice specific to your circumstances.

13. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify FurWise against any claim, loss, or expense arising from your breach of these Terms or your misuse of the site. For example, submitting information you weren’t entitled to share, or using the site unlawfully. This doesn’t apply to the extent a claim arises from our own breach of these Terms or the law.

14. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect (including through the comparison tool, contact form, “provider isn’t listed” form, and quote referrals) and how we handle it. It forms part of these Terms.

15. Changes to the site and these Terms

We may change, suspend, or discontinue any part of FurWise (including adding, changing, or retiring providers, features, or the comparison methodology) at any time. We may also update these Terms from time to time. Continuing to use FurWise after an update means you accept the revised Terms.

16. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand, and any dispute is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.

17. General

If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest continues to apply. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and FurWise about your use of the site. A failure by us to enforce any part of these Terms isn’t a waiver of our right to do so later.

18. Contact us