Retailer / Importer Needing Products Liability

When your product harms a customer, who pays? Importers carry the legal weight in NZ.

If you import, distribute, manufacture or rebrand a product, NZ law treats you as the responsible party for product-injury claims. Products liability is usually bundled into public liability wordings — but exclusions on efficacy, recall costs, financial loss, and Consumer Guarantees Act handling differ insurer-to-insurer.

Cover types most relevant

Products liability

Products liability covers third-party bodily injury / property damage caused by a product you supplied, manufactured, imported or installed. Sits inside most public liability wordings but the carve-outs (efficacy, financial loss, recall) differ by insurer.
Public liability

Public liability (sometimes "broadform" or "general liability") covers third-party bodily injury and property damage arising from your business activities. NZ commercial wordings vary materially on the products-liability bundle, the "occurrence" definition, contractual-liability extensions and the territorial limit.
Cyber liability

Cyber liability covers both first-party costs (incident response, forensic, notification, business interruption, ransom) and third-party liability (privacy claims, regulator fines). NZ wordings differ on whether ransomware extortion payments are insurable and how Privacy Commissioner penalties interact with statutory liability.

Watch out for

efficacy: 'Efficacy' exclusions block claims that the product didn't perform as promised — this is huge for products with health/performance claims.
recall: Recall costs are typically excluded — even if the recall was triggered by a covered injury. Buy a standalone recall policy if you import.

Retailer / Importer Needing Products Liability

Cover types most relevant

Watch out for

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