Unless you are racing most household contents insurance policies cover bicycles including whilst in use so this would be the best option I believe unless you are in competition. If your policy does not cover bikes then perhaps a change is worth while.

The situation in UK is quite different where you need cover for injuries as well as public liability to cover negligence whilst cycling plus damage to your own bike.

If you check your household insurance you should find cover for negligence for property damage excepting whilst driving a motor vehicle, which therefore includes negligence whilst riding a bike (non motorised). So separate public liability cover unnecessary for property damage.

In NZ injuries are covered by the no fault Accident Compensation Scheme which also bars civil action for compensatory damages.

Considering the above points alone, it's well worth having household contents insurance when not a house owner and the owner of few possessions.

ALSO, it must be remembered ACC does not cover everything and Disability Insurances are well worth considering

The above comments are made assuming "Moving to NZ" means on a long term basis. If touring the picture would be different and a bicycle insurance probably necessary.

Richard H

[Hmm, I wrote this answer and then saw the date of the original was Dec... Wonder why it just popped up on my RSS feed... Anyway I'll leave it here in case it is useful to others.]

While Richard is correct that most household contents insurance covers bicycles many companies limit it drastically. Some companies only cover theft if the theft is from home, some do not cover accidental damage, others limit the amount drastically (and reject listing it as a valuable). The argument seems to be that the companies have had bad experience from damaged expensive mountain bikes (the predominant form of "ordinary" bicycle in NZ). One firm's own employee warned me about the lack of cover - they themselves were unhappy that if someone drove into the back of her car while the bike was on a rack she had no cover whatsoever. Shop around, but don't expect to find it easy.

Assuming you are coming from England you might be able to keep your household contents going long enough to cover your initial tour before settling down - many UK companies (used?) to not only cover your bicycle but included something like 30 day cover anywhere in the world. Alternatively there are bicycle-specific travel insurance available - Endsleigh used to offer a policy.

The situation insurance-wise is a lot better in Oz, where quite a few policies are available. Unfortunately none of them seem willing to cover people who live in NZ, though most cover Ozzies bicycling in NZ...

Welcome to bike-hating NZ, it's not dangerous to ride here, but few (including many "advocates") will treat a commuting bicyclist as anything other than a third-class person.