Three insurance brands appear in the top 20 of the 2026 Kantar Corporate Reputation Index, with AA Insurance moving from sixth to third – its first appearance in the top three of the survey. Southern Cross and AMI also advanced up the rankings, with AMI posting the largest gain in the entire top 20. The pattern points to a sector that consumers are increasingly turning to for stability during a period of financial strain and unsettled weather conditions across New Zealand.
Kantar has run the Corporate Reputation Index in collaboration with Wright Communications since 2015. Each year, the survey measures how New Zealand consumers perceive the country’s top 50 consumer-facing companies. Scores are produced using Kantar’s RepZ framework, a globally validated tool that draws on four weighted attributes: trust (35%), leadership/success (25%), fairness (23%), and responsibility (16%). The 2026 edition was fielded in February and March. Companies that score 105 or above on the RepZ scale are considered to hold a resilient reputation. Toyota New Zealand led the 2026 results with a RepZ score of 112, retaining the top position for the third year running. PAK’nSAVE held second place, also for the third consecutive year. AA Insurance came in third at 108, followed by TVNZ at 108 and Air New Zealand at 107. Southern Cross entered the top 10 at eighth place, while AMI placed 16th.
The movement among insurers in this year’s index varies in scale and context. AA Insurance’s shift from sixth to third is a three-place gain, but its significance lies in the fact that it is the insurer’s first time placing in the top three. Southern Cross moved from outside the top 10 to eighth, a rise of eight places. AMI’s gain of 20 places to 16th is the largest upward movement recorded anywhere in the top 20 this year. Kantar Insights chief client officer Sarah Bolger said the insurer gains reflect where consumer attention has shifted. “Brands associated with value and reliability are resonating strongly right now. Insurers including AA Insurance, Southern Cross, and AMI all performed strongly as households continue to focus on financial resilience and protection,” Bolger said.
Bolger said the wider index results follow a similar logic, with consumers gravitating toward companies that have demonstrated consistency under difficult conditions rather than those with high brand visibility. “In a year marked by economic pressure, global uncertainty, and declining trust in many institutions, New Zealanders are rewarding companies that feel dependable, consistent, and genuinely useful in their everyday lives. The highest-performing brands are not necessarily the loudest or most aspirational. They are the organisations people believe will turn up, deliver value, treat customers fairly, and behave responsibly when times are tough,” Bolger said.
Wright Communications managing director and index co-founder Nikki Wright said the data suggests that corporate reputation in New Zealand is now less dependent on marketing activity and more directly tied to what companies actually do. “In a tougher operating environment, reputation is being earned through consistency, fairness, customer experience, and the ability to stay relevant to people’s everyday lives. The organisations leading this year’s Index are proving that trust has become one of the most valuable forms of competitive advantage a company can have,” Wright said.
AA Insurance’s third-place result is its first appearance in the top three of the index. The year behind it was operationally demanding: the insurer recorded its second-highest volume of weather-related claims on record, the product of repeated severe weather across multiple regions rather than one concentrated event. Chief product and marketing officer Shaun Rees connected the index result directly to how the company’s staff handled that claims load. “It’s been a challenging year for many Kiwi communities and businesses, with ongoing pressures like the fuel crisis, and a steady run of bad weather taking their toll. When things get tricky, they step in, take ownership, and get things sorted for customers when it really matters. That’s what builds trust over time, and it’s what underpins a result like this – it really is down to our people and recognising our customers as individuals, not policy numbers,” Rees said. On the significance of the ranking itself, Rees said the company treats the result as an ongoing obligation rather than a conclusion. “We have never taken this position for granted and will continue to look for ways to deliver the trust, fairness, and leadership New Zealanders deserve. At the end of the day, earning trust is about doing right by people – and that’s something that remains central to who we are,” he said.
Independent of the Kantar index, the 2026 Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey placed AA Insurance at the top of the general insurance category for the 16th year in a row. The Reader’s Digest program has run in New Zealand for 27 years. Rankings are based on responses from nearly 1,800 New Zealanders aged 18 and over, gathered by an independent research firm. Companies do not apply or pay for inclusion, and category winners are determined by a statistically significant majority of consumer votes. AA Insurance also received a highly commended placement in the health insurance category. Across the AA Group, AA Life Insurance took the top spot in funeral insurance, with AA Travel Insurance and AA Pet Insurance both receiving highly commended recognition in their categories.
Southern Cross featured across multiple categories in the same survey. Southern Cross Health Insurance was named the most trusted health insurer for the 10th consecutive year and covers approximately 940,000 members. Southern Cross Life Insurance, operating since 2016 in partnership with Chubb Life Insurance New Zealand, held the top position in life insurance for the fourth year running. Southern Cross Travel Insurance, which has offered cover to New Zealand residents since 1982, also retained its top position for the fourth consecutive year. Southern Cross Pet Insurance, which covers more than 60,000 animals, received a highly commended result in the pet insurance category.
