Home · Why Moneta
Most of our clients come from a referral. This is why they keep sending people.
Plenty of advisers can recommend a policy. The work that matters happens in the quiet bits: the reviews, the late call before a claim settlement that gets paid because someone went and asked the right person.
Our story
Started in 1997 in Christchurch. Still here. Still local.
Moneta was founded by Steve Richens in 1997, after a decade with Norwich Union. Steve's belief was simple: most insurance gets sold, not advised, and Canterbury families and businesses deserved someone in their corner who would do the latter properly.
In 2015 Matt Richens (Steve's son) joined the business, and in 2018 Matt and long-time colleague Nick Hau bought Moneta as a planned succession.
The legal entity is What If Planning Ltd, FSP 648749, FMA-licensed. The brand name, the office, and most of the clients have been here a lot longer than that.
“We're independently owned. We're not aligned to one insurer. We're here for the long run, and most of our clients have been with us for a decade or more.”
Matt Richens, Director
By the numbers
Since 1997. A small Canterbury team. A lot of households who stayed.
1997Founded
Christchurch, by Steve Richens.
10,000+Cantabrians helped
Canterbury households, businesses and whānau.
4.9Google rating
From 87 published reviews.
$20m+Claims paid
Cover that did what it was meant to.
The differences that matter
How we're different from a bank, a big adviser firm, or a call centre.
vs banks
Independent, by design.
Banks sell their own products. We can recommend across every major insurer in New Zealand, which means the advice is built for you, not for a quarterly target.
vs big firms
You get the same advisers every time.
No rotating account manager. The person who sets up your cover is the one you call at claim time, three years or fifteen years later.
vs "just shopping around"
We stay involved.
Anyone can compare prices. The value shows up at year 7, when your situation has changed and the cover needs a tune-up, or at year 12, when something goes wrong and you need a hand.
What we believe
Three things that shape every conversation.
No bullshit, no jargon.
If we can't explain it in plain English, we shouldn't be recommending it. The job is making this stuff understandable, not impressive.
Care over commission.
If a smaller policy is the right answer, that's what we'll recommend. If no policy is the right answer, that's what we'll say.
We turn up at claim time.
That's the whole reason this business exists. It's not a marketing line, it's the thing our reputation rests on.
In their words
From real, recent Google reviews.
"Matt and the team walked us through everything in plain English. When my husband was diagnosed two years later, Moneta managed the entire claim. We didn't have to fight for anything."
"Ben took the time to actually understand our business before recommending cover. No pressure, no upsell, just genuinely useful advice. Rare in this industry."
"We've been with Moneta for over a decade. Three policy reviews, one major claim, zero stress. Nick treats us like family."
Live Google Reviews shown above. Read all 87 reviews on Google
If a friend has sent you our way, that's a great place to start.
Most people just want to know they're not making an obvious mistake. 15 minutes will usually tell you.
Prefer to ring?
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm.