29 August 2024

A year since the launch of the Natural Hazards Portal, new research from the Natural Hazards Commission (NHC) Toka Tū Ake shows the Portal is helping people understand their risks and take actions to make their homes safer.

The new report from NielsonIQ found that over half (53%) of people took steps to improve their resilience after visiting the Portal. The most common actions were reviewing or purchasing home insurance (30%) and securing tall or heavy furniture to walls (28%). Other steps included preparing emergency kits and moving beds and cots away from windows.

“This research is a great way to celebrate the Portal’s first birthday,” says NHC’s Head of Risk Reduction, Sarah-Jayne McCurrach, who led the development of the Portal.

“We know that more New Zealanders are considering natural hazards when buying a home, and this report suggests they are turning that interest into action when they become homeowners.”

Since its launch, the Portal has connected over 57,000 people with information about how past natural hazards have impacted their potential new homes, or current properties.

“The Portal is an important resource to help people make decisions about where to live or how to strengthen their homes against the hazards they may face. The growing traffic we see on the Portal aligns with New Zealanders’ growing appetite for risk information.”

90% of Kiwi homebuyers consider natural hazards when buying a new home. In the last two years since May 2022, the proportion of people who have taken steps to make their homes safer has increased by 10%, to 60%.

The Portal gives users quick and easy access to information about settled NHC insurance claims on individual properties across New Zealand. If a claim has been settled on a property, the Portal’s Claims Map shows users information about the event that caused the damage, when it happened, and how they can prepare for future events.

Wellington house hunter, Raj P, has been using the Portal to help inform his purchase.

Raj says, “When I see a property for sale that I’m interested in, I always check first whether the house and surrounding properties have had any NHC claims. Some people might find it scary, but it’s better to know the reality. It’s a great tool to get a quick and accurate understanding of what may have happened to the property in the past and to know what questions to ask to understand if the damage has been fixed.”

McCurrach stresses that past claims aren’t necessarily a bad thing. For example, strengthening work may have been done to restore the property to a stronger state than before the event. Likewise, a property without a claim doesn’t mean it has never been damaged by an event, only that an NHC insurance claim hasn’t been settled.

NHC is now turning its attention to making the Portal even more useful for New Zealanders by adding new features. McCurrach says, “We want to be able to show people what their homes and neighbourhoods may look like in the next 10, 20 and even 50 years, and connect them with information on what to do about their risks.”

One of the next features NHC hopes to add on the Portal is local and regional hazard maps – such as tsunami, earthquake and liquefaction – on top of the existing Claims Map, allowing people to explore the impacts of past hazards as well as potential future hazards on properties.

The future Portal will make even greater use of the existing research, data and modelling that the NHC and others invest in to help New Zealanders make informed decisions about their natural hazard risks.

“Much of this information already exists and we want to provide this in a way that is useful for New Zealanders. By collaborating across agencies to bring this information into the Portal, we can go further in helping people understand the potential risks when buying a new home.

“We’re building a future where everyone has access to information about their natural hazard risks at their fingertips, so they can make informed and risk-based decisions about where they chose to live.”

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