Lower North Island and West Cost flooding cost insurers $44m

7 August 2015

Lower North Island and West Cost flooding cost insurers $44m

The June weather bomb that caused extensive flooding in the lower North Island and the West Coast of the South Island cost insurers over $44 million, bringing the total cost to date for 2015 weather related events close to $100m the Insurance Council of New Zealand reported today.

Insurance Council Chief Executive Tim Grafton said “Provisional figures show the Lower North Island damage to total $36.8m and the West Coast of the South Island $7.5m”.

The extensive flooding in the lower North Island shows over 1600 domestic claims cost insurers more than $23 million, with nearly 600 commercial and business interruption claims costing over $11 million. The remainder of claims was largely for motor vehicles at over $1.3m”.

The Insurance Council has produced a 15 point plan to protect New Zealand from Natural Hazards as New Zealand is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impact of natural disasters for an economy of our size. “Recent Insurance Council research underlines the need to take these risks seriously with 64% of New Zealanders agreeing central and local government need to actively plan and increase funding for initiatives to reduce and prevent damage from natural hazards before they occur” he said.

Grafton says “the research also found that 71% of kiwis do not think that New Zealand is well prepared to minimise the economic and social costs of natural hazards.”

The full cost to the insurance sector will be more than $44m as a substantial amount of council infrastructure damage will be underwritten through offshore insurance arrangements.

Final claims figures will be known in early October.

ENDS

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