Cyclones Debbie and Cook insured costs upgraded to $109m

25 August 2017

Cyclones Debbie and Cook insured costs upgraded to $109m

The two cyclones that swept through New Zealand during April and caused residents of Edgecumbe to be evacuated has resulted in insured costs of $109 million the Insurance Council of New Zealand reported today.

Provisional data released in June had 8,043 claims costing $84.4 million and the final data has now upgraded claims to 9,186 and costs to $108.7 million which makes these events the most damaging since the lower North Island storm in February 2004.

The remnants of the cyclones dubbed Debbie and Cook hit Edgecumbe the hardest and resulted in 15% of the claims by number and 50% of the value of claims received nationally for these events.

“This brings the total to date for significant weather events for 2017 to $199 million which means this year already is the most damaging year since the Wahine storm of 1968 and we are well on the way to 2017 being the most expensive year for weather events since our records began” said Insurance Council Chief Executive Tim Grafton.

Final national data released today has 7,075 house and contents claims costing $79.4 million, 1,346 commercial material damage and business interruption claims at $22.4 million and 653 motor vehicle claims costing $5.2 million.

“The weather bombs we’ve had this year highlights the importance insurance plays when disaster strikes. We would hope that uninsured renters are now taking steps to ensure their contents are protected to see them through these types of events. And for homeowners that they check their sum insured is enough to rebuild in the event of a total loss” he said.

ENDS

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