$122 million of insurance claims made after July's great storm

Tuesday, 7 September 2021

Marco van der Laan and partner Stephanie Wilson outside their red stickered home in Westport damaged in the July storm.

The storm that battered the country in July has so far prompted $122 million in insurance claims.

The storm, which swept up the country between July 16-19 resulted in a rare red weather warning from Metservice, and just over 5200 insurance claims, according to the Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ).

The storm left a raft of damage across much of the country, with sever flood damage in Westport, as well as slips and flooding through the upper South Island, Wellington and North Island, said ICNZ chief executive Tim Grafton.

Of the claims made, 3790 were on house and contents policies, 590 on vehicle insurance policies, while the remaining 795 were made on business policies.

* 2020: Worst-ever year for weather-related claims, insurers say

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited Westport to see the flood recovery efforts and met affected homeowner Dorothy Burrows.

* Northland flooding: $37m worth of damage to homes, land and vehicles

“The value of insurance is powerfully demonstrated with the support provided to Westport customers, where we have seen insurers meet over $85m of losses in a town with a population of about 4000,” Grafton said.

Claims made so far in the rest of the South Island for storm and flooding damage were $14.7m, and $15.4m in Wellington.

Claims in the rest of the North Island added up to just under $6.7m.

“This year severe weather has affected many of our communities, with the impacts of climate change being felt by many, with severe weather becoming more frequent and more severe.”

He said during New Zealand’s lockdown, insurers had continued to progress existing claims for affected customers where restrictions have allowed.

In Westport itself the recovery was also affected by a shortage of accommodation for tradies coming into the region to carry out work, Grafton said.

“These aspects are completely out of insurers hands, but they are doing all they can to support their customers affected by delays or the impacts of Covid on supply chains that may mean a longer recovery for some.”

Bad weather cost insurers a record of $274m last year.

Over 13,600 households made claims for damage caused by weather-related claims in 2020, ICNZ said in February this year.

The $274m in claims paid included those from the severe weather and floods across the Greater Wellington region between November 29 and December 1, and the freak hailstorm that hit the Nelson-Marlborough region on Boxing Day.