New Zealand needs to put processes in place to deal with the impact of climate change, the Insurance Council says.
The first storm of 2017, in early January, is likely to cost insurers more than $27 million.
It caused flooding and damage, particularly in Coromandel and Bay of Plenty,
“In particular, the towns of Kaiāua and Thames suffered extensively. We went into these towns shortly after the storm passed, along with private insurers, to talk to residents about the help they needed and to listen to their experiences. It’s important to us as a sector to get claims resolved quickly so people can get back on their feet and talking to those affected is the first step,” said Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton.
“The cost of this storm so far demonstrates the importance of adapting to climate change and putting processes and infrastructure improvements in place that minimise the costs and impacts of these events.
“As time goes on, we expect these sorts of events to become both more frequent and more severe. Every dollar spent on adaptation now will be more than repaid in future savings.”
More than 3600 claims have been placed with private insurers for storm damage.
At the recent Pacific Climate Change Conference in Wellington, Grafton told attendees that damage caused by gradual sea level rises should not be expected to be covered by insurance,
“Sea level rise is not sudden, nor is it unexpected, it is certain and as such insurance does not cover it. If a house is under water due to sea level rises that’s not an insurance claim.”
He said that was different from situations where there was a storm surge combined with floods that caused damage. “Insurance responds in those instances.”
