By February 14, AMI, State, and NZI had received over 21,000 claims from the summer’s North Island floods, as the devastating weather events continued.
According to IAG, 57% of claims were for homes, 21% for contents, 6% for commercial and business, and 16% for motor vehicle insurance.
Amanda Whiting, CEO of AMI, State and NZI, said the recent flooding, and now the arrival of Cyclone Gabrielle, had been heartbreaking and extremely disruptive for those affected.
“These weather events are what we plan for and what we do – it’s why we exist.
“We are working our way through the flooding claims as quickly as possible, while also processing claims from those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. As always, our number one focus is supporting our customers and communities through this really tough time.
“Some claims will be settled quickly, if not already, but some will take time as each customer’s situation is unique. But no matter how long it takes, we will be here for our customers.
“We also know that these weather events will put significant pressure on the building industry and associated suppliers. We are actively working with our partners to minimise these challenges, however, there may be some delays as we work through this.
“In the last two weeks, we’ve paid out over $23 million in claims.
“The size and scale of these events are something we haven’t seen since the Kaikoura earthquakes. We have pulled in help from right across our business - we currently have 316 teams of builders on the ground stripping out homes, and we are focussed on expediting the claims process and closing claims for our customers as soon as we possibly can.
“Last week, I visited a few of our customers’ properties. The disruption to people’s lives was hard to see, but I was also heartened to hear the many stories of community resilience and to witness people pitching in to help each other.
“Our team is working extremely hard to support our customers and will continue to do so until every last claim is closed.
“Please be assured that paying claims and getting New Zealanders back on their feet is what we are here to do.”
Flooding followed by a cyclone: NZ’s summer weather explained
Dr Bruce Buckley, an AMI, State, and NZI meteorologist, said said the weather on the North Island this summer was a classic example of warmer tropical seas feeding greater quantities of moisture into extremely damaging, heavy rainbands.
“While New Zealand’s physical location means it has always been susceptible to systems with tropical moisture influences, the effects of climate change and the current and future La Niña patterns means they are likely to have higher impacts when they occur.
“Typically, tropical cyclones transition into extra-tropical cyclones before reaching our shores, but they can still carry damaging winds and intense rainfall. New Zealand will become more susceptible to stronger storms, because having warmer, more tropical seas means there’s less opportunity for the systems to weaken before reaching New Zealand.”
In a poll conducted by AMI, State, and NZI Insurance in the latter part of last year, 82% of New Zealanders said they thought wild weather was becoming more severe and frequent.
