The economic toll of our summer of storms continues to mount, with insurance payouts now topping $1 billion, a number second only to the Christchurch earthquakes. With the release of this issue of the Wild Weather Tracker, we have also called on the new government to prioritise flood resilience.
Amanda Whiting Chief Executive Officer AMI, State, and NZI Insurance
In the past six months, we recorded 11 significant storms and received 6,183 weather-related claims from these events, down 55% from the same time last year.
Auckland fared the worst, with 42% of all weather claims, followed by Canterbury with 9% and the Waikato region with 8.4%. House claims were the most common (62% of claims), followed by contents (13%) and motor vehicles (12%).
It is widely accepted that wild weather is increasing in frequency and severity. While the social costs of these events are incalculable, they also have significant economic impacts. To gain some insights into this, we looked back at weather-related claims from the last five years.
Overall, the number of weather-related claims is increasing, and so are the average costs per claim.
Wayne Tippet Executive General Manager Claims AMI, State, and NZI
What happens after you lodge a claim? While the process can differ in individual situations according to the damage, below is a simplistic view of the typical steps required to settle a house claim with flood damage.
Note: this is a simplistic view only and individual situations may differ, especially if there has been land damage, where input from several other experts is required.
Coming into the summer months, it’s important to think about how we can reduce our risk from climate change – both in terms of the types of weather we might see, but also reducing our own impact on the environment.
Due to the developing El Niño conditions, our team of weather experts and meteorologists expects significantly warmer than normal sea surface temperatures around much of New Zealand. As a result, the next few months are likely to have higher temperatures, drier conditions, and lower soil moisture.
This will lead to two likely weather outcomes:
Rain/flood risk – near or above average for the west coast of South Island. Below average elsewhere, returning to near average from mid-summer.
Wildfire risk – average to above average risk, apart from the west coast of the South Island where it will be lower than average. Elevated risk for the Canterbury region.
Wayne Tippet Executive General Manager Claims AMI, State, and NZI
There is a wealth of information available on our Disaster Claims Hub to help New Zealanders prepare for, and recover from, natural disasters.
