Southern flooding costs blow out by $10m

Wednesday, 5 August 2020

Insurance costs for the February floods in Southland, Fiordland and the Clutha district have blown out by nearly $10 million, with insurance claimants receiving $29.6m for weather related losses.

In February, MetService said more than 1000mm of rain fell in a 60-hour period in Milford Sound, causing substantial damage in Fiordland.

The same weather system dumped rain in Southland, the West Otago and the Clutha district, causing rivers to burst their banks.

Insurers received more than 1000 claims for weather related damage.

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Floodwaters at the Milford Sound visitors' terminal on February 3. More than 190 tourists were stranded at the tourist hotspot because of flooding.

* Emergency responses leave Gore District Council with a deficit

* $19.7 million worth of insurance claims paid out for Southland floods

* Insurance company receives 130 claims totalling $1.2m from flood damage

The Insurance Council of New Zealand has paid out $29.6 million in weather-related insurance claims from flooding in February.

* Wellington insurance taskforce suggests raising Earthquake Commission cap to $400,000**

The resulting payments are for customers with private insurance and does not include claims from councils to repair or replace infrastructure.

Insurance Council of New Zealand chief executive Tim Grafton said the cost to support customer's recovery from the flood, that saw a state of emergency declared in Southland, Fiordland and the Clutha district, increased significantly from the preliminary figure of $19.7m in early May.

The amount increased by $9.9m because of the time it took people to make claims, or the time it took to assess damage.

There were 517 claims for house and contents totalling more than $8m.

The ICNZ did not have details of how many homes were damaged because of the floods, but a Gore District Council spokesperson said that 29 homes in Gore, Mataura, Pukerau and rural areas had water above the floor line during the February floods.

A lot more had water running underneath them, and a lot of garages and out buildings were also affected., the spokesperson said.

There were 451 commercial claims totalling $20.2m, including for commercial material damage, business interruption claims and for farms.

However, no claims had been made for the loss of crops, a spokesperson said.

The Gore District Council said 18 businesses in Gore, Mataura and Pukerau were affected by flood waters.

There were also 115 motor vehicle claims totalling $1.1m, and four marine claims worth a combined total of $171.2m.

Eleven other claims, totalling $171,273 included for things like livestock or other farming related claims that didn’t clearly fall into the categories of domestic or commercial, an ICNZ spokesperson said.

Councils have also made substantial claims to fix infrastructure such as roading, which was damaged during the floods.