'It could be you': Insurer warns wild weather claims much more common

Friday, 29 April 2022

New Zealand’s biggest general insurer says the number of severe weather claims it receives has increased by 30% over the last six months, and that trend is set to continue.

Wayne Tippet, general manager of claims at IAG, the parent company of AMI, State and NZI, said as the frequency of severe weather events increased, so did the cost of claims.

“This is happening all over the country, I see it in the claims data. It may not be you today, but it could be you tomorrow,” Tippet said.

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IAG general manager claims Wayne Tippet says, as the frequency of severe weather events increases, so does the cost of claims.

IAG recorded 74 major storms between 2017 and 2021, more than double 37 storms recorded in the previous four years.

Severe weather events, such as the West Coast flood in July 2021, resulted in 3011 claims costing $80 million.

In 2021, more than 54,040 property damage claims were related to severe weather, 40% higher than the previous 10-year average.

In the last year, Canterbury was the hardest hit region, making up 21% of all weather claims.

Auckland and Waikato regions followed close behind at 15% each, and Wellington at 11%.

“These events are growing, they are getting worse. We are talking about people’s lives here. Floods are not risk-free events. So people need to be prepared and know how they are going to respond.”

He said the changing weather would not change the way the insurer serviced claims, but it was still something customers would need to keep in mind.

“The insurance side of things is not changing, the world is changing. Everyone needs to take notice of this.”

IAG has launched a tool called the Wild Weather Tracker, an app that provided regular analysis of insurance claims data to make sure people are prepared for severe weather events.

Tippet said he hoped the app would show users the severe weather and likely claims in their geographic areas.

“Insurance generally helps after the event. The problem of how to highlight the impact of these events, before they happen is what we have tried to do with the weather tracker.”