Te Aitanga a Mahaki chief executive Robyn Rauna, who is leading the tribal response to the cyclone recovery around hard-hit Te Karaka, said some people were still too traumatised to have made a claim yet.
One elderly man, whose house was damaged, lost his wife earlier this year.
“What we need is a recognition that some of these families are at their most vulnerable right now and they need a way to go forward,” Ms Rauna said.
“That was the basis on which we put ourselves out there to offer this service.”
After heeding advice from Ngai Tahu around how long it took some of the post- Christchurch earthquake claims to come through, a team was set up to “front-foot” insurance claims in Te Karaka.
The group had arranged to meet with four main insurers.
“Ultimately, the core of it is to provide coordination of repairs of people’s homes,” Ms Rauna said. “We don’t want our families to be facing up to two years of delays.
“Of the assessments that I had attended, I found the loss adjusters to be supportive. I’ve been really surprised how kind, helpful and humane the loss adjusters have been.
“I know that hasn’t been the experience of some people but I’m pleased to say of the assessments I have attended there are some kind and empathetic people. Going forward, that just has to transfer into the swift settlement of people’s claims.”
Nationally, combined claims for the Auckland Anniversary Weekend flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle stand at 96,586 claims worth $2.47 billion.
Insurers have so far paid out for 14,124 — 15 percent of 96,586 claims.
On March 30, insurers had put
$396 million back into communities and were making payments at a rate of just over $9.5 million per day.
“While insurers have made a good start on settling claims it’s important to remain realistic about the rate of settlement from now on,” Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa chief executive Tim Grafton said. “Many motor and contents claims are straightforward to settle — relining houses can take months; full rebuilds over a year. The most complex claims, typically with land issues, can take longer still. Insurers are in this for the long haul.”
Insurers were focused on the more significant, complex and expensive claims, which would take longer to settle.
“There is typically a small proportion of high-value claims that require a lot of work to settle,” Mr Grafton said. “These can be complex and time-consuming to deal with and it’s important to be transparent with everybody about that. Insurers are in this for the long haul and will stand by their customers until the job is done.”
Aon New Zealand chief executive and chairman Geoff Blampied said the company was committed to supporting all its 3000 affected clients.
“We have mobilised our colleagues throughout our 70-plus branch network, as well as seconding a number of claims specialists from our Australian team to assist.”
CYCLONE GABRIELLE INSURANCE
CLAIMS BY THE NUMBERS:
Hawke’s Bay 14,707 claims, worth $592.877m
Tairāwhiti 2021 claims, worth $53.368m
Auckland 15,857 claims, worth $92.831m
Northland, Coromandel and Waikato 15,857 claims worth $416.224m.
