Cyclone Gabrielle insurance payouts slowly catching up as Hawke’s Bay claims figure grows

Damage to properties from flooding near Redclyffe Bridge at Waiohiki. The total value of insurance claims in Hawke’s Bay as of March 30 was $592,877,322, compared to $481,227,673 just a week earlier. Photo / Warren Buckland

Insurance companies are still working to chip away at claims after Cyclone Gabrielle, as another $110 million worth of claims were laid in Hawke’s Bay in a week.

The total value of insurance claims in Hawke’s Bay was $592,877,322 as of March 30, compared to $481,227,673 just a week earlier, according to data from the Insurance Council of New Zealand, Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ).

The number of Cyclone Gabrielle-related claims in the region accounts for 51.3 per cent of the total value of Cyclone Gabrielle-related claims in New Zealand, $1,155,301,657.09.

Of the 44,650 claims across the country, 6,819 had been settled as of March 30, or 15.3 per cent.

“While insurers have made a good start on settling claims, it’s important to remain realistic about the rate of settlement from now on,” said ICNZ chief executive Tim Grafton.

“Many motor and contents claims are straightforward to settle - re-lining a house can take months, full rebuilds over a year. The most complex claims, typically with land issues, can take longer still.”

He said there was typically a small proportion of high-value claims that required a lot of work to settle.

“These can be complex and time-consuming to deal with, and it’s important to be transparent with everybody about that,” Grafton said.

“Insurers are in this for the long haul, and will stand by their customers until the job is done.”

Combined claims for the Auckland Anniversary weekend flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle now stand at 96,586 claims worth $2.47 billion, surpassing the 45,000 claims worth $2.27b for the Kaikoura earthquake and worth more than 80 per cent of all general insurance claims paid across Aotearoa New Zealand last year ($3.077b).

Out of 14707 claims in Hawke’s Bay as of March 30, 4170 claims were for home insurance, 4337 claims for contents insurance, 3137 claims for motor vehicle insurance, 2843 claims for commercial insurance, 56 claims for marine insurance, 57 claims for insurance on crops and 107 claims of other varieties.