David Clark, Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission (EQC) on Monday welcomed a world-first natural disaster insurance model which comes into effect on June 30.
Clark in a statement said the collaboration between eight private insurers, EQC, and the Insurance Council of New Zealand means each New Zealander now has a single point of contact for natural disaster insurance claims.
“The partnership is a good example of government and industry coming together in a coordinated way to deliver what is arguably one of the most responsive disaster response platforms in the world.
“It puts claimants at the center of the insurance process,” Clark said.
Clark said the fault with the previous system claimed over the EQC cap was first assessed by EQC, then a private insurer.
This resulted in delays, conflicting scopes of work, and added stress for homeowners.
The report of the public inquiry into the earthquake commission made a number of recommendations for EQC and private insurers to facilitate a better insurance experience for people following a natural disaster.
This model directly responds to 24 of the inquiry’s 69 recommendations, the minister said.
According to the minister, building on the model used after the Kaikoura earthquake in 2016, people would make just one claim to their private insurer for all aspects of their private and EQC cover.
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He, however, said that the EQC retains its role in coordinating the government’s insurance response and recovery following a future natural disaster.
The minister expects to introduce legislation to modernize the EQC Act at the end of this year.
