Insurance claims from the weather event in August have almost topped $48 million.
Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) today released figures that show 3165 general claims have been made following extreme flooding that hit the Top of the South in August.
They have a provisional value of $47.98 million the council says.
Claims in Nelson Tasman accounted for 1248 private claims with a provisional value of $21.64m and the rest of Aotearoa, including Marlborough, made up the other 1,917 claims valued at $26.35m.
"This was a devastating event for communities in Nelson and the Marlborough Sounds in particular that will take a long time to recover from," says ICNZ chief executive, Tim Grafton.
"It has been more difficult for some by the time taken to deal safely and methodically with the event.
“In a hillside area of Nelson, this is necessitating extensive geotechnical work to ensure the land has stopped moving. This is now being followed up with site specific damage assessments,” he says.
Nelson City and Tasman District Councils are working closely with residents, geotechnical experts, insurers and their partners Toka Tū Ake EQC, Waka Kotahi and an army of contractors, businesses and community groups to help put people back on their feet.
"Once all the assessments are safely completed, the final claims data for August’s event will likely be higher", Tim says.
"This is a difficult time for all involved and yet another reminder of the urgency with which incoming councils must deal with building resilience to climate change."
ICNZ also released final claims data for 9-14 June floods today. Preliminary figures of 3,146 claims valued at $15.45 million have been finalised at 3,552 claims worth $20.34m.
All of the data released today brings the running total for general insurance losses for extreme weather events in 2022 to $298 million.
The 2021 full year total was $324 million. ICNZ does not track related costs met by Toka Tū Ake EQC, councils and Waka Kotahi.
