Stormy Weather Hits New Zealand’s Home Insurance Bills

Insurance companies are boosting premiums to cover the cost of damage caused by bad storms in New Zealand. Adding hurt to consumers already hit by rising food and petrol prices, Statistics New Zealand figures show the cost of dwelling insurance has risen 34.2% in the past five years - more than twice the rate of inflation.

One insurance broker, Ahmed Anwar, said an example of this was a 111 sq m house which in 2002 cost $290.26 a year to insure. This year, the same house was re-insured for an annual premium of $325.13 - an increase of almost 35%. Over the same period, the premium for a 360 sq m house went from $465.76 to $697.33, a rise of almost 50%.

AA Insurance chief Chris Curtin said premium increases were "absolutely" related to a spate of bad weather.

"We've had the Manawatu and Bay of Plenty floods, South Island snowstorms, the Gisborne earthquake and tornadoes in Taranaki. The Far North has been hit by three major floods since last March,” explained Curtin.

"We've got at least one customer in Northland who had their house completely inundated with water, fixed it all up and moved back in and it's happened again."

Between 2002 and 2007, insurance companies paid out $406 million for natural disasters, more than double the $174 million bill between 1996 and 2001.

Mr. Curtin said "total loss" claims, which are made when the entire home is lost, were becoming more common. "Since 2002 the average cost of home claims has risen 100%. Over the same period the cost of premiums has risen 39 per cent. But after three or four years, it has to be passed on."

State Insurance's national sales and support manager Mike Tully said factors such as more frequent bad weather events and rising building costs were pushing up the cost. However, Tower Insurance spokesman Kevin Meekan said rising construction and building costs had had far more effect on home insurance premiums than the weather.

An insurance broker who did not want to be named said insurance companies had gone through the pool of money they keep aside to pay claims and were trying to build it up again by raising premiums.

"These things go in cycles," he said.

Insurance Council corporate affairs manager Terry Jordan said premiums had risen as companies sought to recover the cost of disasters, while on the other hand more people were taking out insurance, as disasters and other events made apparent the value of being covered.

Mr Jordan said competition between providers meant the companies hardest hit by bad weather claims could not afford to put prices up too quickly. The proportion of home and contents premiums paid out as claims had risen from 73% in 2002 to 83% in 2007.

"If you add on top of that business costs for the industry, which are roughly 25 per cent, they are making a loss on domestic home and contents."

Consumer magazine editor David Naulls said consumers hit by rising premiums should shop around. "There's a lot of variation between companies even in home and contents insurance. We looked at it and found 35 policies from 18 companies and there was quite a range of premiums."

Naulls said he expected premiums would continue to rise as global warming-related weather events increased.

Last year, the insurance industry paid out $96.25 million for weather-related disasters. Of that, $61 million went to claims from the Far North floods in July.

Sofia is an author of several articles pertaining to Home Insurance. She is known for her expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles.