Kaikoura quake resulted in $1.8b worth of insurance claims, says Insurance Council

The November Kaikoura earthquake resulted in $1.84 billion worth of insurance claims, the Insurance Council revealed today. Pictured is a damaged building on Molesworth St in Wellington. Photo / file

The November 14 Kaikoura earthquake resulted in $1.84 billion worth of insurance claims, the Insurance Council revealed today.

The industry body said in a statement that private insurers had received nearly 43,000 claims as of May 31, of which over 31,000 were residential properties.

The $1.84b figure does not include any land or house and contents claims that are being managed by the Earthquake Commission. Insurance purchased offshore is also not included.

Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton said most the money was for commercial loss, which was valued at $1.36b. Residential claims amounted to over $460 million.

"Progress is now moving at a rapid pace so we have a high level of confidence that most people will have received settlement offers by the end of this year," he said.

"Forty per cent of all residential buildings had initial assessments completed by the end of May compared with 32 per cent in April and 19 per cent in March."

Insurers continued to focus on the most damaged areas and were making "pleasing" progress, with 57 per cent assessed in the upper South Island as of May, compared with 45 per cent in April, Grafton said.

"In terms of residential building settlements, 29% had been fully or partially settled by end of May compared with 21 per cent in April and 11 per cent in March."

The time between assessment and settlement offer for residential properties was typically between 4 and 12 weeks depending on complexity, he said.

For commercial claims, 62 per cent of all material damage claims had been fully or partially settled by the end of May, compared with 57 per cent in April and 44 per cent in March.

Over $278m of commercial material damage claims had been partially or fully settled, Grafton said.