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The latest storm to hit New Zealand is predicted to cost $50 million in insurance payouts, and has pushed up premium costs.
The Insurance Council said today that while it is early, the current cost of the storm was estimated at $25 million and climbing.
Hundreds of insurance staff had been mobilised around the country, but they have been unable to get into the worst-affected areas to attend to claims.
People who had flooded or storm-damaged properties had not yet been able to make claims due to power and telephone outages.
As the storm was unlikely to be the last one this winter, the insurance industry was gearing up for further climate-related incidents.
This included a rise in premiums because of the ongoing pressure of climate change on New Zealand.
Council chief executive Chris Ryan said the insurers were "reluctant" to increase premiums, but the rise was likely to continue.
"[Insurers] are increasingly under pressure because of the significant payments being made as a consequence of climate-related events, as well as the cost of repairs," he said.
This year's winter was shaping up to be another destructive and expensive one for New Zealanders .
It followed on from last year's record-breaking list of climate related payouts.
* Last year's storms in the Far North cost insurers $12.5 million.
* Flooding in Nelson and New Plymouth cost $1.1 million.
* Tornadoes in Taranaki cost $8.3 million.
* Subsequent storms in the Far North, Auckland and Coromandel cost $61 million.
* Frosts in Otago and Canterbury cost $7 million.
* High winds in the central North Island cost $5 million.
* The Gisborne earthquake cost $60 million.
- NZPA
