The Auckland storm in April that cut power to tens of thousands of properties has come at a cost of more than the February cyclones Gita and Fehi combined.
The April storm that swept New Zealand and cut power for days for thousands of Aucklanders has resulted in more than 13,000 insurance claims costing $72.1 million, the Insurance Council of New Zealand has reported today.
The storm on April 10 and 11 has been the most expensive so far this year, said Insurance Council Chief Executive Tim Grafton.
Last year was the most expensive year on record for severe weather events with $243 million in insured losses, Mr Grafton said.
"This storm brings the total for this year to $173.1 million and we are only in May and still have the late-April floods to calculate so it is not hard to imagine this year being another big one," he said.
House and contents claims made up the bulk of the 13,327 claims from the April nationwide storm and cost $34.8 million.
Commercial claims numbered 1,810 and cost almost $34.1 million.
Tornado ripped roofs off homes and cut power to thousands
Marine, motor and 'other' claims accounted for the remainder.
The Insurance Council says with more and more extreme weather events being felt by the country, it welcomes the release this week of the Climate Change Adaptation Working Group’s recommendations for adapting to climate change in New Zealand.
"Every dollar spent on adaptation now will be more than repaid in future savings. The longer we wait to adapt, the more it will cost us and if we fail to adapt altogether it will cost us the most," Mr Grafton said.
The April storm was the fifth biggest storm in New Zealand this century for insurance cost.
The biggest was the Lower North Island storms in February 2004 which cost $148.3 million, followed by Cyclone Debbie in April 2017 that cost $91.5 million, nationwide storms in September 2013 that brought a bill of $77.1 million, then the July 2007 storm that hit the Far North, Auckland and Coromandel and cost $72.7 million.
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