Concerns Government kept in the dark about dramatic changes to the way some homes are insured

The risk-based pricing is already hiking the cost of insuring homes in earthquake prone areas.

There are concerns the Government is being kept in the dark about the effect of dramatic changes to the way some homes are being insured.

The risk-based pricing is already hiking the cost of insuring homes in earthquake prone areas – and could soon have the same impact on coastal zones.

Last week Ursula Egan discovered the cost of insuring her four bedroom house in Karori suddenly jumped from $2200 to $7200.

Chair in Economics of Disasters, Ilan Noy, says it's a sign insurance is changing.

"We are worried that the insurance sector will start or is starting to withdraw from various locations… and we are sort of in the dark about that," Mr Noy said.

There's growing concern areas along the coast are fast becoming uninsurable, but Professor Noy says it's hard to prove.

"It's impossible. We don't really know. The insurance sector for obvious reasons… it's their commercial interest not to disclose this information."

In the United States, in areas where there are frequent hurricanes, insurance companies have to disclose when they’re going to pull out.

Professor Noy suggests the government here needs to think about this as a possibility.

But the insurance industry says mandatory reporting would make little difference.

"We report to the ministry of blah blah and get someone in Wellington to tick a box that says this house is not insured? What does that solve?," Insurance Council CEO Tim Grafton says.

The Government says it's too early to consider regulations.

"We're currently nowhere near that level of recommendation yet," Climate Change Minister James Shaw says.

I completely understand the concern. It's a trend we are paying very close attention to."

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