The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) has released claims progress data for the July 2021 Westport flooding, as the event’s first anniversary approaches.

According to ICNZ, 95% of the 615 residential claims were either fully settled (469) or near completion (113). Of the remaining claims, 19 are awaiting a customer decision, 11 have an agreed scope of work ready to commence and three are still being scoped and priced.

The estimated total value of residential claims is at $56.8 million.

“This has been a long road for homeowners, insurers, and the wider community,” said ICNZ chief executive Tim Grafton. “While the majority of claims are now settled, work has been hampered by covid, supply chain issues, a shortage of tradies and repeat flooding events.”

According to ICNZ, contents and motor claims brought the total claims amount to be paid by insurers to the Westport community for the July 2021 flooding event to $73.1 million. The total for this event across the West Coast, including the Buller District and Westport, is $97.2 million.

“The West Coast community, local and central government are continuing to work hard on the necessary investment to build resilience in the area,” Grafton said. “Doing so is not just a matter of keeping insurance both available and relatively affordable as it remains today, but to protecting the long-term future of the community, its economy and environment.

“There are valuable lessons to be learnt for all of Aotearoa here – about how action needs to be taken to improve resilience and protect our communities in the face of climate driven sea level rise and increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather events.”