The number of severe weather claims IAG has received has increased by 30% over the last six months, a trend New Zealand’s biggest insurer expects to continue.

IAG, parent company of AMI, State, and NZI, recorded 74 major storms between 2017 and 2021, more than double the storms recorded in the previous four years. Severe weather events such as the West Coast flood in July 2021 resulted in 3,011 claims costing $80m.

IAG general manager of claims Wayne Tippet warned that as the frequency of severe weather events increases, so does the cost of claims.

“This is happening all over the country; I see it in the claims data. It may not be you today, but it could be you tomorrow,” Tippet said in an interview with Stuff.

In 2021, more than 54,040 property damage claims were related to severe weather, 40% higher than the previous 10-year average. Canterbury was the hardest hit region at the time, accounting for 21% of all weather claims. Auckland and Waikato followed close behind at 15% each, and Wellington accounted for 11%, Stuff reported.

“These events are growing. They are getting worse. We are talking about people’s lives here. Floods are not risk-free events, so people need to be prepared and know how they are going to respond,” Tippet said.

Tippet​ hoped IAG’s recently launched Wild Weather Tracker would show users the severe weather and likely claims in their geographic areas.

“Insurance generally helps after the event,” he said. “The problem of how to highlight the impact of these events before they happen