Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) is calling on property owners to prepare for a potentially active wildfire season, with forecasts from Earth Sciences New Zealand (ESNZ) indicating El Niño conditions are likely to develop and strengthen over the coming months. Some guidance suggests the event could rank among the strongest on record. Issued August 31, the warning is directed at the public – but the conditions it describes have direct implications for insurance brokers with rural, lifestyle block, and peri-urban residential clients in eastern New Zealand, where FENZ has concentrated its concern.
Stronger El Niño events historically bring more frequent westerly winds, warmer temperatures, and below-normal rainfall across eastern parts of both the North and South Islands. FENZ said the timing, severity, and extent of impacts can vary, but the agency is already preparing for a potentially busy season. FENZ deputy national commander Megan Stiffler named the ignition dynamic that makes wildfire a predominantly human-caused peril. “Around 98% of wildfires in New Zealand are caused by people and their activities. We urge people to use fire safely and to always check the conditions and fire season status in their area before lighting an outdoor fire,” Stiffler said.
FENZ deputy chief executive prevention Stephen Hunt identified property-level steps that reduce risk and, as a broker reading this should note, map directly onto policy obligations: clearing dead and dry vegetation from around buildings, ensuring emergency vehicles can access properties, maintaining on-site water supplies for firefighters, and controlling spring grass growth. “These actions can make a real difference if fire threatens your home or community,” Hunt said. FENZ cited a recent fast-moving fire in Wanaka as a domestic example of how rapidly conditions can escalate and threaten residential structures. FENZ said its national coordination centre is ready for the season, with resources able to be pre-positioned in high-risk areas and personnel recently returned from North American wildfire deployments bringing operational experience back into the domestic response.
Every wildfire loss is a private insurer exposure. Unlike earthquakes, landslips, and tsunamis, wildfire falls outside the Natural Hazards Commission (NHC) Toka Tū Ake scheme – NHC covers fire only when it results directly from an earthquake, volcanic eruption, or other covered natural hazard event. Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) data shows what that exposure has looked like historically: the 2020 Lake Ohau fire produced $35.2 million in insured losses from 230 claims; the 2017 Port Hills fires generated $18.3 million from 197 claims; the 2019 Tasman District fires added $4 million across 104 claims – a combined $57.5 million, all borne exclusively by private insurers, none coinciding with a strongly developed El Niño.
A review of three insurers’ current rural policy wordings finds a consistent pattern with meaningful variations that brokers need to understand before fire season develops. Under Vero’s Farm Asset Policy (effective July 2024), fencing cover for fire, direct lightning strike, or explosion is included – but only as a scheduled item requiring explicit listing. Vero’s Lifestyler Home Policy places fencing cover within the optional “Lifestyle Assets” benefit, requiring deliberate selection. FMG states plainly that fire damage to farm fencing applies only “if you have chosen to take cover for your farm fencing on your policy.” NHC generally excludes fences from NHCover, meaning clients whose private policy does not provide fencing cover would have no NHC protection for wildfire-damaged fences.
AMI’s Rural Material Damage Policy takes a different structural approach: fencing cover for fire, lightning, and explosion is included as an automatic extension rather than an optional add-on – a meaningful distinction for brokers placing rural business clients under that wording. However, AMI’s automatic fencing extension does not cover flood damage to fences, whereas Vero’s Farm Asset Policy includes flood as a covered cause for scheduled fences. Both Vero policies also carry a 72-hour exclusion for bush fire when a new policy commences – a gap relevant for clients establishing cover as fire season develops.
All three policy wordings share a duty-of-care obligation that connects directly to the mitigation steps FENZ identified. Both Vero policies require clients to “take all reasonable steps to prevent loss,” with cover withheld where the insured is reckless or grossly negligent. AMI’s Rural Material Damage Policy states that “your claim will not be covered if you are reckless or grossly irresponsible.” The vegetation clearance, vehicle access, and water supply steps FENZ named are precisely the factors that inform a recklessness assessment at claims time.
This warning arrives as a measurable share of the market has already quietly reduced cover. An August 2025 Consumer NZ report, drawing on Stats NZ data, found the share of households cancelling or not renewing house insurance because of cost rose from 7% in 2022 to 17% in 2025, with premiums having risen 916% since 2000. Gallagher Insurance, in March 2026, identified rising construction costs and failure to update sums insured as the primary underinsurance drivers – gaps that often only reveal themselves at claim time.
For brokers, the convergence of a potentially strong El Niño, an unshared wildfire peril, and wording-specific conditionality around fencing cover creates a clear action list before summer. Under Vero and FMG rural wordings, confirm fencing fire cover is scheduled or selected – it is not automatic. Under AMI’s Rural Material Damage Policy, confirm the automatic fencing extension is in place and check whether flood cover for fences is required separately. Confirm no new policy is within a 72-hour bush fire exclusion window. Advise clients on the mitigation steps that directly link to their policy obligations. Confirm sum insureds on rural structures reflect current rebuild costs in areas with restricted access.
