Private insurers have paid out over half a billion dollars in claims from the 14 November earthquake, with $108 million paid to customers in the month of June, the Insurance Council reported today. “Progress is moving at a rapid pace and we have a high level of confidence that the majority of people will have received settlement offers by the end of this year.   Fifty one percent of all residential buildings had been assessed by the end of June compared with 39% in May, 32% in April and 19% in March.  Insurers continue to focus on the most damaged areas and we are pleased that assessment progress is at 73% for the Upper South Island as at end of June” said Insurance Council Chief Executive Tim Grafton. Private insurers have received over 43,000 claims, of which over 31,000 are for residential properties.  Insurers are acting as agents for the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and are managing most of the building and contents claims.  These claims and costs do not include any claims that EQC is managing for the Kaikōura earthquake nor where insurance has been purchased off-shore. The total value of insurance claims for the 14 November Kaikōura earthquake as at 30 June 2017 is $1.88 billion with most of the losses in commercial claims at $1.39 billion, with residential claims amounting to nearly $474 million. The Upper South Island is north of the Waimakariri River and takes in Hurunui, Kaikōura and Marlborough districts. In terms of residential settlements, 36% had been fully or partially settled by end of June compared with 29% in May, 21% in April and 11% in March” he said. The time between assessment and settlement offer for residential properties is typically between 4 and 12 weeks. For commercial claims, 67% by number had been fully or partially settled by the end of June, compared with 62% in May, 57% in April and 44% in March.  In dollar terms, over $363 million of commercial claims have been partially or fully settled.