Provisional insurance claims data collected for the 20 May tornado affecting Taitoko Levin amount to $8.1 million across 807 claims comprising 532 domestic, 184 vehicle, 86 commercial, two business interruption and three other claims.

“While there have always been tornados, they seem particularly unusual in Horowhenua but reflect the type of weather we can expect to see more of as a result of climate change,” said Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) Chief Executive, Tim Grafton. “A warmer atmosphere is more energetic and capable of holding more moisture which can give rise to more extreme weather events such as storms and related phenomena such as tornados.”

The average domestic claim came in at just over $12,000 and the average vehicle claim at just over $4,200. At the top end of the domestic claims, several homes were extensively damaged with some requiring major work to repair their rooves. Some homes were rendered uninhabitable with whanau relying upon their insurers to pay for temporary accommodation while insurers and local tradies put things right.

“Given the average cost of claims, especially for people’s homes and vehicles, and that damage can seemingly come out of nowhere, this event really does underline the importance of insurance” added Tim. 

Catergory				Claims	Value
Domestic				532	$6,431,609
Commercial Material Damage			86	$889,637
Business Interruption/Loss of Profits		2	$7,000
Marine  (including Land transit)			0	$0
Marine  – Trailer craft			0	$0
Marine  – Moored craft			0	$0
Motor Vehicle				184	$775,514
Crops				0	$0
Other				3	$11,366
Total				807	$8,115,126