Private insurers are on track to meet their target of having the majority of Kaikōura earthquake settlements complete by year-end the Insurance Council of New Zealand reported today. Private insurers have fully settled 69% of all residential and commercial claims for the 14 November earthquake. Next week will be a year since the second largest earthquake with insured losses in New Zealand’s history occurred and caused damage the length of the country with the Upper South Island and Wellington hit worst. “We are very pleased with our rate of progress and are on track to have in excess of 75% of all residential properties fully settled by year end” said Tim Grafton, Insurance Council Chief Executive. “Insurers are acting as agents for the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and are managing most of the building and contents claims.  We believe this is the model for the future as it has proven to deliver efficiencies for everyone by reducing double handling and speeding up settlements.   Treasury is currently reviewing the EQC Act and the new Government has the opportunity to ensure insurers assess and manage all claims in future” he said. “As at 31 October 91% of all residential assessments have been complete with 65% of building claims fully settled and 92% of home contents claims fully settled.  Private insurers have been settling at a rate of about 10% per month so we are confident we will have the majority of claims closed out by the end of the year” he said. “The total value of insurance claims for the 14 November Kaikōura earthquake as at 31 October 2017 is over $2 billion with most of the losses in commercial claims at $1.47 billion, with residential claims amounting to nearly $0.6 billion” he said. Private insurers have received over 44,000 claims, of which over 39,000 are for residential home and contents claims. For commercial claims, 80% by number have been fully or partially settled by the end of October. In dollar terms, over $547 million of commercial claims have been partially or fully settled. Note to editor: ICNZ figures do not include any claims that EQC is managing for the Kaikōura earthquake nor where insurance has been purchased off-shore.