Insurance is widely acknowledged as a key component in an organisation's disaster preparedness and resilience. But how effective is insurance in aiding business recovery following a major disaster? The aim of this research was to summarise the experiences of both the insurance industry and businesses dealing with commercial insurance claims following the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
Overlapping claims and general confusion are delaying money payable to New Zealand for damage from the Canterbury earthquakes. The money involved is payable through reinsurance schemes taken out by insurance companies in this country, with firms overseas.
The Insurance Council has shot down criticism the industry may be delaying earthquake claims for financial gain.
Two years on from the Christchurch earthquakes, a local author says the insurance industry has failed in its response to the disaster.
Tower Insurance has increased the amount it is willing to pay towards repairing an earthquake-damaged Christchurch home, but is still refusing to pay for a more expensive rebuild.
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 16 June 2013 entitled, "Pondering how to make home feel like home...".
Both sides are expected to sum up their cases today in the legal battle between Tower Insurance and a Christchurch couple, over the amount owed on an earthquake damaged home.
A video of a presentation by Indranil Kongar of University College London on "Lifeline systems interdependencies: the insurance perspective". The presentation was delivered at the learning forum on Interdependencies of Lifeline Systems as part of the University of Canterbury's Lifeline Week.
A photograph of a protest sign reading, "AMI lacking integrity? AMI misleading you? AMI stressing you out? AMI delaying you?". The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Woodham Road, Linwood".
A photograph of protest signs on a fence. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Woodham Road, Linwood".
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 11 November 2013 entitled, "Keeping it real...".
A video of an interview with Sarah O'Brien about the official information requests that she is filing with EQC. O'Brien talks about the substandard living conditions that Cantabrians are having to deal with while they wait for EQC to respond to them.
The Canterbury earthquakes caused huge amounts of damage to Christchurch and the surrounding area and presented a very challenging situation for both insurers and claimants. While tourism has suffered significant losses as a result, particularly due to the subsequent decrease in visitor numbers, the Canterbury region was very fortunate to have high levels of insurance coverage. This report, based on data gathered from tourism operators on the ground in Canterbury, looks at how this sector has been affected by the quakes, claims patterns, and the behaviour and perceptions of tourism operators about insurance.
Earthquake damaged Christchurch homes written off by insurance companies are becoming hot property for investors wanting to make money renting them out.
A public talk by Sarah Miles, author of 'The Christchurch Fiasco: The Insurance Aftershock'. This talk formed part of the 'Clearing the claims' session.
The Christchurch couple taking their insurance company to the High Court over their earthquake payout have knocked almost a quarter of a million dollars off their claim.
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 11 July 2013 entitled, "Do you ever feel like you are walking through deep sand?".
Transcript of Mike's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Blog of Sandy Lees, a genealogist, taphophiliac, and ephemera collector. Reflects her interest in Canterbury history. Includes a section on the insurance woes the blogger had after the Christchurch earthquakes.
A blog by an ex-employee of the Earthquake Commission discussing flaws in its handling of insurance claims made as the result of the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.
On the third anniversary of the first major earthquake to hit Christchurch thousands of people with the most badly damaged homes are still wrangling with their insurance companies over rebuilds.
A video of an interview with James Jameson about the lack of access to his apartment in the Victoria Apartments. Many of Jameson's possessions have been trapped in the building since the 22 February 2011 earthquake, including irreplaceable art and book collections. After the earthquake, Jameson was given a couple of hours to retrieve his computer and other essentials, but he has not been allowed in since. Jameson talks about the lack of communication from the authorities , the likelihood that his possessions have been ruined, and his inability to make an insurance claim until he knows he definitely cannot retrieve his possessions.
More well known as the Government Life building - too be demolished.
Transcript of A C Coleshill's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
A copy of the CanCERN online newsletter published on 5 July 2013
A copy of the CanCERN online newsletter published on 1 March 2013
A Waikato primary school refuses to back down and re-enroll a violent eleven year old and the country's largest general insurer defends changes to home insurance policies in the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes.
A story submitted by Lynne Ball to the QuakeStories website.
Summary of oral history interview with Estelle Laugesen about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Transcript of Betty's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.