Private insurers have paid out nearly $19 billion to settle commercial and residential claims since the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, says the Insurance Council.
Half a decade after Christchurch was first hit by crippling quakes, billions has been paid out in insurance cover. Photo: RNZ / Karen Brown
The council said about $10bn was for commercial property, and meant 95 percent of commercial claims were covered.
Chief executive Tim Grafton said nearly $9bn was for domestic claims, and covered 94 percent of all Canterbury earthquake residential properties.
This represented 21,859 payments over the cap that limited Earthquake Commission liabilities for ordinary homes.
A further 63,739 payments were for so-called out-of-scope claims, which covered non-building assets such as fences and driveways.
The council said, of the properties still to be completed, 352 claims were for people who were still to receive offers from their private insurer, while 440 claims covered properties where people were yet to make decisions on the offers they had received.
