New Zealand prime minister John Key was given a personal tour of the historic Lloyd’s Underwriting Room last Friday when he paid a visit to the world’s specialist insurance market.
In a speech to welcome the PM, chairman John Nelson repeated the
message he gave to Kiwi brokers at the beginning of this year when he came to New Zealand.
He pledged then that Lloyd’s would continue to stand by the country and Christchurch in supporting economic recovery through its reinsurance and insurance programmes, and cemented that support on Friday.
“The earthquakes that happened five years ago have deepened the relationship between Lloyd’s and New Zealand,” he said.
“For the past five years we have worked very closely with the Government and with the Earthquake Commission. And if you look at the way that New Zealand has recovered and Christchurch is recovering, you would have to say this was extremely well managed by the New Zealand Government.
“I do strongly believe that Lloyd’s played its part helping the New Zealand economy recover in terms of the role it played in its reinsurance programmes.”
John Key addressed the assembled brokers and underwriters and thanked them for supporting New Zealand after the Christchurch earthquake.
He explained how the city was now actively going through a rebuilding phase, and that the government is working with insurers to ensure the city is able to fully recover.
The economic losses from the earthquakes are estimated at around $40 billion with over half (59%) of this covered by insurance and reinsurance, according to Lloyd’s.
Nelson referred to his visit to Christchurch earlier this year, saying: “You have to see it to realise the true impact of what actually happened. It was a devastating event.
“But the morale and the spirit of the people in that South Island has definitely made a huge difference in terms of turning it around.
“With that I just want to put on record that Lloyd’s continues to be a strong supporter of New Zealand. We aim to assist in improving the resilience of NZ to the potential catastrophes it naturally faces and we look forward to the relationship growing as time goes on.”
