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Frustrated owners and tenants of several quake-damaged Kaikoura commercial properties are being urged to contact their brokers as insurers struggle to process thousands of Kaikoura earthquake claims.
Tim Grafton, Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) CEO, said that the best thing claimants can do is contact their insurance brokers and ensure they get as much quality information as possible.
“Using your broker is a really important step,” he told Fairfax Media.
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While he could sympathise with those wanting to rebuild and restart their business, insurers were doing their “level best” to deal with the challenges presented by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
“We’ve every sympathy with that situation, but the insurer has got to determine the amount of loss that has occurred in order to reach settlement,” he explained to the publication. “You can’t abandon having expert advice on what the loss is.”
The ICNZ boss said the insurers’ ability to process claims had been affected by the lack of access to Kaikoura during the initial stage, the holiday period that reduced access to required expertise, and the tens of thousands of claims made across the country.
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