Once you and your whānau are safe, the quickest way to make your insurance claim is online. Otherwise, we have specialist teams available who can help you make your claim over the phone.

After you’ve made your claim, our team will get in touch to discuss the next steps and, if needed, arrange an assessment. If the disaster affects many customers, there may be some delays, but we’ll do everything we can to keep things moving while keeping you up to date.

This depends on how the claim is settled. If you’re getting repairs done, you’ll need to pay any applicable excess to the repairer or supplier. In the case of a cash settlement, the excess will be deducted off the total amount you are paid out. To find out more about your excess, please check your policy schedule and wording.

Your policy excess

If you have multiple policies with us that are insured at the same address, and you need to make a claim on more than one policy for damage caused by the same fire, storm, or flood event, you will only have to pay one excess, whichever is higher. This applies to house, contents, personal vehicle, or boat policies, only.

An 'event' is a one-off occurrence or a series of things that occurred, which have come from one source or the same original cause. This means that a period of severe weather or storm that might last several days, caused by a single weather system, is one event.

Your Claim Manager will be able to discuss the specifics of your claims and excess with you.

EQCover excess

A separate excess will apply if you need to make an EQCover claim, which your Claim Manager will discuss with you prior to settlement. Have a read through our Understanding your EQCover Claim factsheet for more information.

EQCover is provided by the Earthquake Commission (EQC) for residential buildings and defined areas of residential land. It covers building and land damage resulting from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, natural landslips and hydrothermal activity. It also insures for fire resulting from any of these events, and land damage from storms or floods.

To make things simpler for you, we manage the EQC component of your claim too, which means you don’t need to make a claim with EQC. We have a special dedicated team of EQC accredited Senior Claims Consultants with experience in natural disasters who will manage your claim.

Have a read through our Understanding your EQCover Claim factsheet for more information.

Most people will automatically have EQCover if they have a current Home insurance policy. EQCover is subject to any specific terms on your insurance and EQC cover. For example, with flood and storm damage, EQCover only applies to residential land. If you don’t have home insurance, you won’t have EQCover for natural disasters.

If you need urgent assistance, please contact us as soon as you can. If you’re experiencing vulnerability, you’ve been evacuated, or your home is unliveable, we’ll prioritise your claim to get you back on your feet.

Depending on your policies, you might be covered for temporary accommodation. Check your policy wording and get in touch with us to see what support is available.

You can do temporary 'make safe' repairs to make your home safe and weathertight, such as boarding up broken windows, just try to take photos before you do so. Where possible, please contact us before you engage a tradesperson or make any non-urgent repairs.

You’ll need to arrange your temporary accommodation. Just let us know your choice so we can ensure it meets the terms specified in your policy wording. It’s important to note any temporary accommodation agreement made is held between you and the accommodation provider.

In most cases your policy will outline that the accommodation must be of ‘reasonable’ value, so it’s good to check reasonable market rents in your area.

If a local authority (such as a government agency, Police, Fire and Emergency, or Civil Defence) has asked you to evacuate, and your policy covers you for temporary accommodation, you can go ahead and arrange a place to stay. In these situations, cover will apply regardless of whether your home is damaged or not ‐ you'll just need to pay your excess.

If your home or belongings are damaged after you’ve been evacuated, you won’t need to pay another excess.