Canterbury quake world's 4th in cost

The Canterbury earthquake is the costliest the New Zealand insurance industry has faced and ranked internationally as the fourth-most expensive earthquake, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says.

Tens of thousands of Cantabrians suffered damage to their homes in the September 4, magnitude 7.1 earthquake.

Mr Brownlee, the minister responsible for earthquake recovery, said the recovery effort would carry on in the holiday period.

"We're coming up to four months on from one of the most expensive insurance events ever worldwide. We are already getting international recognition for the speed with which the recovery process got under way."

The Canterbury earthquake saw a total of 161,660 claims lodged with the Earthquake Commission (EQC), he said.

"This earthquake ranks globally as the fourth most-costly earthquake for insurers since 1970 after Northridge, California, in 1994, Central and Southern Chile in 2010, and Kobe, Japan, in 1995.

Reinsurers Swiss Re recently ranked Canterbury as the third most costly insurance loss worldwide in 2010. That included storms, earthquakes and floods.

"It will be a long recovery process for Canterbury and the Government is committed to ensuring a sense of urgency continues throughout. As a Cantabrian, I am heartened by the patience and resilience shown by the people living in the region as well as the support shown by the rest of the country."

The EQC had assessed more than 65,000 claims, more than a third of all received. During the holiday EQC would have 225 loss adjustors and estimators on deck and the call centre operating 24 hours a day processing claims.

The EQC this week raised the estimated cost of the quake to between $2.75 billion and $3.5 billion, from a previous estimate of $1-2 billion.

EQC chief executive Ian Simpson said far more claims had been made than they had originally expected.

"EQC's initial cost estimate of $1-2 billion in late September was based solely on the size and location of the earthquake and was made prior to all the claims being lodged with EQC," Mr Simpson said.

EQC was only liable for the first $1.5 billion, after which reinsurance took effect.