The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has received more than 300,000 claims from the Canterbury earthquakes, which, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says, rank as one of the biggest natural disasters worldwide.
The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has received more than 300,000 claims from the Canterbury earthquakes, which, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says, rank as one of the biggest natural disasters worldwide.
"Prior to the tragic events in Japan last month, Hurricane Katrina was the world's costliest insurance event, generating around 600,000 claims," he said today.
"This puts what happened in Canterbury into perspective."
Mr Brownlee said that as of today the EQC had received 302,440 claims -- 184,399 from the first quake on September 4 last year and its aftershocks, and 118,041 from the February 22 quake and the aftershock on April 16.
"To date EQC has paid out over $840 million in claims from people who've suffered damage to their land, homes and contents, making the Canterbury earthquakes by far the largest natural disaster the country has faced," Mr Brownlee said.
"The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority is working with EQC and other agencies to produce a comprehensive picture of the state of the land in Canterbury, the detail of which will be used as the basis for further EQC claims payments."
Mr Brownlee said that after the February 22 quake, EQC moved quickly to assess all Christchurch properties using a rapid assessment programme, from which homes were prioritised for full assessment based on degrees of damage.
Nearly 7000 full assessments had been completed since late March.
