Government-provided house insurance could be ‘inevitable’

Tokomaru Bay township’s bridge under repair in 2022. (Image: Tairāwhiti Contractors)

Fri, 01 Aug 2025

Public insurance for properties could well be inevitable after private insurance retreat, but it had to come with strict conditions, a climate expert says.Belinda Storey was speaking at an online Treasury event on the Crown’s long-term exposure to insurance and infrastructure climate risks.She is the managing director of research organisation Climate Sigma. In 2017 Storey coined the term “climate retreat”, which has since entered the NZ mainstream, particularly after the double hit of the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle...

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