IAG Response To Northland Weather Events

AMI, State, and NZI are here to help customers affected by the weather events which have significantly impacted communities in Northland.

As of 9am today, we have received around 80 claims from this the weekend’s rain events in Northland across home, contents, motor, boat and commercial policies.

Stephannie Ferris, Executive General Manager Claims for AMI, State and NZI, says: " We have a dedicated Major Event Response team who are well prepared and ready to respond.

“With more wet weather likely to affect the country during the week ahead, our teams continue to monitor and are ready to mobilise to support affected customers."

Stephannie urges people to prepare for severe conditions: "Heavy rainfall, landslips, damaging winds and the risk of flash flooding are possible. While the impact of these storms can be devastating, we want our customers to know we are here to help."

"Our claims people, assessors, and suppliers are on standby. In the meantime, it is important people stay updated with MetService weather forecasts and follow Civil Defence for any safety alerts,” adds Stephannie.

How to claim:

Often during a storm or flood, it’s difficult to know the full extent of damage to your home, business, vehicle or contents, especially if you need to leave your property.

We encourage AMI, State and NZI customers to get in touch once they have had a chance to assess the damage and it is safe to do so.

The quickest way to make an insurance claim is online, but customers can also give us a call.

NZI customers should contact their broker.

Insurance tips

What to do if your property is damaged during a storm:

• Ensure you and your whānau are safe first. Follow all advice from Civil Defence.
• If you need to make a claim, as soon as you’re able to let us know about any damage to your property, the sooner we can help – especially if your home becomes uninhabitable or we need to arrange temporary accommodation for you, your family, and your pets.
• Be careful not to return to your home or business until it’s safe to do so and avoid anything that could potentially cause more damage.
• 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.
• It’s okay to start to clean up if you’ve been affected by flooding, especially if it can prevent further damage, but remember it’s best to treat all flood water as blackwater (i.e., contaminated with sewerage), so make sure you stay safe by wearing heavy duty gloves, boots, and a face mask.
• If water has entered your home or business, turn off the power at the mains and ensure an electrician has checked the power supply before turning it back on.
• If your home or business is without power, you should turn your appliances off at the wall in case of a potentially damaging power surge.

What to do if your vehicle is damaged during a storm:

• If your windscreen has been damaged or your car has been flooded, please don’t attempt to drive it.
• There is no hurry to make a claim, but as soon as you’re able to let us know about any damage to your vehicle, the sooner we can help – especially if you have cover for a temporary vehicle that we can arrange for you.
• If your vehicle needs to be towed, remember to remove any personal items if you can, and make sure it’s securely locked with no keys left inside – the tow team will get in touch to pick your keys up instead.
• Also, if you have contents insurance, let us know if any items in your car were damaged.

Disaster Claims Hubs

We have information relating to issues such as emergency repairs, flooded carpet, evacuations, temporary accommodation and the process for lodging claims on our Disaster Claims Hubs:

AMI: https://ami.custhelp.com/app/disaster-claims-hub

State: https://statenz.custhelp.com/app/disaster-claims-hub

NZI: Contact your broker. For general advice, go to https://iagnz.custhelp.com/

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