IAG - whose brands include AMI, State and NZI - says it has received more than 21,000 claims for the recent floods in the North Island and is starting to process claims from Cyclone Gabrielle.

Chief executive Amanda Whiting said IAG was working its way through the flood claims as quickly as possible while also dealing with new claims from the cyclone.

“Some claims will be settled quickly, if not already, but some will take time as each customer’s situation is unique.”

So far IAG had paid out over $23 million in claims.

Whiting said the weather events would put significant pressure on the building industry and associated suppliers, and warned there may be some delays.

“We are actively working with our partners to minimise these challenges.”

She said the size and scale of these events was something the company hadn’t seen since the 2016 Kaikoura earthquakes.

“We have pulled in help from right across our business. We currently have 316 teams of builders on the ground stripping out homes, and we are focussed on expediting the claims process and closing claims for our customers as soon as we possibly can.”

Dr Bruce Buckley, a meteorologist for IAG, said the weather the North Island experienced was a classic example of warmer tropical seas feeding greater quantities of moisture into extremely damaging, heavy rainbands.

“While New Zealand’s physical location means it has always been susceptible to systems with tropical moisture influences, the effects of climate change and the current and future La Niña patterns means they are likely to have higher impacts when they occur,” Buckley said.

“Typically, tropical cyclones transition into extra-tropical cyclones before reaching our shores, but they can still carry damaging winds and intense rainfall.

“New Zealand will become more susceptible to stronger storms, because having warmer, more tropical seas means there’s less opportunity for the systems to weaken before reaching New Zealand.”