The Press is breathlessly reporting that a homeowner in the Christchurch suburb of Strowan Merivale has just received his latest insurance bill from Tower and his premiums have been increased near enough five-fold.

The bill has gone from $2300 to near enough $13,000 a year. The bill is more than $1000 a month. The insurance company is Tower, the first New Zealand company to go to a fully risk-based approach.

The owner obviously freaked out and moved to another insurer who charged a more modest amount. But even still premiums are on the way up as other firms move to partial risk-based cover.

This has been signalled for a while and it comes after a string of events that have hit the insurance sector. Earthquakes in Christchurch have cost insurers $21 billion and that doesn’t include the $12 billion EQC has paid out.

The fully risk-based approach means that from now on the insurance liability will no longer be spread across the whole country. So Mr Insurance Man believes that is places like Christchurch, Napier, Wellington and Gisborne you are more likely to make a big claim because of earthquakes so your premium is going up.

Perversely the premiums in Auckland will go down even though the city sits on top of a volcanic field that was active just 5000 years ago. Presumably, if a volcano blows in our biggest city you might find the burden moving.

I can see the insurance companies’ reasoning but it’s too selective. The fact is that we’re all sitting on a very precarious piece of real estate. We didn’t get the nickname the Shaky Isles for nothing and having colonised this country I think it’s best that we stay all in this together.

There’s another downside about this regional variance. If it all gets too expensive there’s a very real risk that people will stop insuring altogether which will hit us all as taxpayers if something goes wrong.

But it’s not just earthquakes that concern the companies, its weather events as well. So if you’ve got a beachfront property or live in a flood prone area or an area that attracts wildfires then brace yourself for some big bills. We’ve already seen settlements in the Bay of Plenty effectively declared unliveable by insurance companies

The most expensive year for insurers for storm damage was 2017 at $243 million so compared to the earthquake bill it’s relatively small. But what matters here is the insurer’s opinion of risk.

And whether you believe it or not, the insurance companies are factoring climate change into your bills.

Now, I know many people get exercised about Government’s commitment to climate change and the worldwide schemes to cope. But for many that stuff seems out of arms reach. It doesn’t really concern them and they just crack on with their day to day life.

But nothing will concentrate your mind more than when the private economy starts charging for future climate change and hits you directly in your pocket. Tower has fired the opening shot. Brace yourself. Others will follow as the whole thing suddenly becomes real.