Insurance companies are getting very specific when assessing which properties are exposed to risks like flooding, an insurance expert says, but there’s a limit. 

An intense storm like the one that hit some Wellington suburbs yesterday could have happened anywhere, making the risk much harder to pin down to individual properties, Bryce Davies —climate spokesperson for AMI, State, and NZI— told Mike Hosking. 

If people didn’t address the risks to their properties from flooding and wind damage it would “absolutely” have an impact on their insurance premiums, he said. 

Insurers would also be increasingly focused on perils like landslips in the coming years. 

But Davies said AMI, State, and NZI weren’t making blanket decisions to pull insurance from some areas. 

“We’re here to insure people…that’s our business and so we’re focused on making sure that we can do that.” 

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