Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Darryl Lew: West Coast Regional Council CEO on the efforts to make insurance more competitive as AA stops offering new policies

Transcript

Darryl Lew: West Coast Regional Council CEO on the efforts to make insurance more competitive as AA stops offering new policies · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: AA Insurance is announce they will not be accepting any
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: new insurance policies on homes in Westport. This is because
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the flooding the weather events. Darryl Loue is West Coast
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Regional Countis Chief Executive with me this morning. Daryl, Good morning,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Good morning Ryan. This is temporary, isn't it. They said
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: they will come back if you can show them it's safer.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's correct, it is temporary. West Countries or councils
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: are currently building seventeen kilometers of flood banking and in
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: the town the first of a flood protection skinning for Westport.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: And as we do that, we'll write to all insurance
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: companies and insurance council with the revised flood hazard maps
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: in the hope insurance market will come back to bear
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: with more favorable offerings for the town.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Darryl, If you were wanting to take out a new
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: policy on a new home, they would say no. But
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: if you have an existing If someone has an existing
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: policy on a home and they sell it is can
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: the home continue to be covered?
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: That's my understanding. But lo, that's a question for them
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: insurance company. What we want to try and do is
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: really prime the insurance market and make that much more
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: competitive by writing to all insurance companies. Once we start
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: building and progressive, we build the flood the flood banks
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: to try and get a much more favoral insurance situation
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: for the people of westbook Dal.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Have they been specific about exactly what they would need
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: to see before they come back.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: No, they haven't, but to be fair on we are
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: meeting with them in a couple of weeks to discuss
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: all of that and what.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: About the others any of them looking shaky.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: The main insurance the town is AA, the predominant insurance,
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: so really they've got the largest market share. But irrespective
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: of that, West Coast Regional Council wants to write to
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: all insurance companies and the insurance council who have been
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: in discussions with to try and get a better market
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: going from those insurance companies. Given the less of flood risk,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: given the investment we're making in the flood banking.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: And dere who pays for that investment? Can the council
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: afford to keep doing this or you know, and we've
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: got a rates cap potentially coming, who pays for all this?
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: And is it a you know, are you asking for
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: money from central government.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: For the last few years, the central government has been
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: back in providing funding for flood schemes for the first
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: time since Ministry workstays and we're partnering and it's been
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: and we're very grateful for it. For the communities of
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: the West Coast and right around New Zealand. From the
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: regional council sector, we're partnering with the government with local
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: money and government money going in to pay for these
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: flood schemes.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Darrell, appreciate your time, Darryl Lue West Coast Regional Council,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Chief Executive.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
• 2:49
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• 2:52
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