Latest / Best of Business / Jenee Tibshraeny: NZ Herald Wellington business editor on homeowners needing to pay extra to fund the Natural Hazards Commission

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Jenee Tibshraeny: NZ Herald Wellington business editor on homeowners needing to pay extra to fund the Natural Hazards Commission · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks B follow
• 0:12
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  Speaker 2: Now, apparently the old EQC levees are going to go up.
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  Speaker 2: David Seymour, Minister in charge of the Commission, reckons Yep,
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  Speaker 2: it's almost certainly going to have to rise. Generative Traineye
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  Speaker 2: is the Wellington Business editor and with us. Now, hey, Jen,
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  Speaker 2: a hey, how much extra are we talking.
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  Speaker 3: About two or three hundred dollars more each year? So
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  Speaker 3: currently those levees are set at about five hundred and
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  Speaker 3: fifty dollars a year. That's we used to call it
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  Speaker 3: the EQC, but it's now called the Natural Hazards Commission,
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  Speaker 3: So so that that is, you know, proportionately quite a
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  Speaker 3: large increase. Now, the reason that these levees need to
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  Speaker 3: go up is because the Natural Hazards Commission simply hasn't
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  Speaker 3: been able to you know, top up its coffers since
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  Speaker 3: the twenty ten and eleven Canterbury.
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  Speaker 2: Earthquakes that all the way back then, all.
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  Speaker 3: The way back then. So basically it only has about
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  Speaker 3: five hundred million dollars in its kitty. Yes, and if
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  Speaker 3: there's a big disaster it needs to cover the first
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  Speaker 3: two point one billion dollars so before it's reinsurance cover
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  Speaker 3: can kick in. So at the moment it only has
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  Speaker 3: five hundred million in there, that leaves quite a large
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  Speaker 3: shortfall before it's reinsurance cover would kick in. Okay, So
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  Speaker 3: it's yeah, it's an interesting situation really because David Seymour, well,
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  Speaker 3: he's the Minister responsible for the Commission, he's also the
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  Speaker 3: leader of the ACT Party, and we know that the
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  Speaker 3: ACT Party likes low taxes, small government. So it's just
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  Speaker 3: he's put he's in an interesting situation where he's the
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  Speaker 3: guy who needs to put these levies up.
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  Speaker 2: Does he have a range of options available to him?
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  Speaker 2: Is it like it must go up by this march
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  Speaker 2: or is it the much or the smutch of the
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  Speaker 2: smuch you know.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, he does have a range, and the Treasury did
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  Speaker 3: a consultation with the industry earlier this year and put
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  Speaker 3: forward a few different options. That's why that we could
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  Speaker 3: see the levy got up by you know, about between
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  Speaker 3: two or three hundred dollars a year. I feel like,
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  Speaker 3: you know, David wouldn't tell me what he was leaning towards,
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  Speaker 3: but I feel like he might put them up by
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  Speaker 3: a lesser amount. The insurance industry has raised concerns with
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  Speaker 3: the Treasury that if you put it up too much,
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  Speaker 3: that's affordability issue, and the insurers are worried that you
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  Speaker 3: know that that means people might water down the other
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  Speaker 3: insurance cover they have. Ye. The insurers also, yes, they probably,
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  Speaker 3: but they haven't said this, but I think they'd be
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  Speaker 3: worried that, you know, because these levees attacked onto your
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  Speaker 3: private insurance premiums. When you look at how much you
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: have to pay the insurer, you don't look at which
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  Speaker 3: part of it is for the Natural Hazards Commission and
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  Speaker 3: which part is for your private insurer. You just see
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  Speaker 3: the total, and if you see the total go up
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  Speaker 3: a lot, you probably point the finger at your private insurer.
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  Speaker 3: So I can see why they might be a bit
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  Speaker 3: hesitant as well about these going up too much.
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  Speaker 2: Janay, thanks has always appreciated Jane Tibstrainy, Wellington Business Editor.
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