By the last week in September the company had received claims totalling $13.5 million for the storm with claims on 200 irrigators making half that total.
Croasdale said it was the company’s single biggest claim-generating weather event, even topping the 2004 Manawatu floods that totalled $10m claims.
“One of our client managers noticed in his drive two irrigators upright and intact for no apparent reason, while around them the rest had been smashed.”
Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton said it would be up to council members to determine how they interpreted risks around both rural and urban insurance in Canterbury after recent events.
“Members cannot work together to increase premiums, the Commerce Commission would have something to say about that, and competition will see a price put on the risk.”
He said few farmers took out business interruption insurance.
The storm had also raised some issues around responsibilities for irrigators being commissioned on installation, but not insured.
Irrigation NZ chief executive Andrew Curtis said there were three or four farmers in that situation.
PGG Wrightson service manager Andrew Driscoll had fielded calls from farmers asking what else they could have done to prevent the damage they had suffered.
Some had parked irrigators by trees, only to have the trees blow onto them. Ironically many of these trees were ones planted to replace those blown over after the August 1975 storm.
He anticipated there would be insurers taking a hard look at policies, possibly re-assessing the excess level on irrigators, and reconsidering examining premiums.
