Who can access the NZCRS

The New Zealand Claims Resolution Service (NZCRS) helps homeowners with residential insurance claims resulting from natural disasters.

Types of claims we accept

The NZCRS is available to homeowners with a Toka Tū Ake EQC or private insurance claim against a residential property that has been damaged by a natural disaster event. We can help at any stage of a claim.

The property may be owner-occupied or tenanted, and can include the residential parts of a mixed-use property. We cannot help with insurance claims relating to commercial properties.

The NZCRS does not advise on contents insurance issues but can support you with information on your accommodation allowance or storage issues related to your policy.

Insurance claims must relate to a natural disaster event

The NZCRS assists homeowners with claims resulting from damage caused by a natural disaster, defined as “an adverse event resulting from a natural hazard”. For example, earthquakes, flooding, or severe weather events.

We can help with claims resulting from natural disasters of any size. A state of emergency does not need to be declared.

If you are unsure whether the NZCRS can help with your claim, please call us on 0508 624 327 and we can discuss it with you.

Limit of three properties per event

In most cases, the NZCRS can help with a maximum of 3 properties per homeowner per event. This would not stop a homeowner from seeking help on 4 claims resulting from 4 separate natural disasters, or limit access if the same properties are damaged multiple times.

This limit does not apply to:

  • properties affected by the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence

  • multi-unit properties (such as apartment buildings)

  • entities that own multiple properties for a non-commercial purpose (such as community housing or papakāinga).