Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake Annual Report 2024/25

New Zealand’s high risk profile means we all need to be ready for an event to occur at any time. For NHC and the scheme, this means being ready to scale the insurance aspects of our work, to keep our core business functions operating, even if one of our offices is impacted, and to be ready to support the wider government response, including with data and information.

Alongside our continued work in Canterbury, several severe weather events affected large parts of the country during the last 12 months, and we know these events take a significant toll. We are fortunate to have a strong national system that means we can get support out as quickly as possible to those affected and aid recovery.

When the Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023 came into force, it included a stronger focus for NHC on resilience. For New Zealand to make the shifts needed to face these new challenges, it requires all of us to understand the risks associated with where we live and what we can do to mitigate them.

NHC strengthens resilience by investing in science and research, using that information to inform our understanding of risk through loss modelling, and encouraging more informed decision-making at all levels of society: homeowners, potential homeowners, local and regional councils, and central government policy-makers.

Providing information and supporting good decision-making at every level of the system requires a coordinated approach, which we continually review and update to ensure we are influencing in the right way.

In all our work this year, we have maintained a keen eye on our fiscal responsibility, in keeping with the Government priority of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the public service and government-funded services. We continue to look at ways our operations could be made even more cost-effective and efficient, including using existing and emerging technology.