Volcanic activity

Most people will automatically have NHCover if they have a current Home insurance policy.

NHCover for home and land

NHCover provides your first cover for physical loss or damage directly resulting from a volcanic eruption. This applies:

• to insured residential land and buildings, within your property boundary
• to your home (such as your roof, air conditioning unit, solar panels, cladding, windows, retaining wall garages or sheds)
• to your land, within defined areas:
  • underneath and within 8m of your home and detached buildings,
  • within 60m of the accessway,
  • including the land under or supporting your driveway, where repair will reinstate access to the home (but not driveway resurfacing)
• where physical loss or damage has occurred, or is likely to occur in the next 12 months
• whether resulting directly from the eruption, or from actions taken by authorities to prevent the natural hazard damage from spreading (e.g., damage caused by the fire service).

NHCover also provides some cover for bridges and culverts within those defined areas above, and some retaining walls.

If a NHCover claim is accepted for damage from ash fall, the cover will also include removal and disposal of the debris (e.g., ash), up to the NHC limit.

If you have home insurance with us, and if your home or land are damaged in a natural hazard event, you’ll be able to lodge your claims with us. We’ll assess, manage, and settle your claims, including any NHCover claim.

For more information on NHCover and residential land, visit the NHC website.

AMI cover for home, contents, vehicles and boats

• If the damage to your home exceeds your NHCover limit, as your insurer, we’ll cover the rest of the costs, subject to the terms and conditions of your home insurance policy, and up to your sum insured.
• All AMI home policies provide cover for damage to your home from volcanic eruption including rocks, lava or ash.
• Your policy may also provide cover for property not covered by NHCover, such as swimming pools, tennis courts, spas and fences.
• If you have contents cover, boat cover, or full vehicle cover, these will generally cover damage from the volcanic activity to your contents, vehicle or boat.
• Volcanic activity can also occur without an actual eruption, such as tremors. If you experience damage to your land or property as a direct result of volcanic activity, without an actual eruption, please get in touch.
• Please see your Policy Wording and policy schedule for information about what your policy covers or get in touch.

Clean-up of volcanic ash can be dangerous, time-consuming and expensive and can result in more damage occurring during the clean-up process.

Do

• Get in touch with us so we can help talk you through the insurance process and let you know what to do next.
• Take photos of any damage.
• Wait for official guidance from Civil Defence or your council on how ash can be safely and appropriately removed from your property and disposed of. This may include the use of contractors given the health and safety risks associated with removing ash, such as working at heights and potential toxicity of ash.
• Wear PPE gear and follow official health advice.
• Carry out essential repairs where necessary to make your home safe, sanitary and weather-tight.
• Keep any receipts and records of the volume of ash disposed of if you can safely and appropriately dispose of ash, in accordance with advice from authorities. If the Council or another third party removes the ash, they may invoice you directly, in which case you may be able to claim reimbursement as part of your claim.
• Vacuum where possible or use a damp cloth to gently remove ash from indoor surfaces. Use an old vacuum, if you have one, as vacuuming may cause damage to your vacuum cleaner.
• Seek advice from Civil Defence, local authorities or emergency services if you are uncertain about what to do.

Don't

• Don’t rush to remove ash as this can be very dangerous, especially if the volcanic activity is still occurring.
• Don’t do anything that puts your safety at risk or that may cause more damage. If damage is considered the result of negligent actions, then this may impact your ability to claim for the damage.
• Don’t clean ash from your roof yourself, as ash can be very slippery.
• Don’t do non-essential repairs until you’ve spoken to us.
• Don’t dispose of anything until you’ve spoken to your insurer, this will help speed up assessments of your claim.
• Don’t rub vigorously while cleaning up ash as it can cause scratching.

An excess is the amount you must contribute towards an accepted claim. It is deducted from the amount of your settlement.

Your NHCover excess will be discussed with you by your Case Manager prior to settlement. You can also find out more about NHCover excesses and how they’re calculated at naturalhazards.govt.nz/know-your-cover

If you have a claim that exceeds your maximum NHCover entitlement, the standard policy excess outlined in your policy schedule will apply as well as the NHCover excess.

If your claim relates to, or includes, property not covered by NHCover (for example swimming pools, paths and driveways), you will be required to pay a natural hazard damage excess of $5,000 (minimum), as outlined in your policy wording, or the policy excess outlined in your policy schedule – whichever is greater.

Excesses can differ by policy, so check your policy wording and schedule for details of your excess or discuss this with your Case Manager.

Your usual excess applies for contents, vehicle or boat claims.

This depends on how the claim is settled. If you’re getting repairs done, you’ll need to pay any applicable excess to the repairer or supplier. In the case of a cash settlement, the excess will be deducted off the total amount you are paid out. To find out more about your excess, please check your policy schedule and wording.

Your policy excess

If your policies are in the same name, with the same brand, insured with the same address, and you make a claim on two or more policies for damage caused by the same disaster, you’ll pay just one excess – whichever is the highest. We call this “one event, one excess” and it applies to your personal insurance policies only, such as your home, contents, vehicle, or boat policies. Our Claims teams will discuss this with you when it’s time to pay your excess.

NHCover excess

An additional excess will apply if you need to make an NHCover claim, which your Claim Manager will discuss with you prior to settlement. Have a read through our Understanding your NHCover Claim factsheet for more information.

If you have suffered physical loss or damage to your insured residential property following a volcanic eruption you should lodge an EQCover claim once the damage has occurred. In a volcanic eruption, damage may occur immediately following the volcanic eruption, days or even weeks later.

An event like this has a big impact on our assessors and tradespeople, so although we’ll be working as quickly as we can, it will take some time to get through all the assessments. Urgent assistance for those who are experiencing vulnerability will be prioritised, as well as those who are in high-impact areas.

We appreciate your patience and want to reassure you that we’ll get you back on your feet as quickly as possible.

If damage occurs at a later date, please contact us as soon as possible. Please note that EQCover provides cover for physical loss or damage or expected physical loss or damage within 12 months. At the time of assessment any imminent damage would be assessed, based on expert advice.

Once you’ve made your claim and local authorities have confirmed it’s safe to re-enter the area, we’ll appoint an assessor to review your claim, assess the damage either in person or remotely, and agree with you on the scope and cost to repair it ‐ sometimes called a ‘scope of works’.

Depending on the property and damage, we might need to bring in specialist tradespeople like engineers, assessors, or builders, which can make your assessment take a little longer.

Once the ‘scope of works’ is complete, our assessor will discuss your repair or settlement options with you.

You can do temporary 'make safe' repairs to make your home safe and weathertight, such as boarding up broken windows, just try to take photos before you do so. Where possible, please contact us before you engage a tradesperson or make any non-urgent repairs.

The damage to your fence will depend on the material it is made of and the condition of your fence prior to the event. Damage may include corrosion or bubbling of the paint. Before accepting your claim, we will need to assess whether the ash has caused physical damage to the fence as well as any existing maintenance and repairs for pre-existing damage.

We don't recommend you get up on the roof, or any heights, to remove the ash as the ash is likely to make the roof very slippery and dangerous. It may also be harmful to breath in.

We recommend getting a specialist to complete the cleaning of your swimming pool or use an external pump. Using your pool equipment will cause damage to this equipment.

If volcanic activity results in your home becoming unable to be lived in, due to loss or damage to it, or if you are required by authorities to evacuate your property, please contact us to discuss your eligibility for temporary accommodation options.

If you need urgent assistance, or are experiencing vulnerability, please contact us as soon as you can. We’ll prioritise your claim to get you back on your feet.

If a local authority (such as a government agency, Police, Fire and Emergency, or Civil Defence) has asked you to evacuate, and your policy covers you for temporary accommodation, you can go ahead and arrange a place to stay. In these situations, cover will apply regardless of whether your home is damaged or not ‐ you'll just need to pay your excess.

If your home or belongings are damaged after you’ve been evacuated, you won’t need to pay another excess.

We will review both policies, considering the time and monetary limits on each, to determine which will provide the best outcome for you.

Your claim will be made under either your Home or Contents policy, but not both.

You’ll need to arrange your temporary accommodation. Just let us know your choice so we can ensure it meets the terms specified in your policy wording. It’s important to note any temporary accommodation agreement made is held between you and the accommodation provider.

In most cases your policy will outline that the accommodation must be of ‘reasonable’ value, so it’s good to check reasonable market rents in your area.

• Ash can corrode metal surfaces and cause abrasion damage to windscreens and paintwork.
• If you have had ash fall on your vehicle or boat, or there is ash outside, where possible you should not use your vehicle (or use the windscreen wipers) as this will cause more damage. Avoid cleaning it as this may cause more damage.
• If you have cover for the damage under your policy, your vehicle will be cleaned once towed as part of the assessment. Please note that towing may take a few days as we need to ensure it is safe for tow trucks to access the area.

• Remember to remove any personal items from the vehicle before it’s towed.
• Make sure your vehicle is locked securely with no keys left inside ‐ our tow team will get in touch to pick them up instead.
• If you have contents insurance, we’ll discuss with you whether you’re covered for any items that were damaged while inside your vehicle.

• Material Damage policies generally cover costs for removal of debris from the insured property and costs incurred to clear, clean and repair gutters, drains etc. as long as the costs result from a loss that is covered under the policy.
• If there is no insured loss or damage to insured property, then there is unlikely to be cover for costs incurred to remove ash. Please contact us to discuss your coverage.