Vero welcomes commencement of new model to improve customer experience in a natural disaster

Vero insurance is proud to have led the way on the new Natural Disaster Response agreement which comes into effect on 30 June 2021.

The agreement between private insurers and the Earthquake Commission outlines a collaborative approach to natural disaster insurance claims for New Zealanders.

Campbell Mitchell, Vero’s Executive General Manager Claims, says that the agreement is the result of many years of work that Vero has done with EQC to trial new approaches to natural disaster claims, following learnings from the Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes.

“The Canterbury earthquakes demonstrated that New Zealand’s dual insurance model resulted in double-handling of claims for customers.

“Vero has continued to advocate for a new approach and we are proud of the role that our business has played in this new model, which will significantly improve the claim experience for New Zealanders who are affected by a disaster.”

Under the new model, home insurance customers whose house or land is damaged in a natural disaster will only have a single point of contact for their insurance claims – their private insurer. Insurers will act on EQC’s behalf to assess and settle both the EQC and insurers’ portions of claims seamlessly.

Vero and EQC piloted a joint response model following the 2015 Valentine’s Day earthquake, and later that year was part of the whole of industry approach adopted following the Kaikoura earthquake.

Mitchell says that Vero’s claims team has a strong focus on customer experiences, and has the ability to be on the ground immediately following a disaster to proactively identify and support customers who were affected. 

“The new model will better leverage Vero’s expertise and capacity, and fundamentally improve the way we can support New Zealanders affected by a natural disaster,” he says.

“It’s a huge step in the right direction to enable us to respond faster, more efficiently and deliver more certainty for our customers.”

Mitchell said it was a major milestone for the industry to see the agreement come into effect.

“In their moment of truth, New Zealanders need their insurer to help them get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible and I believe that this new model will empower us to be there for our customers when they need us most.”