The NZ Landslide Safety Net
Abstract
The Earthquake Commission is New Zealand’s primary provider of natural disaster insurance cover to residential property owners. The Commission is a Crown Entity, not a government department or state owned enterprise but, as a Crown Entity, it is owned by the government and is subject to public sector finance and reporting rules.
The EQC’s role is to help New Zealanders recover from natural disasters including earthquake, volcanic eruption, natural landslide, tsunami, storm and flood. It does this by securing the property owners against the cost of these disasters and assisting them with the management of repair and replacement after the event.
The government guarantees that the EQC, and the Natural Disaster Fund that it administrates, will meet all of its obligations. At the end of the 1998 financial year the National Disaster Fund had a balance $3,200,000,000 yet the EQC is believed to have an exposure in excess of its current level of assets (EQC Annual Report 1997/98).