The Government has completed work to modernise the Earthquake Commission Act 1993.
The Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023 (NHI Act) received Royal Assent in February 2023 and came into effect on 1 July 2024. This Act modernises and replaces the Earthquake Commission Act 1993, and sets our primary objective: to reduce the impact of natural hazards on people, property, and the community.
The new name better reflects the range of natural hazards the Commission provides cover for, including tsunamis, landslides, volcanic activity, earthquakes, and geothermal activity. It also represents the role the Commission plays in supporting New Zealanders to understand these hazards, and to both prepare for and recover from them when they occur.
The new Act will apply for new claims for natural hazard damage to residential properties that happens on or after 1 July 2024.
The work to modernise the Earthquake Commission Act took into account the findings of the Public Inquiry into the Earthquake Commission. More information on the Government’s response to the Inquiry is below.
Cabinet made key policy decisions for the NHI Act in early 2022. See the proactively released key advice documents related to modernising the EQC Act Treasury Advice Related to Modernising the EQC Act Information Release (December 2021).
The proposals also built on previous Treasury work on the EQC Act, including the 2015 discussion document: New Zealand's Future Natural Disaster Insurance Scheme: Proposed changes to the Earthquake Commission Act 1993 (July 2015).
The NHI Act also implements 2020 Cabinet decisions on the treatment of mixed-use buildings under the EQC Act. The implementation of these decisions was previously delayed due to Covid-19 priorities. See the Cabinet paper and minute on Mixed use buildings under the Earthquake Commission Act 1993.
NHI Act regulations
The commencement of the NHI Act required the making of associated regulations and other secondary legislative instruments to support the effective operation of the NHI Act.
The regulations that need to be in place when the NHI Act comes into force on 1 July 2024 have been finalised.
Cabinet had agreed to the policy behind these regulations. The relevant Cabinet papers and minutes have now been published on the Treasury website:
- Cabinet Paper: DEV-23-SUB-0185: Natural Hazards Insurance Act: Proposed Regulations (October 2023)
- Cabinet Minute: DEV-23-MIN-0185: Natural Hazards Insurance Act: Proposed Regulations (October 2023)
- Cabinet Paper ECO-24-SUB-0009: Natural Hazards Insurance Act: Further Proposed Regulations (March 2024)
- Cabinet Minute ECO-24-MIN-0009: Natural Hazards Insurance Act: Further Proposed Regulations (March 2024)
Māori and iwi consultation document
As part of the process of modernising the EQC Act, the Treasury released the following consultation document Modernising the Earthquake Commission Act: Consultation with Māori and iwi
The purpose of this consultation note was to bring this work to the attention of interested iwi and Māori organisations and provide those groups an opportunity to raise any issues or concerns they might have. The high-level overview of the proposals contained in the consultation note will also be useful to other individuals and groups interested in these reforms.
2021 decision to increase the EQC Residential Building Cap
The government announced on 30 September 2021 that from 1 October 2022 the monetary cap for EQC residential building cover would increase from $150,000 to $300,000 per dwelling (both amounts excluding GST).
See the Beehive press release announcing the increase.
Public Inquiry into the EQC
Following the release of the report of the Public Inquiry into the Earthquake Commission (EQC), the Government issued a formal response and outlined a work programme to take forward the Inquiry’s recommendations. Read the full Government response to the Public Inquiry into EQC.
See the Beehive press release on the Government response.
See updated progress on taking forward the Inquiry’s recommendations.
See the proactive release of documents shared with the Public Inquiry into EQC:
- Material Provided to the Public Inquiry into EQC Information Release - Part 1 of 2
- Material Provided to the Public Inquiry into EQC Information Release - Part 2 of 2
2019 changes to the EQC Act
In February 2019, the Earthquake Commission (EQC) Act changed. Four key changes were made:
- facilitating EQC sharing claims and property-related information, including to prevent or lessen a threat to public health and safety
- extending the timeframe for lodging an EQC claim from three months to two years, for claims arising from events occurring after the EQC Act changed
- removal of the $20,000 EQC cover for contents, phased over 12 months from 1 July 2019
- an increase in the cap on EQC residential building cover to $150,000 (+ GST) phased over 12 months from 1 July 2019.
Media
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