Bay Harbour: December 09, 2020
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Wednesday <strong>December</strong> 9 <strong>2020</strong><br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
BAY HARBOUR<br />
PAGE 3<br />
Rising sea levels insurance crisis<br />
Dutch solution<br />
urged to<br />
counter<br />
flooding risk<br />
• By Chris Barclay<br />
REPLICATING flood<br />
prevention measures pioneered<br />
in Holland must be considered<br />
as homeowners in coastal<br />
suburbs risk massive insurance<br />
hikes to safeguard their<br />
properties.<br />
A report forecasting the<br />
impact of climate change on<br />
insurance premiums also feared<br />
some companies may ultimately<br />
refuse to cover seaside dwellings.<br />
Looking ahead to 2050,<br />
climate and insurance specialist<br />
Belinda Storey estimated at least<br />
10,000 homes in New Zealand’s<br />
major cities will effectively<br />
be uninsurable, while policy<br />
exclusions could kick in a decade<br />
from now.<br />
Storey’s study for the<br />
Deep South National<br />
Science Challenge predicted<br />
Christchurch would have 4850<br />
houses affected by premiums<br />
quadrupling after a 13-14cm rise<br />
in sea levels.<br />
Christchurch-based urban<br />
designer James Lunday said the<br />
study should be the catalyst for<br />
action.<br />
“It’s quite dramatic really. It’s<br />
almost as many houses as we lost<br />
in the ‘red zone’. If people want<br />
a scale, it’s kind of that scale,” he<br />
said.<br />
“Those houses won’t disappear<br />
but they could end up like<br />
a lot of properties in the east of<br />
Christchurch after the earthquakes.<br />
Not fixed up, just left, as<br />
is where is.”<br />
While there were no watertight<br />
solutions, Lunday advocated<br />
Christchurch follow Holland’s<br />
example and implement<br />
measures to combat global<br />
warming.<br />
“You can’t just keep building<br />
(sea) walls, Holland gave that up<br />
and they’ve been living with this<br />
forever,” he said.<br />
“What they’ve done is retreat<br />
from certain areas, create wetlands<br />
and build new islands off<br />
the coast. They’re habitat islands<br />
and what they do is they actually<br />
break up waves.<br />
“Clever engineering, building<br />
buildings that are movable . . .<br />
CHALLENGE:<br />
A report<br />
says coastal<br />
properties<br />
in suburbs<br />
like Sumner<br />
could face<br />
spiraling<br />
insurance<br />
premiums<br />
– or not be<br />
covered in<br />
future – due<br />
to climate<br />
change.<br />
floating houses, all the stuff they<br />
do in Holland – that will all be<br />
part of dealing with this.<br />
“We will have to reimagine<br />
and re-engineer our coastlines.<br />
“Everything is coming to a<br />
peak now, and we have to act on<br />
things that we’ve known about<br />
since the 70s.”<br />
Lunday was concerned about<br />
the ramifications for home owners<br />
if insurance costs escalated.<br />
“Ordinary communities, with<br />
ordinary people living out their<br />
lives with no real equity sitting<br />
behind them, these are the people<br />
that will be caught,” he said.<br />
“The exclusive areas are in the<br />
minority. They’ve got the money<br />
to either pay the insurance or<br />
pay off their mortgage and say:<br />
‘I’m happy to take the risk’.<br />
“The majority of people in<br />
New Brighton can’t carry the<br />
risk on their own, they’d lose<br />
everything that they had.”<br />
Ferrymead-based real estate<br />
agent Craig Prier acknowledged<br />
increased insurance premiums<br />
may have an affect on the market<br />
though not “premium waterfront<br />
positions”.<br />
“It’s hard to imagine lying<br />
empty because people can’t afford<br />
to live there,” he said.<br />
“For every one that can’t live<br />
there, there will be someone that<br />
can, or wants to, and they can<br />
afford it,” he said.<br />
The Insurance Council said it<br />
expected companies would keep<br />
covering existing customers – at<br />
higher premiums and excesses –<br />
but might decline new customers<br />
in risky places.<br />
Bindi Norwell, chief executive<br />
of REINZ, admitted insurance<br />
costs and availability was a<br />
developing concern.<br />
“In the next 15 years or<br />
so, as the report suggests, it<br />
could become increasingly<br />
unaffordable to fully insure your<br />
property,” she said.<br />
Care &<br />
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Funeral Director<br />
(03) 379 0196 | www.simplicity.co.nz<br />
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