The country’s largest insurer says 20,000 homes across the country are at severe risk of flooding and it is in talks with government about where flood-damaged houses should be written off for good.
IAG is part of an advisory panel that is helping the government with managed retreat legislation.
They want out and have commissioned an independent engineer to determine if the yellow-stickered home is, in fact, a write-off.
RNZ talked to three different councils in the East Coast – none would say which areas should be vacated for good.
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson said on Sunday decisions need to be made quickly on whether some places should be rebuilt the way they were – before money and resources were wasted in areas that would need to be abandoned.
IAG chief executive Amanda Whiting said the insurer had maps of areas at high risk of flooding, and was sharing these with officials.
IAG’s modelling shows 1 percent of homes – around 20,000 around the country – are at risk of severe flooding.
