‘Storms a near-weekly occurrence’: IAG NZ chief executive Phil Gibson says, with a 256% annual increase in storm-related insurance claims

Storms are becoming a near-weekly occurrence, the chief executive of New Zealand's biggest general insurer says, and this increasing frequency has led to over 33,000 claims in the past year.

"Over a 15-year timeline, a storm typically affected parts of the country once every 19 days. In the last 12 months, that frequency has more than doubled to once every eight days, making storms a near‑weekly occurrence," IAG NZ CEO Phil Gibson says in the insurer's Wild Weather Tracker report for natural hazard-related claims received between March 1, 2025 and February 28, 2026.

During this period, there were 47 natural hazard events, leading to 33,214 claims. Gibson says IAG's claims team worked with customers through 46 storms - this led to 33,174 claims. The other natural hazard event was an earthquake which led to 40 claims.

The year before, there were 9371 natural hazard claims. Of those, 9324 were storm-related claims for 29 storm events and 47 claims due to two earthquakes.

IAG NZ, a subsidiary of Insurance Australia Group, operates a range of brands in NZ including AMI, State and NZI.

The weather so far

The report’s release comes as Wellington has been hit with downpours and flooding. Places like the Hutt Valley and Porirua also experienced floods over the weekend.

Just a week before, the country was on alert over Cyclone Vaianu which left people without power, caused road closures and led to several regional states of emergency.

“While thankfully not as severe as originally projected, Cyclone Vaianu has to date, resulted in more than 890 claims across home, contents, commercial, motor and boat policies,” Gibson says.

Most of those claims were because of roof leaks, fallen trees, and damage to windows and glass, with the east of the North Island particularly impacted.

While claims that AMI, State and NZI manage on behalf of the Natural Hazards Commission are not included in its report - the Natural Hazards Commission previously told interest.co.nz for the first two months of 2026, it received at least 824 claims for natural hazard events - about 60% of which were for landslide damage.

January and February coincided with major weather events in New Zealand.

In January, heavy rain and floods affected places including Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, the East Coast and Gisborne. A landslide came down at the Beachside Holiday Park at Mt Maunganui, which led to the deaths of six people, while another landslide caused the deaths of two people at Pāpāmoa.

And in February, a storm system caused major disruption across the country. The Bay of Plenty, Tairāwhiti Gisborne, parts of Christchurch and Banks Peninsula experienced flooding, while Wellington experienced flooding and gales.

Waikato was also hit with extreme weather, which led to flooding, slips and the death of a man after his vehicle became submerged. Several areas were under states of emergency across Aotearoa at the time.

61% of New Zealanders impacted by natural hazards

The report found three in five New Zealanders have been impacted by natural hazards - causing disruption to work, cooking and eating, travel, caring for family members and recreation.

“When we asked New Zealanders this question in 2025, just over half of New Zealanders reported their daily life had been impacted by natural hazards," the report says.

As for the top three claims, the report found an October 2025 windstorm which caused damage across the South Island and some parts of the North Island, resulted in 5289 claims.

A February 2026 storm that hit the lower and central North Island and some parts of the South Island led to 3354 claims and there were 3281 claims for Ex-Tropical Cyclone Tam in April 2025 which impacted the North Island.

Regionally, the report found Auckland residents lodged the most claims (6622) for natural hazard events (this was mainly due to damage from Ex-Tropical Cyclone Tam). This was followed by Canterbury at 5054 and Wellington at 4283.

At 3091, Southland, which is the 12th most populated out of NZ's 16 regions, accounted for 9% of all natural hazard claims. The report says this was; “a disproportionately high share that reflects the significant impact of recent events in the area”.

Storms arriving more often and with greater intensity

With 33,174 storm-related claims, Gibson says this; “reflects an astounding 256% increase in storm-related claims compared with the year prior, where we recorded 9324 claims from 29 storms”.

Gibson says data from the report showed storms were arriving more often and with greater intensity.

The report found that storms were more common in warmer months like spring and summer.

“Recent La Niña conditions, which tend to increase rainfall in parts of New Zealand and contribute to more unsettled weather patterns, have likely played a role in the severity of spring and summer storms,” the report says.

“Traditionally higher rainfall is expected during the winter months, but we are seeing this pattern shift. Increasingly, summer in New Zealand is beginning to resemble a new norm: when the weather is warm, expect a storm.”

“This shift highlights the volatile nature of New Zealand’s weather and the need for year‑round preparedness," Gibson says.

“If we want to keep people protected, councils, government and insurers must work together to address the underlying risks. We can do it. It simply requires making risk reduction a priority and collective, timely and coordinated action from all of us,” he says.

“Ultimately, reducing natural hazard risk is the fairest and most durable way to keep insurance affordable and available to as many New Zealanders as possible.”

Severe convective storms were the costliest peril in 2025, leading to US$61 billion (NZ$102 billion) in insured losses globally, according to insurance broker Aon.