Insurance backlash in flood aftermath

While New Zealand companies have not yet removed cover from properties in flood-prone areas, the council's chief executive Chris Ryan warns that this could be a "real possibility" in future.

A string of major floods in New Zealand in the past five years has seen the insurance industry pay out damage claims of $300 million. And emergency managers and scientists are warning that climate change will cause more floods in the immediate future.

Manawatu is tipped to get 5 percent more rain in the next 50 years, with a possible increase in the frequency and severity of storms - just what happened in February.

The insurance council is signalling this could lead to some places in New Zealand not being insurable in future, because the flood risks are too great.

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