AMI stops taking new policies

Canterbury general insurer AMI Insurance has stopped taking new home and contents policies in the Canterbury region.

Executive manager marketing Matthew Cody said AMI had stopped taking new policies on Saturday after the earthquake because what could happen after such events was that people tried to take out insurance the day after.

Cody said the insurer would review each request for home and contents cover and would require the prospective customer to provide a geo-technical report on the state of the land and a structural engineering report on the state of the house and what the reports said would have to be acceptable to AMI if it was to provide long-term cover.

AMI would consider for example providing "limited" cover for existing customers who were moving to another house they had purchased but only with the reports required. The house being bought might have damage from the many after shocks. Insurance companies did not cover "foreseeable risks". That was one of the principles of insurance.

AMI, which has headquarters in Canterbury, is the largest New Zealand-owned fire and general insurer and has had more than 6000 claims notified. Those have been lodged with the Earthquake Commission first.

One disgruntled Canta-brian who has his family and business insurance with AMI, John Hurford, said he had inquired yesterday about an insurance policy for a car he was intending to buy his son and was told by AMI's Auck-land office the company was not taking on new policies in the Canterbury region.

"I think it is wrong what they are doing. I don't have a claim," Hurford said. He was astounded because AMI marketed itself with its smiley face logo as a local company.

His call had been diverted from Canterbury to Auckland yesterday because AMI eva-cuated local offices following yesterday morning's violent shakes. AMI's website said yesterday that its Christchurch branches in the mid- city and at Kaiapoi were closed as a result of the earthquake. Some of AMI's eight other Christchurch branches were likely to be closed all or part of yesterday due to the aftershocks in the morning.

Hurford, whose small business of five staff, Network Imaging Solutions, distributes surveillance cameras, said he had not approached them with a claim and so far his family and his business were relatively unscathed except he was sick and tired of the aftershocks.

Hurford said he already had paid thousands of dollars of premiums to AMI and was angry it would not accept this new policy.

However, Cody said AMI was reviewing its vehicle cover for existing customers on a case-by-case basis and it was reviewing its policies daily.

The Press rang NZI about taking out new home and contents cover in Canterbury. It was taking on new business but there was a 21-day stand-down due to the earthquake and aftershocks. For 21 days a customer would not be covered for earthquake damage. The sales member said the 21-day stand-down was the same for most insurance companies.

The sales member said that if someone bought a new house and was insured with NZI and found later there was earthquake damage it would not be covered because it was a pre-existing condition.

- © Fairfax NZ News