The Natural Hazards Portal
The Natural Hazards Portal shows settled EQCover and NHCover claims from 1997 onwards on residential buildings and land throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.
Visit the Natural Hazards Portal(external link) to see whether the residential property you’re interested in has had a previous claim.
Natural hazards cover claims information on the Portal includes:
- the property address
- the natural hazard event date
- event type (natural hazard event that caused the damage e.g., earthquake, storm)
- claim type (whether the claim was for land or building damage).
Claims which are still open and being assessed are not included on the map.
What EQCover or NHCover claims mean on a property
A property with a natural hazards cover claim is not necessarily a bad thing. In the Portal, if a claim has been settled on a property, it means:
- there has been damage in the past from a natural hazard and a payment was made to settle the claim, or the repair was managed and completed by Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake. The property may have been restored to its previous state
- the building may have been demolished and rebuilt to appropriate standards, making it stronger and more resilient to future natural hazard events
- work may have been done to lessen the impact of future natural hazard events (for example building a retaining wall to hold back a potential landslide).
Properties without a natural hazards cover claim could still have had natural hazard damage. The damage may not have been identified, or it could have been fixed at the owner’s expense, without submitting an insurance claim.
Visit the Natural Hazards Portal(external link)
Find out more about a claim
To find out more information about a claim on a property you can:
- ask the real estate agent anything you want to know about the property. They can’t withhold any information they know.
- ask the vendor or agent to see the documents that support any repairs that have been completed, if the natural hazards cover claim was cash settled.
- complete an Information Request Form on our website to find out more about the claim. This can take up to 20 working days.
More information
See the Buying or selling a home with previous claims page for more information about how to transfer a natural hazards claim to someone else, as part of the home buying process.
If you are buying or selling a home in Canterbury, see our Buying or selling a home in Canterbury page for important information specific to the area.