The insurance crisis facing all New Zealand churches in the wake of the Christchurch quakes has become more stark.Ansvar, the company which has insured 75 percent of Kiwi churches, announced that it intends to get out of New Zealand completely, and that Ansvar New Zealand will cancel its policies at the end of this year – regardless of whether those policies had time left to run.
In September, Ansvar – which is facing $700 million of claims in the wake of Christchurch – announced that it would no longer renew earthquake cover when existing policies expired.
That announcement, in effect, gave the various denominations notice – the earthquake cover on the 400-odd Anglican Churches in New Zealand, for example, ran until March 31 next year.
Not any longer. The last three months of that six-month notice no longer apply.
All Ansvar’s policies in New Zealand will be cancelled on December 31.
The chairman of the Anglican Insurance Board, Don Baskerville, described the announcement as “most inconvenient.”
“Times are trying. But not desperate.”
Don Baskerville says Ansvar Australia will partially fill the gap.