The reinsurance industry is a crucial stakeholder in ensuring New Zealand’s resilience, working with EQC to find cost effective, sustainable and value-adding risk transfer solutions. Rooted in trust, our successful partnerships have been founded on a few key principles, namely:

• Long term commitment to ensure the ongoing protection for people of New Zealand
• A mutual understanding of what success looks like for each party
• A commitment to perpetuating each other’s interests in a sustainable fashion
• Open and transparent sharing of data, information and research

Following the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence our ability to adhere to these tenants was tested.  In the face of significant financial loss, our partners have contributed significantly via global insights into claims management, insurer interactions and physical rebuild.

More importantly however, our reinsurance partners have helped us ensure the sustainability of their support. Reviewing our performance and considering our future, EQC has been sensitive to the private sector’s needs, ensuring data, response plans and contractual obligations in future events have all been created in a fashion which creates confidence and reduces uncertainty.

This approach has fitted seamlessly into our resilience strategy, creating an integrated approach across the four risk treatment pillars of Avoid, Control, Transfer and Accept. As a protection gap entity crucial to the homeowners of New Zealand, EQC has worked with the international reinsurance community to create sustainable benefit. Our close collaboration, understanding and respect has enabled us to balance the needs of public sector accountability against the commercial drivers of the private sector, reducing New Zealand’s vulnerability and exposure to natural hazard events.

About the Author

Sid Miller, Chief Executive, EQC, works with the EQC Board and managers to provide strategic direction to the business. He reports to Ministers and the public on EQC’s work. Sid was most recently Chief Customer Officer at ACC, having begun his career in the Royal Air Force. He is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, holds an MBA from Lancaster and was awarded an OBE in 2003 for his contribution to defence.