New Zealand Police have confirmed to insuranceNEWS.com.au that nine bodies from the second Christchurch earthquake have still not been identified.

A total of 172 bodies have been identified, and a spokesman says the police are working on identifying the remaining victims.

“Because of the nationalities of the remains, DNA testing is an option,” he said.

“We are working to establish an identity to the satisfaction of the Coroner’s Office.”

insuranceNEWS.com.au understands there has been some concern from the life insurance industry about the time it has taken to identify all victims so it can settle any outstanding claims.

But a spokesman for the NZ Investment Savings and Insurance Association says its life insurance company members are accepting police reports on victims.

“The industry didn’t want to delay claims so they were happy to accept police reports rather than wait for DNA testing,” he said.     

The number of life insurance claims from the second Christchurch earthquake has been very low, which didn’t surprise the association.

“We expected that to be the case considering the underinsurance problems in NZ,” the spokesman said. “There were a high level of travellers and international students among the victims, which also reduced the number of life insurance claims.”

New Zealanders’ lives are not insured through their superannuation or pension funds, which is usually the case in Australia.