Insurers have covered insured losses of $NZ32 million ($30.56 million) so far for a tornado that tore through the south Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe on June 19, the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) says.

It marks the costliest tornado for the country on record, ICNZ CEO Tim Grafton says, with the provisional figure including 1206 house and contents claims, 280 motor claims and 132 commercial and business-related claims.

“We can see the impact on residential customers, with $NZ24 million ($22.92 million) of the total paid in residential and contents insured losses, reinforcing how important insurance is to support your recovery when these sudden events happen,” Mr Grafton said.

ICNZ says many homes are already repaired or work is underway after insurers responded quickly to help customers secure their properties and undertake “make-safe” repairs.

“Part of the response was to assess the severity of damage, with priority placed on repairing things that enabled customers to return home, like roofs. Garages or fences could wait,” Mr Grafton said.

However, he says a “very active” New Zealand building market and COVID-caused supply problems are creating delays.

“Our members have reported that securing some trades or sub-contractors to carry out the work has been impacted, or that they have seen a delay or longer lead-time for certain building materials,” Mr Grafton said.