The Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kahui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) says more investment in extreme weather resilience is needed in response to the release of its claims data for July.

The ICNZ recorded three extreme weather events in the month, amounting to 6266 claims made with a provisional value of $NZ43.7 million ($38.83 million).

It also published finalised figures for May’s Levin Tornado at 930 claims amounting to $NZ11 million ($9.77 million).

ICNZ says the numbers round up the total financial cost for extreme weather claims for the year to around $NZ245 million ($217.68 million), with the expectation that this year’s total cost will pass last year’s record amount of $NZ324 million ($287.88 million).

ICNZ CEO Tim Grafton says the growing cost of climate change combined with rising inflation and supply chain issues has insurers and customers facing “tough times”.

He called on governments to “act now” to protect New Zealanders who are seeing increased regularity of events.

“This is not just about those things typically covered by general insurance such as our homes, vehicles and businesses,” Mr Grafton said.

“We also need to protect our infrastructure, environment and general way of life which is all too easily disrupted by climate-driven extreme weather events.”