The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) has released a 15-point plan aimed at reducing the impact of natural hazards.

Climate change is expected to increase risks in a country that is already among the world’s most catastrophe-prone for its size.

ICNZ says money spent in advance reaps greater dividends later, and reducing risk keeps insurance available and affordable.

“We have got to have the right adaptation and mitigation measures in place,” CEO Tim Grafton told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “There are a lot of good things happening but we need to get strong alignment between central and local government.

“This is the first time we have released a position paper like this, but it was a piece of work that needed to be done.”

A key recommendation is to establish a dedicated agency within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to oversee strategy and avoid the current “patchwork quilt” of measures.

A national plan should be developed, with publicly accessible information on the hazard risk of every property in the country.

ICNZ also calls for a commitment to long-term annual resilience funding and the removal of levies from insurance premiums to help keep the transfer of risk affordable.