New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission (EQC) faces major challenges as the “immense workload” from the Canterbury quakes winds down, according to its annual report.

The state insurer grew from 22 staff in 2010 to more than 1800 last year, and managing the return to reduced staffing levels will not be easy.

“The board has started to direct its attention to how the EQC should be configured in the future,” Chairman Maarten Wevers said.

In 2013/14 about 17,000 Canterbury home repairs were completed, bringing the total to 57,000 – about 80% of the expected final figure of 70,000.

The EQC says it is on course to conclude all remaining Canterbury claims next year, although this is dependent on an outstanding High Court declaratory judgement on increased flooding vulnerability.

From December 2012 to June 30 this year, 33% of customers were satisfied with the quality of service they received, the report says.

For non-Canterbury events, that figure rises to 63%.

EQC GM Customer and Claims Gail Kettle told insuranceNEWS.com.au time taken to resolve issues is a key factor.

“As we move through the settlement program, it is inevitable that customer satisfaction will decline due to the time elapsed,” she said.

“This has been exaggerated by a number of factors outside of the EQC’s control, including the legal complexities surrounding land and the need to develop entirely new ways of resolving land claims due to liquefaction.”

Last financial year the EQC received 5050 new customer complaints and resolved 5619. The average time taken to resolve a complaint was 83 days.

Premiums earned totalled $NZ274.1 million ($249.94 million), with reinsurance claims bringing in $NZ1.3 billion ($1.19 billion) and interest and investment income totalling $NZ71.2 million ($64.92 million).

At June 30 the EQC had assets of $NZ3.7 billion ($3.37 billion) and liabilities totalling $NZ4.8 billion ($4.38 billion).

Unfunded liabilities of $NZ1.1 billion ($1 billion) will be met by the Crown guarantee.

Almost $NZ1.6 billion ($1.46 billion) was spent settling claims, $NZ151 million ($137.69 million) on reinsurance premiums, $NZ18 million ($16.41 million) on research and education and $NZ10 million ($9.12 million) on the Crown guarantee.