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Insurance cover has been cancelled for the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Christchurch. Ansvar Insurance will pay out on the existing policy but will not cover the cathedral for further aftershocks.
Church spokesperson Simon Pascoe will not say how much the Cathedral was insured for, but says it was covered for its replacement value.
A lot of other churches may have to close if they are unable to afford increased insurance premiums.
The majority of New Zealand churches, valued at several billion dollars, are insured by Ansvar Insurance New Zealand. Ansvar, which specialises in church insurance, says premiums are likely to double, or perhaps even treble for pre-1935 churches in earthquake-prone areas.
Not all churches will face price-hikes for insurance policies. “In places like, Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Nelson and other places prone to earthquakes, but didn’t actually have one, may have to be re-evaluated,” said David Leather, Ansvar’s New Zealand manager.
These issues have arisen because the insurance companies themselves are finding it harder to get cover.
“Insurers actually have our own insurance; we call that reinsurance, where we lay off large amounts of risk through the international reinsurance market. In effect we spread that risk around the world, and as a result of these losses as well as other large scale catastrophes which affect the worldwide reinsurance market that premiums will be increasing,” explained Leather.
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News category: New Zealand.
