Wednesday, 30 November 2016 08:55

Quake claims flowing in

Written by 
Land slips at Kaikoura are much severe than the Darfield quake, say FMG. Land slips at Kaikoura are much severe than the Darfield quake, say FMG.

The country's main farm insurer FMG is encouraging farmers who have suffered quake damage to telephone for advice on making claims.

FMG chief executive Chris Black visited North Canterbury and the South Island east coast to see first-hand the nature and scale of the damage.

Most importantly, he says, farmers must get roofs over their heads, organise food and start milking cows if they are dairy farmers.

He has seen some damaged farm plant that is repairable and some that needs replacing. In Waiau he saw a dairy shed completely wrecked.

Several months or more may elapse before the damage is sorted and things return to normal, Black says. The effects of this quake are different from those caused by the Darfield quake in 2010.

“The land slips are much more severe than at Darfield and access is a much bigger problem than in Canterbury. Some staff are going up from Christchurch and some from Blenheim to meet clients.

“We already have hundreds of claims. We realise people are under stress and for some it was a terrifying experience.”

People are helping each other and pulling together as people do in rural communities, he says. In the case of the farmer whose dairy shed was ruined, his 1000 cows are being milked on other farms in the district.

“We are working with Federated Farmers and Rural Support Trust, seeing a coming together of those groups which happens at a time like this. We can’t do everything ourselves but we can connect people with those who can help.”

Black expects FMG to cover damage to houses, sheds and stock water systems, and business interruption.

More like this

Farmstrong marks 10 years of rural support

Nationwide rural wellbeing programme, Farmstrong recently celebrated its tenth birthday at Fieldays with an event attended by ambassador Sam Whitelock, Farmers Mutual Group (FMG), Farmstrong partners, and government Ministers.

Rabobank NZ appointment

Rabobank New Zealand has appointed the bank's global chief compliance officer Angelique Meddeler to its board.

Featured

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.

B+LNZ launches AI assistant for farmers

Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.

National

Machinery & Products

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Buttery prize

OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…

Gene Bill rumours

OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter