The Earthquake Commission says the aftershocks in Christchurch on Boxing Day will be treated as separate events from the big September quake and will not be affected by the now-expired deadline for making claims on that event.
EQC chief executive Ian Simpson, says loss adjusters will inspect properties to make sure the damage came from new aftershocks.
If previous damage was aggravated by the latest aftershocks, Mr Simpson says the original claim will be expanded in value to account for the new problems.
Twenty quakes have been recorded since early on Boxing Day. The strongest was magnitude 4.9 at 10.30am, at a depth of 12km.
Mr Simpson said on Monday morning that 150 claims had come in from the latest shocks.
The bill for the original quake is between $2.75 - $3.5 billion.
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred in Canterbury at 4.35am on 4 September.
A state of emergency was in force until 16 September.
