The Earthquake Commission has paid out more than $1 billion in claims since the earthquake in Canterbury on 4 September.
Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says the commission has paid an average of $3 million a day and expects payments to increase significantly.
The commission has received nearly 370,000 claims for 13 separate quake events since September, including more than 22,000 for the aftershock on 13 June.
Mr Brownlee says the commission is close to finishing assessments of properties that are classified as being in the residential red zone and will then turn its attention to those in the orange zone.
The commission says it is on track to complete the full assessments of all severely damaged properties by mid-July, and all other assessments by the end of the year.
