An American reinsurance company has criticised the local insurance industry, saying a confused claims system is leaving millions of dollars unnecessarily locked up.
The comments came during an address to a conference organised by the Insurance Council in Auckland on Wednesday.
They were made by a senior executive at General Reinsurance, an American company run by Berkshire Hathaway Group, which is controlled by American investor Warren Buffet.
General Reinsurance is in line to pay abound $200 million in reinsurance costs for Canterbury.
Its executive vice-president Mo Tooker says re-insurers want to pay the money they know they owe, but have so far only paid a quarter of their liabilities.
"These are not items that are under dispute, these are not items that we're refusing to pay, but we have only paid a quarter of our liabilities.
"We don't see this complexity anywhere else in the world right now. There are some events up here, Chile for example, where we paid every single dime we owed in just over two years."
He says there are complex issues with land, the Earthquake Commission, and multiple events which appear to be unique to New Zealand.
Mr Tooker says payment is being held up by disputes between private companies and the Earthquake Commission, along with individuals unhappy with offers for damaged land. The multiple earthquakes have led to overlapping claims before private companies and the Earthquake Commission, making New Zealand's processes more complicated than any other country it deals with.
"As we try to pay what we owe you, as an industry, in good faith, the 'tail' on our own exposures will be many, many years," Mr Tooker says.
Similar comments came from Lloyds.
Insurance experts say the industry is lifting its game, but concede there is often a delay caused by disagreements between the Earthquake Commission, private insurance companies and individuals.
