Earthquake Commission

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Earthquake Commission logo

The Earthquake Commission (EQC), ( māori : Kōmihana Rūwhenua ), formerly known as the Earthquake and War Damage Commission , is an independent New Zealand authority , which by definition is referred to as a Crown Entity under the Crown Entities Act 2004 and as a type of insurance for damage Financially securing property and landowners that have arisen from natural disasters . The state fund from which claims payments can be made had a capital of NZ $ 5.93 billion in September 2010 .

Organization and seat of the authority

The EQC consists of a seven-person board (executive board), a chief executive ( CEO ) and three managers, each responsible for the areas of finance, insurance and research. She is assigned to the Finance Minister's area of ​​responsibility.

Furthermore, the EQC defines five different classes of service provision, the output classes :

  • Claims processing
  • research
  • Training and education of the public
  • Insurance advice
  • Administration of insurance regulations and the natural disaster fund.

The headquarters of the Earthquake Commission is located in the Majestic Center in Wellington .

How the EQC works

The insurance of house and real estate is only possible for private individuals, companies and business activities are excluded. Anyone who has taken out insurance with a private insurance company for their property receives insurance benefits. 5 cents plus GST per 100 NZ $ insured sum are withheld by the insurers and paid to EQC. In the event of damage, the person injured by a natural disaster receives up to NZ $ 100,000 (plus GST) compensation per house and up to NZ $ 20,000 on the respective furnishings of the house. Property damage is currently still being compensated in unlimited amounts.

But after the devastating earthquake in Christchurch in February 2011, which, according to initial estimates , should cost insurers US $ 12 billion , or around NZ $ 16 billion, the first voices were quickly raised that insurance conditions would change in the future Need to become.

history

The Earthquake Commission was founded in 1945 by the then government of New Zealand under the Earthquake and War Damage Act 1944 as the Earthquake and War Damage Commission . In the beginning, damage caused by the effects of war and earthquakes should be financially compensated for. The cause and trigger of this decision were the events around the most severe earthquake ever experienced in New Zealand, the Hawke's Bay earthquake in 1931 and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Until the 1940s, New Zealand did not have insurance that would cover damage caused by natural disasters. The earthquake of 1931, which was also remembered as the Napier earthquake , led to the idea of ​​introducing insurance against earthquake damage. The attack on Pearl Harbor brought New Zealand closer to World War II and the fear of not being able to compensate for any war damage due to a lack of financial means. The concept for earthquake insurance was changed to war damage. When the threat of attack diminished in 1944, it was finally decided to set up the Earthquake and War Damage Commission .

In 1993, the Earthquake and War Damage Commission was renamed and reorganized under the Earthquake Commission Act 1993 in Earthquake Commission . The law came into force on January 1, 1994. But even today the old name of the commission is still used when speaking or writing about the Earthquake Commission .

See also

literature

  • Earthquake Commission [EQC] (Ed.): Earthquake Commission 2009-2010 Annual Report . Wellington September 2010 (English, eqc.govt.nz [PDF; 1.3 MB ; accessed on February 1, 2016]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ New Zealand Legislation: Acts - Crown Entities Act 2004 . New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office , accessed March 1, 2011 .
  2. ↑ Earthquake Commission [EQC] (Ed.): Earthquake Commission 2009-2010 Annual Report . Wellington 2010, p.  4.10 (English).
  3. ↑ Earthquake Commission - Functions and Responsibilities . Ministry of Justice , accessed March 2, 2011 .
  4. ^ Brief Overview of EQC . Earthquake Commission , archived from the original on September 8, 2012 ; accessed on February 1, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Noah Buhayar, Jacob Greber, Nichola Saminather : New Zealand Quake May Be Cost Reads Disaster Since 2008 (2) . Blomberg , February 23, 2011, accessed April 8, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Quake bill may mean policy changes . Otago Daily Times, Dunedin , accessed March 2, 2011 .
  7. ↑ What we do . Earthquake Commission , accessed February 1, 2016 .
  8. ^ Alan Henderson : Disaster Insurance . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand , accessed March 2, 2011 .
  9. ↑ 1855 - Then and Now - An EQC perspective of the 1855 South Wairarapa earthquake . (PDF 121 kB) Earthquake Commission , archived from the original on September 16, 2012 ; Retrieved February 1, 2016 (English, A paper presented at the 1855 Wairarapa Earthquake Symposium in Wellington in September 2005 ).
  10. ^ New Zealand Legislation: Acts - Earthquake Commission Act 1993 . New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office , accessed February 1, 2016 .