An advocate for those battling for insurance payouts in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle is frustrated at the lack of progress.
Robyn Rauna of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki has been working full-time to support whānau in the hard-hit community of Te Karaka since the cyclone walloped it in February 2023.
Nearly 18 months on, 14 of those households are still waiting for their settlement.
"When people are dealing with the after-effects of a cyclone and when they're most vulnerable, they're not insurance experts and insurance is a highly complicated and complex matter."
Rauna said the insurance companies she is dealing with appear to genuinely believe they are working positively to help whānau.
But she added: "I have been meeting for eight weeks, weekly with the biggest insurer of the country, IAG, but in all that time not one claim was settled."
Earlier this week Rauna involved the chief executive of the insurance council Kris Faafoi, the local mayor Rehette Stoltz and the local MP - National's Dana Kirkpatrick - by updating them on the lack of progress and clear timeframes for Te Karaka locals.
"I feel responsible for alerting people like Kris Faafoi, like our mayor and others about the need for better progress to be made," Rauna said.
She believes insurance needs to be made easier for people to understand - both when taking out a policy and when making a claim.
Rauna said one of the claimants had moved to Te Karaka after the Christchurch earthquake 13 years ago and had only just been paid for the damage to her Christchurch home.
She is still waiting for her Cyclone Gabrielle insurance claim to be settled.
