Ngā ture, ngā here whakamahi Terms and conditions

This Natural Hazards Portal (the Portal) contains information about natural hazards and residential properties in New Zealand. The Portal presents natural hazard insurance claim information and more general natural hazard information. The Portal is provided by the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake to the user (You, Your) as a public service and on the terms set out in these terms of use (the Terms of Use).

You must take the time to read the Terms of Use of the Portal and the information provided, including the Portal Privacy Statement. By continuing to use the Portal, You confirm that You agree to these Terms of Use and You agree not to use the Portal except as set out in these Terms of Use. The Natural Hazards Commission reserves the right to change these Terms of Use at any time without prior notice to You. Any changes will be posted on the Portal and become effective at the time of posting. Your continued use of the Portal after the effective date of such changes will constitute acceptance of and agreement to any such changes. The Natural Hazards Commission reserves the right to modify, suspend or discontinue all or part of the Portal at any time to You and/or others with or without notice. 

Where You are acting "in trade" for the purposes of the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA):

• You acknowledge that, in entering into and using the Portal under these Terms of Use, You do not rely on any representation, statement, or information provided by the Natural Hazards Commission, whether made in these Terms of Use, on or through the Portal, or otherwise in connection with the Portal or any information available through it;
• the Natural Hazards Commission and You contract out of sections 9, 12A, 13, and 14(1) of the FTA to the fullest extent permitted by section 5D of the FTA; and
• You agree that it is fair and reasonable that both the Natural Hazards Commission and You are bound by this provision.

This paragraph 2 does not apply if You are not acting "in trade" when You access or use the Portal.

NHC claim Information on Portal

The natural hazard insurance claim information provided on the Portal is derived from the Natural Hazards Commission claim database and is made available to You under the Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023.

The Natural Hazards Commission has endeavoured to make available on the Portal a summary of information for all settled and closed claims (Closed Claims) for residential land and dwellings for the period 1 January 1997 to the present day. Closed Claim information outside this period may be added to the Portal at a later date.

The Portal does not include claims that have been made to private insurers for an event that occurred prior to 30 June 2021, as those claims are outside the scope of NHCover/EQCover. On 30 June 2021, the Natural Hazards Commission (formerly the Earthquake Commission) commenced the Insurance Response Model whereby most (but not all) private insurers became agents for the Natural Hazards Commission. As a result, the Portal includes Closed Claims made to private insurers acting in the capacity of an agent for the Natural Hazards Commission (but still does not include any claims made to private insurers that are outside the scope of NHCover/EQCover).

The information provided on the Portal is intended to provide general information to the public. The information contained on the Portal will regularly change and Natural Hazards Commission cannot guarantee that the information You are seeking will always be available.

NHC claim information not on the Portal

All Closed Claims prior to 1 January 1997 are not on the Portal.

Declined or open NHC claims from any date (including 1 January 1997 to the present) are also not on the Portal.  A declined claim is a claim that was eligible for NHCover/EQCover, but NHC declined insurance cover for that claim.

Invalid NHC claims from any date (including 1 January 1997 to the present) are also not on the Portal. An invalid claim is a claim that was not eligible for NHCover/EQCover.

There are circumstances where some Closed Claims from 1 January 1997 to the present may still not be on the Portal. For example, a Closed Claim is not included on the Portal if the Closed Claim property address cannot be matched to a current address.

It is also important to note that for storm and flood events, the Natural Hazards Commission only provides insurance cover for residential land. This means any information about residential dwelling damage caused by a storm or flood will not be on the Portal. If such information does exist it will be held by a private insurer and not the Natural Hazards Commission. 

Incorrect NHC claim information on the Portal

The summary of a Closed Claim on the Portal may be incorrect. For example, a Closed Claim may be presented incorrectly, or appear to be presented incorrectly, where:

• the address for the Closed Claim held by the Natural Hazards Commission was matched to an incorrect address;
• the land that was subject to the Closed Claim has been rezoned since the NHC claim;
• the land that was subject to the Closed Claim has been subdivided and so a prior land claim has been assigned to all new parcels;
• a property may have been converted from residential to commercial use after the NHC claim was lodged. Natural Hazards Insurance does not apply to commercial property but an NHC claim may still be on the Portal in this instance;
• buildings have been demolished and new buildings erected in their place. A Closed Claim in respect of the building may still be on the property in this instance; or
• apartment buildings and other multi-unit complexes have a single Closed Claim linked to multiple dwellings by way of a Body Corporate NHC claim. In this case, all dwellings in the complex will be linked to the Closed Claim.

No claim information for a given address on Portal

The absence of a Closed Claim does not mean a property does not have any natural hazard-related damage. This may be because, for example:

• there is a claim, but either it is not yet closed or the private insurer has not advised that it is closed;
• there is a Closed Claim, but it is not stored on the Portal;  
  damage was not identified by the owner of the residential property and/or no NHC claim was made in respect of the property;
• the residential property did not have an insurance policy (which is needed to get NHCover/EQCover);
• damage was not notified to the Natural Hazards Commission or a private insurer and no repairs were made; or
• damage occurred, but repairs were made by the homeowner independently without notifying an insurer.

Natural hazard information on the Portal

The Portal presents natural hazard information, including through map-based overlays sourced from third-party data providers. At this time, the natural hazard map-based overlays are limited to the Bay of Plenty region. Natural hazard map-based overlays for additional regions may be added to the Portal at a later date.

Where possible, the Natural Hazards Commission has identified the third-party data providers on the Portal and/or on the Attribution List found on the Portal Data Sources page.

You are also encouraged to contact that third-party data provider directly to obtain further information about the relevant data, including the assumptions on which it is based and how it should be interpreted.

The natural hazard information may include data relating to ground shaking, active faults, fault avoidance, liquefaction, tsunami, volcanic activity, and hydrothermal systems. The Natural Hazards Commission did not develop this information, has not modified it in any way, and accepts no responsibility for its accuracy or completeness.

Natural hazard scenario information

The Portal also presents information regarding the potential property and community impacts of a limited number of hypothetical natural hazard scenarios. This information is general in nature and is intended to assist You in understanding the potential consequences of natural hazard events. It is not a prediction of future events and You should not rely on this information as a substitute for advice (including independent professional advice) relevant to Your particular circumstances.

Information on hypothetical natural hazard scenarios is partly based on modelling provided to, or undertaken by or on behalf of, the Natural Hazards Commission. The modelling involves assumptions and judgements about the type, magnitude, and consequences of hypothetical natural hazard events. These assumptions and judgements on which the relevant models and scenarios are based, and any guidance on how to interpret the information provided, are set out on the Portal. The Natural Hazards Commission encourages You to read any guidance to better understand the information on the Portal.

Natural hazard information on non-residential property

The primary purpose of the Portal is to provide information in relation to residential property. While the Portal may present natural hazard information in respect of non-residential property (for example, to provide context for the natural hazard risks faced by nearby residential property), the Portal is not intended to be used as a tool for assessing or managing natural hazard risk in respect of non-residential property. If You have an interest in natural hazard risk associated with non-residential property, You should seek independent professional advice appropriate to Your circumstances. 

Information is presented on the Portal to provide education on the location and prevalence of natural hazards so that users can make risk-based decisions relating to, and increase their understanding of, natural hazards. This includes homeowners, homebuyers, and tenants gaining natural hazard claim information as it relates to individual residential properties, natural hazard information to better understand natural hazard risks in particular locations, and natural hazard scenario information regarding the potential impacts of hypothetical events.

Some of the information on the Portal is from, or based on information provided by, third-party sources and may contain errors unknown to the Natural Hazards Commission. Other information is based on modelling undertaken by or on behalf of the Natural Hazards Commission.

The Natural Hazards Commission will review and update the information on the Portal from time to time, however the Natural Hazards Commission does not represent that it will continuously monitor changes in the underlying data, assumptions, or related information displayed on the Portal. You should not assume that the information presented on the Portal is current at all times.

While the Natural Hazards Commission will use reasonable efforts to maintain accurate information on the Portal, the Natural Hazards Commission accepts no responsibility for any inaccuracies in information on the Portal. The Natural Hazards Commission, its officers, and its employees provide no warranty (express or implied), representation or guarantee that any information provided on the Portal is always accurate, complete, current, or that the Portal will be always available.

NHC claim information presented on the Portal is only part of the total natural hazard damage information applicable to a property. You should perform Your own due diligence on any property You are reviewing. None of the information on the Portal is intended to be a substitute for independent professional services or other appropriate advice and You are recommended to seek advice from suitably qualified professionals if relevant to Your particular circumstances.

You should contact the property owner or their representative, apply for a land information memorandum from the relevant local authority, or make a request under the Official Information Act 1982 to the Natural Hazards Commission for any further information on relevant properties. Requests for any further information from the Natural Hazards Commission can be made through the Contact Usopen_in_new page.

Concerns about information on the Portal

If You have concerns about the accuracy of any information displayed on the Portal, You should contact the Natural Hazards Commission through the link to the Contact Usopen_in_new page. Where the information in question has been sourced from a third-party data provider, the Natural Hazards Commission may direct You to the relevant provider to raise Your concerns. The Natural Hazards Commission will review any concerns raised and take such steps as it considers appropriate in the circumstances.

Where possible, the Natural Hazards Commission has identified the third-party data providers on the Portal and/or on the Attribution List. Some third-party data providers require the Natural Hazards Commission to provide You with access to their licence terms. Where that is the case, the Natural Hazards Commission has provided a link to those terms on the Portal and/or on the Attribution List.

Some third-party data licences are more restrictive than these Portal Terms of Use (for example, Earth Sciences New Zealand’s licence for active faults data does not permit the data being used for commercial purposes). You must take the time to read any applicable third-party data provider licence that applies to any third-party data You intend to use. If the terms of a third-party data provider's licence are more restrictive than these Terms of Use, those more restrictive terms will take precedence, and You must comply with those terms.

Under these Terms of Use, You are granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable limited licence to access and use the Portal or information made available by the Portal (Portal Data) in connection with the purpose of searching the Portal and obtaining information about natural hazards, hypothetical natural hazard scenarios, and residential properties in New Zealand (the Purpose).

You acknowledge and agree to use the Portal and the Portal Data solely for the Purpose, and in accordance with all laws and any third-party data provider licence. Except as expressly permitted under these Terms of Use or to the extent permitted by law, You must not, and must not encourage any person or entity to:

• decompile, disassemble, reverse compile or otherwise reverse engineer all or any portion of the Portal or the Portal Data, including any source code, object code, algorithms, methods or techniques used or embodied therein;
• use any robot, spider, screen scraper, data aggregation tool or any other or use any process or processes that send automated queries to data mine, scrape, crawl, email harvest, aggregate, copy or extract any processes, information, content, data or information from the Portal; 
  resell, commercialise, market, publish, rent, lease, assign, sublicense or otherwise exploit for profit or gain any part of the Portal in any form to any third party;
• modify, alter, adapt or incorporate any portion of the Portal or the Portal Data into any other materials, products, services or databases, other than for the Purpose;
• remove or alter any copyright, trademark, logo or other proprietary notice or label appearing on or in the Portal or the Portal Data;
• use, or offer to use, the Portal or any of the Portal Data for or in connection with:
  • any direct marketing activities;
  • the intention of encroaching upon the privacy of an individual or otherwise breaching the Privacy Act 2020;
  • acts that would infringe upon any person’s rights including, without limitation, intellectual property rights and moral rights; or
  • aggregating comprehensive property information regarding residential properties (which may or may not be for sale, rent or lease from agents or others), for display on a single website intended for viewing and use by consumers, whether for personal or commercial gain or otherwise.

You acknowledge and agree that:

• You acquire no rights in or to the Portal Data accessed pursuant to these Terms of Use except for the limited licence granted to You by the Natural Hazards Commission; and
• You will not, and will not permit any other person or entity to, infringe upon, harm or contest the validity ownership by the Natural Hazards Commission (or any of its third party providers) of the Portal Data, or the creations, inventions and intellectual property rights contained or embodied within the Portal. 

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Natural Hazards Commission will not be liable to You or to any third party:

• for any inaccuracy, error, or omission, or any other kind of inadequacy, deficiency, or flaw in, or in relation to, the information contained in the Portal (including third parties’ external links); or
• for any damages, claim, losses (including, without limitation, loss of profits, revenue, business or data), costs or expenses of any kind, whether direct or indirect, which arise out of, or result from, the information contained in the Portal or reliance upon it; or
• should the Natural Hazards Commission exercise its right to modify, suspend or discontinue all or part of the Portal.

This website contains links to and from other websites, organisations or people outside the Natural Hazards Commission (Third Party Links). Except for third-party data provider licences, Third Party Links are provided as a convenience only. The inclusion of a Third Party Link does not imply endorsement by the Natural Hazards Commission.  The Natural Hazard Commission:

• is not responsible for the content of other websites linked to or referenced from this website;
• does not guarantee the information, content, presentation or accuracy of other such websites, nor does the Natural Hazard Commission make any warranty, express or implied, with regard to that information; and
• does not guarantee that Third Party Links to other websites will work. 

Without limiting any other limitation of the Natural Hazards Commission’s liability under these Terms of Use, to the maximum extent permitted by law the Natural Hazards Commission will not be held responsible for the use of any information once it has been downloaded from the Portal and used by You or any other party, including whether that information is accurate, up to date, or being used in an appropriate way. 

The Portal reproduces materials and content owned or licensed by CoreLogic NZ Limited, trading as Cotality (Cotality) and may include data, statistics, estimates, indices, photographs, maps, tools, calculators (including their outputs), commentary, reports and other information (Cotality Data) as part of the information available to You through your use of the Portal.

© Copyright 2025. Cotality and its licensors are the sole and exclusive owners of all rights, title and interest (including intellectual property rights) subsisting in the Cotality Data. All rights of Cotality are reserved.

The Cotality Data available through the Portal is of a general nature and should not be construed as specific advice or relied upon in lieu of appropriate professional advice.

While Cotality uses commercially reasonable efforts to ensure the Cotality Data is current, Cotality does not warrant the accuracy, currency or completeness of the Cotality Data and to the full extent permitted by law excludes all loss or damage howsoever arising (including through negligence) in connection with the Cotality Data.

Cotality Data also contains data and statistics provided by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and is made available from the subject property’s record of title provided by LINZ that has not been changed in any way by Cotality.  Cotality Data is not a substitute for a record of title.

are the trade marks of the Natural Hazards Commission. You may not use, reproduce, adapt, copy, distribute or incorporate in any other work, in whole or in part, any trade mark appearing on this site, including any Natural Hazards Commission trade marks (including the Portal logo) without the prior consent of the trade mark owner.

With the Natural Hazards Portal, the Natural Hazards Commission aims to provide information and experiences that are accessible to all New Zealanders.

We’re working towards having the Natural Hazards Portal meet the NZ Government Web Accessibility Standardopen_in_new and the NZ Government Web Usability Standardopen_in_new.

Before the launch of the Portal, we tested it against the New Zealand Government Web Standards, and identified a range of improvements for the Portal to conform to WCAG 2.2 Level AA.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)open_in_new defines requirements for web accessibility. It defines three levels of conformance.

The Natural Hazards Portal is partially conformant with WCAG 2.2 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the site do not fully meet accessibility standards. We're working to become conformant to WCAG 2.2 Level AA.

We're continuing to work on improving the accessibility of the site, in the meantime we welcome your feedback on the accessibility of the Natural Hazards Portal. Please let us know if you find any accessibility barriers on this website, or need additional information. You can do this on the Natural Hazards Commission websiteopen_in_new.