The aftermath of that earthquake that hit the New Zealand city of Christchurch will be interesting. Citizens will be scrambling for their insurance policies to see if their insurers are going to opt out of paying by hiding behind the " act of God " exclusion !
Remember that rain storm that hit Wollongong back in 1998 ?
We had the ridiculous situation where the majority of insurance companies met their obligations - but three big insurers refused claims because they insisted that the event was a " flood " - which was not covered, rather than a " rain storm " - which was !
In some cases, different tenants in the same building had different outcomes. The same water damage - in the same building - but one paid out and the other refused because of insurance company attitude.
Australia is not as earthquake prone as New Zealand, but they do occur here - as evidenced by events in Newcastle some years ago.
Might be a good idea to have a read of the terms and conditions that apply to your insurance policy - and if it is delightfully unclear - insist on your insurer making clear it's acceptance of earthquake claims - in writing !
Better to be safe - than sorry !
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