Consumer NZ said that insurance in New Zealand was becoming potentially out of reach due to increasing unaffordability, Radio New Zealand reported Thursday.

The New Zealand Treasury had noted that home insurance premiums jumped at three times the rate of the consumer price index since 2011, with a 40% rise in the past two years, the report said.

Earthquake and flood risk, along with less intense competition in the New Zealand insurance market, likely contributed to the trend, prompting investors to demand for higher returns, the report said.

The Council of Financial Regulators was asked to conduct a review of insurance affordability, while the Commerce Commission was tapped to do a market assessment, per the report.

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