District health board faces huge increase in insurance premiums
Wairarapa DHB's insurance bill has more than doubled - the health board paid $90,000 last financial year and will pay $190,000 this year.
The DHB's insurance premium is a portion of a national premium negotiated by Health Benefits Ltd on behalf of 20 DHBs around the country.
Chief financial officer Eric Sinclair said Health Benefits had given the DHBs some indication that the cost of material damages would be rising and Wairarapa budgeted accordingly.
"Other DHBs haven't budgeted enough, but we expected it. We're out by four or five thousand but that's close enough to being on budget."
Mr Sinclair said that like homeowners, DHBs were experiencing a rise in the cost of insurance as a result of events like the Christchurch earth-quakes.
He said insurance was re-negotiated every year, and he did not know if the premium would stay at $190,000 or come down.
