Available in New Zealand
Earthquake business continuity
Recover in days, not months. After a quake, recovery runs on evidence and cash. Sentinelâ„¢ gives you both: a defensible record of what your building felt, and cover that acts on it.
The excess is the wall most businesses hit
Earthquake business continuity is a business's ability to keep operating, or get back up fast, after a quake. For most, the thing that stops them isn't the damage. It's cash. The policy isn't the problem; the excess is. Take a $3 million building on a 10% deductible: that's $300,000 the owner has to find before recovery even starts, and most owners and tenants can't front that while they're closed and not trading. So the building sits, the lease obligations run, and the downtime does the damage the earthquake started.
Traditional cover eventually pays. But "eventually" is a loss adjuster's queue measured in months, and every month closed is a month of revenue you don't get back. The businesses that come through a major event aren't the ones with the biggest policy. They're the ones who could move first.
What is parametric earthquake insurance, and where does it fall short?
Parametric earthquake insurance pays a pre-agreed cash sum when shaking passes a set trigger, with no loss adjuster and usually no excess. It's fast because it settles on measured shaking, not assessed damage. Most policies trigger on the nearest public GeoNet sensor, which is fast, simple and affordable, and for a lot of cover it's the right call.
The limit is what it measures. Basis risk is the gap between what a parametric policy measures and what your building actually experienced. The nearest sensor reads the ground near you, not your building, so a building can be shaken hard and still sit below the trigger, or a payout can land when your building came through fine. The bigger the sum insured, the more you want the evidence to come from the actual building.
How does building data speed up an earthquake payout?
It replaces an estimate with evidence. Sentinel puts a professional-grade instrument on your building and records what it actually experiences, floor by floor, in real time, on one clock. This is the EQR-90: a structural-grade instrument of the kind used to monitor bridges and critical structures, producing a record defensible enough to stand behind a payout. Data from a professional instrument is evidence; generic data is a guess with a timestamp.
That single fact changes three things at once:
Before the event: your building is instrumented and baselined, so there's a known-good reference to measure against.
During and immediately after: Sentinel delivers building-specific shaking and response data in minutes: what each level felt, whether the structure moved into serviceability-limit-state territory (NZS 1170.5), and where response should focus first. Occupants check in, hazards get reported, and your response team works from one live picture instead of guesswork. You avoid the unnecessary evacuation, or you make the call to clear the building with evidence behind it. (Sentinel supports the rapid building assessment process; it doesn't replace an engineer's sign-off.)
For the payout: the same measured record backs your parametric cover. It gives you a defensible confirmation of loss and an independent record of what your building actually felt, so the claim settles instead of stalling. The cash arrives fast enough to cover the excess and start recovery while others are still waiting on an adjuster. Bounce, our parametric partner, targets commercial claim settlement within 15 working days of confirmed loss.
Defensible data de-risks both sides
Here's why insurers like it as much as you do. A record both parties trust removes the argument. The insurer isn't paying against a vague regional proxy, and you're not fighting to prove your building was hit. Professional-grade data settles it. Generic data can populate a portfolio map; only a professional instrument produces a record that carries the weight of a claim.
Available in New Zealand.
More than a payout trigger
The same instruments that back your claim run your first hour. Real-time building condition, occupant check-ins, hazard reports and safety checks land in one console, so your response team acts on fact instead of fear. Fewer needless evacuations, faster reopening, less distress, the day the shaking stops.
Smarter, sensor-based parametric insurance
Parametric earthquake cover is fast becoming a valuable complement to traditional indemnity policies: faster payouts, simpler claims, and immediate liquidity when it matters most. As businesses look to strengthen their financial resilience, parametric is proving a smart, timely addition.
Most parametric earthquake products trigger on seismic data from public agencies, which can be sparse or generalised. That lack of localised data creates basis risk, especially when the policy is meant to reflect the actual damage a specific building takes.
Sentinel closes that gap with professional-grade instrumentation. The EQR-90 records building-specific shaking from sensors on your building, the actual asset the policy protects, in real time. That defensible data powers a smarter parametric policy: less basis risk, faster payouts, and cover you can rely on.
Sentinel is insurance-provider-neutral. The building record it produces can trigger any parametric earthquake policy, so you choose the cover, and Sentinel makes it pay on evidence. We work alongside providers rather than locking you to one.
In Partnership With:
Simple parametric earthquake cover for NZ business. Underwritten at Lloyd's, no excess, cover up to $2 million.
Questions worth asking
What is parametric earthquake insurance?
Parametric earthquake insurance pays a fixed, pre-agreed cash sum when earthquake shaking passes a set trigger, rather than paying against assessed damage. There's no loss adjuster and usually no excess, so the money arrives in days. Businesses use it to cover the deductible on their main policy and keep trading.
How fast does a parametric earthquake claim pay out?
Fast. That's the point. Once the trigger is met and you confirm your loss, payouts settle in days, not months. Our partner Bounce Insurance targets 7 working days for residential claims and 15 for commercial, after you confirm loss and provide bank details.
Can I use a parametric payout to cover my insurance excess?
Yes. A parametric payout is cash you can spend how you need, including covering the excess on your other insurance policies. For a business that couldn't front a $300,000 deductible, that's often the difference between reopening and staying shut. Bounce pays with no excess of its own.
Why does the grade of the sensor matter for an insurance payout?
Because a payout and a reopening decision need evidence, not an estimate. Sentinel uses the EQR-90, a professional structural-grade instrument of the kind used on bridges and critical structures. It measures what your building actually experienced, defensibly enough to stand behind a claim, where generic data is only indicative.
Does this replace my current insurance?
No. Parametric cover sits alongside your indemnity policy. It's built to give you fast cash, typically to cover the excess and business interruption, so you can move in days while your traditional claim runs its course.
Do I have to use a specific insurer?
No. Sentinel is provider-neutral. The data can support any parametric earthquake policy. Bounce Insurance is our current partner, and we're adding more.
What does Sentinel tell me in the first hour after a quake?
Building-specific shaking and structural response in minutes, occupant check-ins, and hazard reports: enough to avoid an unnecessary evacuation or to clear the building with evidence behind the call. It supports rapid assessment; it doesn't replace an engineer's sign-off.
Is it available outside New Zealand?
The Sentinel service is available in New Zealand. Outside NZ, our EQR-90 instruments and data services are available internationally, so ask us and we'll point you the right way.
Find out what a payout you can trust is worth
Tell us about your building and your excess. We'll show you what Sentinel measures and how it gives your parametric cover evidence to settle on. Available in New Zealand.