Te Atatū MP Phil Twyford suggests some of his West Auckland constituents should hold off spending insurance payouts for flood-damaged properties.
He told 1News he was hopeful that a "managed retreat" package offering some a voluntary buyout would "get across the line" and this meant insurance payouts could go towards the cost of relocating someone to a new home.
"People would use their insurance payout and some kind of top-up from Government, from council, and with the cooperation of the banks and the insurance companies," he said.
"But if people spend their insurance payout now repairing and rebuilding the property, they're not going to have that option open to them.
"So my advice is hold off, don't spend that insurance payout now."
The Labour MP made his comments amid reports that some constituents had felt pressured to accept insurance payouts for repairs to damaged properties they did not want to return to.
1News spoke to two families who shared this view. Ruth Copping of Rānui said insurance assessors had looked at the cost of repair.
1News asked her if she wanted to stay in the house. "Oh no, oh no," she said. "I want to be able to sleep at night."
A few kilometres away, Chelsea and Brandan Haworth said their insurer had spoken to them about repairs, but not about replacement. "It's just repair and rebuild things as they are," Brandon said. The couple did not want to stay in their home any longer.
This week, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said talks with some flood victims about moving somewhere else were not far off.
"There are some particular areas that obviously we're aware of, where the residents themselves don't particularly want to go back where they are, and the insurance companies, ourselves and the local councils have got to have those conversations with those people over the next few weeks," he told RNZ.
The Insurance Council confirmed to 1News that it had begun talking about how people could be moved out of flood-prone areas.
As for reports of some customers being pressured into accepting unwanted repairs, the council said some customers might feel that way, but that was not the intention of insurers.
Council chief executive Tim Grafton said insurers were doing "their level best".
"They're expected to settle claims as soon as they can," he said.
"But if a customer doesn't want to have that settlement occur at this stage, they can go back to the insurer and say they want to reserve that decision for the time being."
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