The owner of a school uniform shop has been left devastated at what should be his busiest time of the year, after losing $450,000 worth of stock in Auckland’s floods.

Tony Birch, co-owner of Janbells School Uniforms in Mairangi Bay, rushed to his store on Friday evening to see all his store’s boxes of new school shoes floating in one metre-high water mixed with sewage. “I’m trying to hold it together. It’s a complete write-off.”

At least $450,000 worth of stock was written off after the store was flooded on Friday evening.

He says his AON insurance assessor visited on Saturday to check the damage and warned him that residential claims were being prioritised over small business claims, he said.

“[The assessor] says that it’s more likely that the housing is more important than the small businesses, which is absolutely devastating. We need to get up and running as quick as we can. This is our livelihood and our income. We’re up in the air.”

The stockroom at Janbell's uniform shop was flooded, ruining children's school shoes days before the school year begins.

The floods came at his busiest time of year, just days before the school year began for many pupils. He still had orders yet to be fulfilled.

“I know it’s just a business but we’ve built this shop up since we started... To lose it all overnight... It’s a kick in the face.”

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The damaged stock could not be moved, discarded or donated, before the insurance claim had been approved, he said.

“We can not do anything about it until the insurance gives us an okay. So, we’re up in the air.”

Birch was attempting to dry out school shoes in the hopes they could be donated.

He had not yet done a full inventory check, however at last count it was $450,000 worth of items yet to be sold. That did not include a courier delivery which arrived on Friday just before the flood.

“It’s pretty much everything in the shop.”

Some clothing on hangers could be saved but the storage cabinets and stockroom were also flooded. The plumbing was affected too, with floodwaters pushing sewage up the on-premise toilet and into the store.

“The dampness is going to start creeping up the walls... so the fit-out is going to have to be redone as well.”

Sewage was mixed with floodwaters that ruined the Janbell's uniform shop.

Insurers respond

AON New Zealand did not respond to the Herald in time for publication nor had it published any updates regarding Auckland’s floods on its website or social media channels.

AON Corporation is a global financial services firm, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Its New Zealand website touts it as the country’s “largest and leading insurance broker” with 65 offices nationwide, insuring more than 100,000 New Zealand businesses.

A spokeswoman for insurance group Suncorp New Zealand, which included brands AA Insurance and Vero, said in a statement it had received more than 1000 claims by Saturday afternoon and was “expecting significantly more”.

Tower’s chief claims officer Steve Wilson said it was experiencing “very high claims volumes” and was expecting the Auckland floods to be a large insurance event.

“Our job as an insurer is to be there when people need us most. Our teams care deeply about our customers - we’re working as hard and as fast as we can to do what’s right by them.”

Tower chief claims officer Steve Wilson expected the Auckland floods to be a large insurance event. Photo / Supplied

Tower assessors were visiting affected areas on Saturday morning and the company was flying in more assessors from around the country. It had also added extra resource to its call centre and online claims department, including dedicating its call centre in Fiji, Wilson said in a statement.

Tower gave the following advice to anyone impacted by the floods who required insurance assistance:

• Write down a list of everything that was damaged to ensure you don’t miss anything
• If you can access any proof of purchase for items that were damaged, group these together with the above list
• Record the damage using photos and video before you start any clean-up. Don’t throw anything you need to claim on away
• Clean up as much as you can. It’s helpful if you have a covered space to start drying out your things – you’d be surprised by how much you can save if they are dried early
• For drying carpet, start by removing everything from the affected area and the excess water, open the windows and doors if you’re able to, to get as much air in the house as possible while you do this. Fans and dehumidifiers will also help dry carpet
• Read your policy wording – you might find out you can make a claim for something you didn’t know. If you’re unsure, do give your insurance provider a call to discuss what your policy covers, and what the next steps are for claiming
• If your home isn’t safe to live in, check with your insurer if you are covered for temporary accommodation. Tower customers are covered for temporary accommodation under their house insurance policy.