"The aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes 2010-11 led the author to examine the insurance industry, locally and globally. She reveals unethical failure of the industry to honour paid-up policies fully and in a timely manner, thereby adding greatly to social stress, and challenges the appropriateness of private insurance for homeowners involved in large-scale disasters. She examines the role of government pre-disaster and in the recovery phase after a large disaster event, explains The Earthquake Commission role in New Zealand, and calls for a close scrutiny and re-think of how populations are to be adequately protected from inevitable disasters in the future"--Publisher's information.