EQC (via private insurers) is continuing to apply an incorrect part of the
EQC Act in its assessment process of earthquake damage in Kaikoura, according to claimants’ support group EQCfix.
Christchurch accountant and advocate for insurance and EQC claimants Cam Preston is sounding a word of caution, as the government reviews the way claims are managed with the
ICNZ advocating for insurers to continue to assess and manage all claims in future.
“There are some positives in this proposal, but insurers certainly need to get their own houses in order before they start taking on EQC’s work,” Preston said. “We are almost a year out from the anniversary of this event and only 65% of building claims have been settled. People are living in garages, some haven’t even seen an assessor yet; we don’t see that as something to be proud of.”
He said the EQC documents he has received under the Official Information Act clearly show EQC, via the private insurers, has been and is continuously using section 9(1)(a) of Schedule 3 of the EQC Act – wherein “replacement” meant “not exactly or completely but only as circumstances permit and in a reasonably sufficient manner.”
“That is not ‘as new’, and EQC agreed last April they would only use that part of the act when it was a ‘managed repair’ as it was under the Canterbury Home Repair Programme with Fletchers,” Preston said. “The main concern of the group is that claimants are likely to be negotiating the replacement of damaged property at a level that is significantly below the standard of replacement that they are entitled to, according to the joint agreement signed last April.”
EQCfix said it is concerned about ICNZ being happy to the point of celebrating, that almost a year after the Kaikoura earthquake only 65% of house claims were settled, while assessors continue to use the wrong interpretation of the EQC Act.
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