The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has received almost 6,000 applications from Canterbury homeowners for the government’s on-sold support package.
Administered by EQC on behalf of the government, the $300 million on-sold support package is aimed at eligible Canterbury homeowners who bought a house before 15 August 2019 with a settled under-cap EQC claim, but have since discovered missed earthquake damage which exceeds the commission’s cap to repair.
In a statement, the ECQ credited an August mail-out to more than 44,000 Canterbury homes purchased since 2011, plus advertising on radio and in newspapers, for the number of applications, with more than half arriving in the month before the 14 October deadline.
The commission said that it is now working through a process with the homeowners to review their eligibility – with Pip Andrews, head of on-solds at ECQ, requesting that homeowners provide documents such as sale and purchase agreements and pre-purchase building reports to verify their eligibility before 14 December.
“Those homeowners who wanted to keep the on-sold support package available do need to act,” said Andrews. “We’ve asked them to provide eligibility information before December 14, so we can establish their eligibility, and if eligible, move towards their homes being repaired. Once we have reviewed their eligibility, each eligible homeowner will be matched with a settlement specialist to take them through the assessment and settlement process.”
Homeowners who have submitted the requested information can expect to hear if they are eligible within 30 working days.
“This will result in a lot of work kicking off for the residential building industry in Canterbury early next year,” said Andrews. “Alongside qualified and licensed building practitioners, homeowners will oversee their own repair process. This begins with an assessment phase to determine the earthquake damage and repairs needed for their property, before progressing to construction and repair work. We will be providing detailed information to homeowners, as well as homeowner-appointed licensed building contractors and other specialists to help them through the process.”
