Insurance lawyer Grant Shand (pictured above), one of the lawyers on the case, said that many homeowners will be pleased by this decision.
“Many homeowners do not want to go through the stress and extended time it will take to complete repairs, and these will be extensive repairs given they are over the EQC cap,” Shand said. “Some may be looking to move to a retirement home, some to relocate to be with family elsewhere; there are many reasons the government on-sold programme is not appropriate for affected homeowners.”
According to Shand, more than 50,000 homeowners bought earthquake damaged homes they believed were properly repaired by EQC following the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes. However, he said that many homeowners found out later that the structures were not properly repaired and applied for the government on-sold programme, which has stringent conditions for the homeowner, including tranche payments and a covenant on the land title until works are completed.
Shand said that he is aware of several cases where people have gone to sell their home that was repaired by EQC, only to encounter serious issues with that repair, rendering the house unsellable.
The class action, which requires claimants to opt in, is being supported by Canterbury Litigation Funding Ltd. The litigation funder will deduct a fee of up to 15% (including GST) from any amount due claimants from EQC, with no upfront payment from claimants. If the class action is unsuccessful, members will not have any liability for legal or court costs.
