Homeowners affected by the recent extreme weather events in New Zealand should get independent advice before agreeing to insurance payouts, New Zealand Claims Resolution Service (NZCRS) director Darren Wright said.
More than 1,000 homeowners have registered with the service since its opening earlier this year to ask for help with insurance problems, with 459 coming from Auckland. Some homeowners felt that their payouts underestimated the damages their homes took from Cyclone Gabrielle and the North Island floods.
“We are starting to see some insurers send homeowners scope of works and putting money in their accounts,” Wright said in a report from the RNZ. “It's really important that homeowners understand what their rights and obligations are when it comes to trying to settle their insurance policy.”
He added that policyholders should clarify on the entity managing the repair, whether it’s themselves or their insurer.
“Any money received from an insurer should be spent on repairing damage to property, otherwise the ability to claim insurance in the future may be put at risk and have implications for those with a mortgage,” he said.
The NZCRS is busy helping homeowners push back on scopes to ensure that all repairs were included. Wright said that they are seeing some scopes here and there that did not fully make up the claims, but that they were working with homeowners to ratify these issues. Certain issues, like slit removal, are integral and need to be addressed.
“It's really important that silt is removed, certainly from under the house, but also to understand if any silt's got into the wall cavities. If silt's sitting in those wall cavities it will hold water, which could be concerning long term,” Wright said.
What are your thoughts on this story? Please feel free to share your comments below.
