Homeowners receive mixed benefits as EQC settles land claims
EQC is about to settle land damage claims in what it says is a "world first"
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Hawke’s Bay
EQC is about to begin settling 9600 claims for Canterbury owners of homes with “increased flood vulnerability” caused by the 2011 earthquakes.
For many homeowners it may be a dubious benefit – leaving them with a one-off payment but a permanently devalued home.
EQC says insurance for this type of damage is a world first.
The state disaster insurer received a High Court declaratory judgment in December 2014 ruling it is a legal settlement option.
EQC says it prefers to settle claims by paying the costs of repairing the land where this is feasible.
But often it is not – for example, if the land in a street has slumped half a metre there is no way to fix it.
In some areas most affected it may not be possible to obtain consents for new building or repairs if the slump is considered a permanent flood risk, or some other issue means building won’t achieve compliance.
Where it is not possible to find a repair or the property is not consentable, EQC will base the settlement amount on the reduction in value of the property, called diminution of value.
Properties are assessed by flood modelling and aerial ground scanning, with site assessments for each property.
Affected homeowners will be contacted this week with the aim of settling the claims by the end of 2015.
Chris Hutching
Tue, 17 Mar 2015
Tue, 17 Mar 2015
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Homeowners receive mixed benefits as EQC settles land claims
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