People with over-cap on-sold* properties in Canterbury can now apply for a Government payment so they can get on and
repair their homes.
EQC Minister Grant Robertson says today’s announcement will provide relief for the last group of people affected by
botched or missed repairs following the Canterbury earthquakes.
“The new policy allows EQC to make an ex-gratia payment so people can repair their homes, providing an option for people
who had run out of options,”
“EQC estimates there could be up to 1,000 homes in Canterbury affected by today’s announcement,” Grant Robertson says.
The Government estimates it could cost $300 million to repair these homes.
Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration Megan Woods says this will give homeowners who have been trapped in limbo
a way to move on with their lives.
“The on-sold over-cap issue has been an absolute nightmare for some Cantabrians. They have been trapped with homes that
have gone over the $100,000 EQC cap after they bought them, with no access to recourse from insurance.”
Homeowners will have 12 months to make a claim to EQC for defective repairs or previously undetected damage.
EQC will then work with the home owners to agree a payment amount so repairs can be made.
This new policy is part of the Government’s plan to help the people of Christchurch move on with their lives. This
includes resolving outstanding EQC and insurance claims, the establishment of the Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance
Tribunal and the Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service. The review into EQC being led by Dame Silvia Cartwright
is making sure we learn from their experiences.
These changes have meant that 84 percent of EQC claims on hand in May of 2018 have now been resolved.
*An ‘on-sold over-cap claim’ is a claim on a property that has been sold since the earthquakes, and has subsequently had
unscoped or missed damage identified and costed at more than the EQC cap, and the customer cannot recover the over-cap
amount from their private insurer.