Residents frustrated waiting for EQC claims
Audio, Radio New Zealand
People in Canterbury with homes damaged by the February 22nd earthquake have less than six hours left to lodge a claim with the Earthquake Commission.
People in Canterbury with homes damaged by the February 22nd earthquake have less than six hours left to lodge a claim with the Earthquake Commission.
More than 120 disgruntled Christchurch homeowners are taking the Earthquake Commission to court for not doing enough to fix their homes. The law firm, Anthony Harper, has been looking for participants for the group action since last year and has confirmed today it has the numbers to proceed.
Chief Executive of the Earthquake Commission, Ian Simpson, responds.
More than 300 people turned out to a meeting in Christchurch last night to hear about botched Earthquake Commission repairs.
An earthquake community group in Canterbury says a damning report on the ineffectiveness of the Earthquake Commission highlights the frustration of getting information on their own homes.
The chair of the inquiry in to the Earthquake Commission has grave concerns about the state of the housing stock in Christchurch due to EQC's failure to properly fix quake damage. It's just one of a raft of findings released by Dame Silvia Cartwright today, after a year and a half long inquiry that heard from hundreds of homeowners and key players. Conan Young has the story.
Some 10 years on from the devastating Canterbury quakes, the wait is still not over when it comes to law changes needed to improve the Earthquake Commission. The government will not get it done until 2021, if it's re-elected. Meanwhile cases of botched quake repairs needing a fix are still flooding into EQC, Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods told Checkpoint.
The Earthquake Commission has settled with a Christchurch homeowner, just days before their test case was due to be heard at the High Court. Jamie Gibling used his KiwiSaver to buy his first family home in New Brighton after the quakes, believing it had been properly repaired. He later learned the repairs were botched and would cost $300,000 to fix. His "onsold" test case was supposed to be heard on Monday to clarify who was liable. But today EQC announced it had reached a settlement with the family and that agreement would provide a framework for the 54 other claimants also with Shine Lawyers. Finance and EQC Minister Grant Robertson last week announced an "onsold" settlement kitty of $300 million for the next 12 months but legal experts working with claimants have told Checkpoint it could cost taxpayers much much more. EQC's Deputy Chief Executive is Renee Walker. On Thursday she came into the studio and Lisa Owen asked her if the Giblings got what they asked for and if the 54 others who signed up to the class action would get the same.
A lawyer for the Earthquake Commission has told the High Court there are major holes in the case brought by a Christchurch couple to have their home rebuilt.
The Earthquake Commission has agreed to meet with the Institute of Surveyors next week over concerns about how assessments of earthquake damaged Christchurch homes are being done.
In a serious privacy breach - the addresses and earthquake claim details of almost ten thousand Canterbury people have been mistakenly emailed by Earthquake Commission to the wrong person.
The Earthquake Commission has admitted its privacy breach was almost 10 times worse than it had said, with the details of all 83-thousand clients in its Canterbury Home Repair programme being emailed out.
The Plumbers industry body says some plumbers helping Christchurch quake victims are struggling to stay afloat, because the Earthquake Commission is not paying out fast enough for emergency repairs.
Many Christchurch trades people are refusing to carry out quake repairs unless the homeowner agrees to pay the bill, saying it takes too long to get the money out of the Earthquake Commission. Some contractors say they still haven't been paid for jobs done after the quake in September and the amount of debt some businesses are carrying are putting them in jeopardy.
The Chief Executive of the Earthquake Commission, Ian Simpson, talks to the programme about how payments are being made to Christchurch earthquake claimants and what if anything can be done to speed up the payment process.
Rapid assessment teams are being sent out across quake hit Canterbury with the Earthquake Commission promising that up to 180-thousand homes will be inspected within the next eight weeks.
The Earthquake Commission and the Insurance Council are going to the High Court for a ruling on who's responsible for 10-thousand claims from the earlier Canterbury earthquakes.
It's almost eight years to the day since the first Christchurch earthquake, and as anyone who lives in Christchurch knows, some insurance claims are still in dispute. Dodgy repairs are still being discovered and previously undiscovered damage is being found. Earthquake Commission minister Megan Woods says as problems emerge, people can come back and ask for re-repairs or have their home looked at. But just how much money is in the National Disaster Fund?
A former works manager for Fletcher EQR says assessors didn't check behind walls or under floors to examine the true extent of damage caused by the Christchurch earthquakes because there wasn't enough time.
The bill to fix botched EQC repairs from the Canterbury earthquakes has hit $270 million - four times what the previous Government predicted just two years ago. The Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission, Megan Woods, has asked Treasury to urgently crunch some figures to give the Government an idea of its future liability, with many experts warning thousands more homes may be affected. The former Canterbury Rebuild Minister Gerry Brownlee, who was in the job for six years until a year ago, speaks to Guyon Espiner.
A new report says the Earthquake Commission was ill-prepared for a major earthquake and had to use inexperienced staff to respond to the Canterbury earthquakes.
A former Earthquake Commission assessor is accusing the agency of manipulating its customer satisfaction survey in Christchurch.
The Earthquake Commission could have a big job on its hands fixing quake damaged Christchurch homes for a second time.
The Christchurch City Council and the Earthquake Commission are devising a wholesale solution to the city's flood protection.
Forty law students in Christchurch are volunteering their time to help local residents take the Earthquake Commission to the High Court.
The Earthquake Commission has offered a formal apology for its handling of quake claims in Canterbury. The apology from its chair, Sir Michael Cullen, is included in its just released annual report. Conan Young reports.
The Earthquake Commission has admitted the details of all 83-thousand clients in its Canterbury Home Repair programme have been accidentally emailed to the wrong place, not just the almost 10 thousand it said on Friday
The Earthquake Commission has been forced into an embarrassing admission that the details of all 83-thousand clients in its Canterbury Home Repair programme have been accidentally emailed to the wrong address.
The Earthquake Commission has more than doubled its estimate of costs from the Canterbury earthquakes, to 7-point-1 billion dollars.
Some Christchurch homeowners fear they're being rail roaded into using the Earthquake Commission's preferred builders when it comes to earthquake repairs.