Christchurch man challenges insurer to live in his house
Audio, Radio New Zealand
A Christchurch man, whose house was damaged in the earthquakes, has challenged his insurer's CEO to live in it if she truly believes it's repairable.
A Christchurch man, whose house was damaged in the earthquakes, has challenged his insurer's CEO to live in it if she truly believes it's repairable.
Investigations into handling of asbestos in Canterbury earthquake repairs and a man's appeared in court charged with the murder of the Auckland woman, Blessie Gotingco.
The Property Council says an ultimatum from the Christchurch City Council to owners of earthquake damaged commercial buildings will add to the stress business people are already under.
EQC was ill-prepared to deal with the wide spread damage of the Christchurch Earthquakes and as a consequence its reputation been left in tatters with many seeing the commission as uncaring, miserly and inefficient. That is according to the findings of the inquiry into EQC and its handling of quake claims in Canterbury and Kaikōura. Inquiry Chair Dame Silvia Cartwright lays out a raft of inadequacies including EQC not being equiped to handle a mass scale managed repair programme - leading to multiple mistakes, poor staffing decisions and inadequate quality control. Damage assessments were the root of claimants disputes time and time again. Dame Silvia Cartwright described to Checkpoint the way claimants have been treated by EQC.
Glaziers and window makers in Christchurch say Saturday's earthquake smashed up to 90 percent of their glass supplies, leaving them without materials to repair people's homes.
A world class centre for music and the arts has opened in Christchurch, after The Music Centre of Christchurch was damaged beyond repair in the 2011 earthquakes.
There are 1,600 Canterbury homeowners with earthquake claims still open with EQC. About 100 homeowners turned up to a meeting organised by EQC Fix in Christchurch on Monday night - all with stories of home repair hell, botched repairs, or seemingly never-ending arguments with EQC, Southern Response, or their private insurer. They were all tired and wondering why they still had to fight more than nine years on from the first Canterbury Earthquake. Checkpoint video journalist Logan Church travelled to Christchurch to speak to those still fighting for what they believe they are entitled too.
EQC's manager for the Canterbury home repair programme, Reid Stiven, respondes to claims of misleading estimates of damage to household foundations from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
Principal of Banks Ave School, Murray Edlin, and Canterbury Primary Principals Association president, John Bangma, discuss the issue of earthquake damaged schools in property repairs funding shock.
Some Christchurch residents are frustrated at the time it's taking to work out what sort of foundations their homes will require when earthquake repairs are carried out.
Christchurch City Council abandons plan to sell its City Care maintenance bid as part of its plan to raise $600 million to repair infrastructure damaged by earthquakes.
The company that has the main contract for repairing houses in Christchurch, Fletcher Earthquake Recovery, is assuring taxpayers it's doing everything it can to avoid any fraudulent behaviour.
The chief medical officer of health for the region, Dr Alistair Humphrey, says people carrying out repairs on their earthquake-stricken properties need to be wary of asbestos.
The repair of Christchurch's earthquake damaged arts centre has revealed details hidden from view for forty years including a badminton court and the site of an old swimming pool.
Tower Insurance has increased the amount it is willing to pay towards repairing an earthquake-damaged Christchurch home, but is still refusing to pay for a more expensive rebuild.
The company hired by the Government to carry out earthquake repairs in Canterbury is refusing to install insulation at the same time as it replaces old cladding on houses.
EQC CEO Sid Miller says the agency is currently defending 316 legal cases over the Christchurch earthquakes, and is considering legal action against Fletcher's for its project management of the repairs.
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.
More than ten weeks after being damaged beyond repair by the Christchurch earthquake, there is still no decision about how or when the Grand Chancellor Hotel will be demolished.
In its latest update, the Earthquake Commission says it will have to manage repairs to 50-thousand homes moderately or seriously damaged by the Canterbury earthquake four weeks ago.
A message in a bottle, hidden under the floor of a Christchurch home for over fifty years, has been discovered during earthquake repairs and its writer's been tracked down.
The Prime Minister Chris Hipkins today announced an additional three hundred and one million dollar boost for the rebuild of earthquake damaged Christchurch schools, and said the programme in Christchurch may be a template for repairing flood damaged schools in the North Island. Some schools are still waiting to be repaired more than a decade after the devastating quakes. On his first visit to Christchurch since becoming Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins visited one of the schools still in the midst of its rebuild process, and to celebrate the progress being made. Our reporter Rachel Graham and videographer Nate McKinnon went along.
Shell shocked residents still picking up the pieces in one of the worst earthquake affected parts of Canterbury, say a looming rates rise to pay for repairs will cripple them.
A Christchurch man says EQC misled him about the earthquake damage to his home and deliberately under-scoped the repairs that were needed. David Townshend said his warnings were ignored.
Christchurch people who have had to battle insurance companies over the repair or rebuild of earthquake damaged homes are welcoming the Labour party's idea of an earthquake court to settle disputes.
Christchurch's Blessed Sacrament Cathedral was set to be repaired following the Canterbury earthquakes, but the new Bishop Paul Martin has decided it's too expensive and has decided to rebuild closer to the city centre.
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.
A project manager for a company doing home repairs in the Christchurch earthquake rebuild says it is highly likely as many as 60-thousand people have been exposed to potentially lethal asbestos fibres.
Despite Government pressure on the Christchurch City Council to sell off some of its assets to help fund its 40% share of the city's earthquake repairs, the council has instead decided to raise rates, and rents.
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.