CCC's bill to settle insurance claim $9M and climbing
Audio, Radio New Zealand
Official figures show the Christchurch City Council's legal bill to settle its earthquake insurance claims is sitting at nine million dollars, and climbing.
Official figures show the Christchurch City Council's legal bill to settle its earthquake insurance claims is sitting at nine million dollars, and climbing.
A Christchurch lawyer with more than 100 insurance cases before the courts is dismissing Labour's plans for a special Earthquake Court.
Three years on from the February 22nd Christchurch earthquake hundreds of businesses are still waiting for their insurance claims to be settled.
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.
Topics - ready with the pumps at last this time, but thankfully not as much rain - so far - as feared for people in the low-lying Flockton Basin in Christchurch. Labour's proposing a special court be set up just to deal with earthquake insurance claims, as part of a policy around the Christchurch rebuild. The policy would see an Earthquake Court established to try to speed up the settling of 9,755 outstanding "over cap" insurance claims. John Banks will be gone by Friday from Parliament, at the behest of the ACT party with a gentle nudge from the Nats as well. The PM thinks it's a joke that the Civilian political party, run by Ben Uffindell and named after his satirical webite, will receive $33,000 of taxpayer funding for the coming election.
Gerry Brownlee is the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister. Hugo Kristinsson is a South Brighton resident who stood for mayor last year on the issue of flood risk and land damage. David Stringer is the spokesperson for the community lobby group Insurance Watch - which has been seeking answers from the council since 2011 about the flood risk to the city. Nine to Noon speaks with all three about the recent flooding in Christchurch.
Topics - it's been described as the 'Downton Effect' - a revival of more formal dinner parties as the British try to bring back fine dining. Today we learned that insurance companies have completed just 15 per cent of rebuilds and 10 per cent of over-cap repairs more than three years after the Canterbury earthquakes. A series of rallies are being held in five Australian cities today by New Zealanders protesting against legislation which denies them rights to welfare. Commuters are cautiously optimistic about a radical revamp proposed for Wellington's rush-hour rail service.