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.
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.
A photograph of picket signs in the windows of the Earthquake Services building on the corner of Fitzgerald Avenue and Ferry Road. The signs read, "Welcome to EQC,. Your call is important to us...", "EQC: fool me once, shame on you...", "Pig brother is watching you", and "Another winter of discontent".
A graphic promoting a discussion on press.co.nz of an article titled, "EQC slams Press article as disappointing".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Sign on the wall of the temporary EQC office, Winchester Street, Lyttelton".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Earthquake Commission Public Meeting at the SBS Events Centre. Reid Stiven, representing the Earthquake Commission (EQC), responds to a query during the meeting, which was held to inform the public about making claims to the EQC relating to the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on 4 September. The meeting was hosted by Rangitata MP Jo Goodhew (left)".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Earthquake Commission Public Meeting at the SBS Events Centre. Left to right: Rangitata MP Jo Goodhew and Reid Stiven, representing the Earthquake Commission (EQC), listen to a query during the meeting, which was held to inform the public about making claims to the EQC relating the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on 4 September".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Earthquake Commission public meeting at the SBS Events Centre. Left to right at back: Rangitata MP Jo Goodhew and Reid Stiven, representing the Earthquake Commission (EQC), listen to a query during the meeting, which was held to inform the public about making claims to the EQC relating to the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on 4 September".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Earthquake Commission Public Meeting at the SBS Events Centre. Reid Stiven, representing the Earthquake Commission (EQC), responds to a query during the meeting, which was held to inform the public about making claims to the EQC relating the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on 4 September. The meeting was hosted by Rangitata MP Jo Goodhew (left)".
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.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Nick Rogers, geotechnical specialist, explains the EQC plan to remediate land damaged in the Canterbury earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Nick Rogers, geotechnical specialist, explains the EQC plan to remediate land damaged in the Canterbury earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Nick Rogers, geotechnical specialist, explains the EQC plan to remediate land damaged in the Canterbury earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Nick Rogers, geotechnical specialist, explains the EQC plan to remediate land damaged in the Canterbury earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Nick Rogers, geotechnical specialist, explains the EQC plan to remediate land damaged in the Canterbury earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Steve Simpson and Janice Hartzer from the EQC inspect a house for earthquake damage at Fairview".
A story submitted by John Clark to the QuakeStories website.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 7 April 2011 entitled, "Day 45 - Wanton water".
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 11 July 2013 entitled, "Do you ever feel like you are walking through deep sand?".
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 27 September 2013 entitled, "Just so you know....".
Disclosure CEO expenses
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.