Disaster claims: Is this all my entitlement under the EQC Act?

As insurance lawyers for disaster claims, this is the most frequent question we hear from our clients.

A lot of the insurance claims from Cyclone Gabrielle and Auckland floods are coming to a head now. They have been through the slow process of the geotechnical assessment, land valuation, and costings from the insurance claims adjuster. They are finally getting a settlement letter from the insurer. But in a lot of cases, the money is short of what it will cost to repair.

And indeed, the land cover is limited, and sometimes there will be a shortfall. But not always. We have clients with EQC claims who are entitled to the full repair cost, but EQC refuses to offer the full remediation. Some clients had claims declined because a previous owner did not spend the EQC payment on implementing a land repair. We have clients where the repair costs have been significantly undercosted. Roof claims for storm damage where the insurers decline to pay for the upgrade required by the Building Code. We see low settlement offers for retaining walls. Even more concerning, we also see incomplete damage assessments for dwellings carried out by unqualified people. There are insurance disputes where the house foundations have been damaged by land slipping away, and insurers taking the position that this is land damage and subject to the limits of the land cover.   

Navigating a house insurance claim can be overwhelming. We are insurance lawyers with over 16 years of experience. You can rely on us to determine whether you have received the full entitlement under the EQC Act and under your insurance policy. Fill in the form on our contact page https://gaborlaw.co.nz/contact/or message us on LinkedIn to have your claim reviewed.

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