EQC update - Canterbury FAQs

EQC have updated their Canterbury FAQs here.

The change involves the addition of a new section on cash settlements where claims are under $15,000.  You can find them toward the bottom of the page, or click on the link just below to continue reading them on the blog.

Under $15,000, cash settlement

How do I know if I have an <$15,000 Claim?

Some simple steps you can take to work out if you have an under $15K claim with EQC, consider the following points:

  • Your damage consists of superficial cracking, falling indoor tiles, plastering, wallpapering and cracks in your walls, or other non-structural damage.
  • Your claim or claims relate to a stand-alone dwelling rather than multi-unit building.

If the above points describe your situation, then your overall home repairs are likely to cost less than $15,000 and you will probably be cash settled.

Why is EQC cash settling claims for under $15,000?

Where the damage is cosmetic in nature and simply requires repairs such as plastering, painting and wallpapering, it makes sense to pay these claims in cash, so homeowners can get on with doing the repairs themselves or organising someone to do it for them.

Why are Multi-unit buildings with minor cosmetic damage not settled at the same time?

A multi-unit building is a building containing two or more units or flats which share structural elements such as foundations or party walls. This includes houses that have been divided into two or more flats, as well as purpose-built buildings that have more than one unit/flat in them, e.g. apartments, townhouses or blocks of flats.

Multi-unit building claims have a number of complexities that don’t apply to stand-alone houses.  This includes the requirement of EQC to assess the whole building as well as the individual units in that building to determine an appropriate repair strategy. All flat owners in the building may need to agree on that repair strategy, if it is likely to impact on structural elements in the building. Even if some individual units contain only non-structural damage, those units may be affected by structural repairs required to the building.

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