House claims - overview

An overview to understanding claims for your home

  • What should you do if you have existing earthquake damage to your house? 

    Both EQC and Southern Response are likely to be involved in managing different parts of your house claim. The most important step is to notify the claim to EQC within three months of the damage occurring.

  • What should you do if you have sustained new damage from a more recent earthquake? 

    A claim should be notified to EQC for new damage to your house, regardless of whether you have an existing earthquake claim. To notify a claim to EQC, phone 0800 DAMAGE (0800 326 243) or visit www.eqc.govt.nz

    You will need your AMI policy number which is on your policy schedule. Please phone 0800 100 200 if you need to confirm your policy number.

    EQC allows three months from the date of the earthquake that caused the damage for you to lodge your claim. Visit www.eqc.govt.nz  for claim deadlines.

    If you have a house claim being managed by Southern Response and have sustained significant new earthquake damage that may exceed EQC's limit of $100,000 + GST ($115,000), contact the Southern Response over cap pod managing your claim or phone Southern Response on 0800 501 525.

  • What does EQC not cover that should be lodged as a claim with Southern Response? 

  • What should you do if you need temporary repairs to your house? 

    We are sometimes asked to do temporary repairs to a customer's home to make it more habitable and comfortable, before the main repairs are done, or before the house is rebuilt.  This might cover things like cladding or roofing, insulation, drainage or removal of liquefaction.

    If you believe your property needs temporary repairs for you to be able to remain living there, please contact us to talk about your situation.  We look at each request individually, taking into account all circumstances.

    We need to ensure our customers live in weathertight, secure homes that they are able to heat, and that their home is structurally safe to live in. 

    Temporary Repairs for Rebuilds

    If your home needs repairs so that you are able to remain living there until it is rebuilt, the cost of doing these repairs will most commonly come from your temporary accommodation allowance or, if you choose, or from the funds allocated to rebuild your house. 

    We will ask you to enter an agreement that the cost of the repairs will:

    • Come from any temporary accommodation allowance you may have through your policy with us, or
    • Be repaid to us by you if you choose to take a cash settlement rather than build with us, or
    • Come from the rebuilding funds if you choose to rebuild with us, or
    • Be funded by an advance from us, which will be repaid by you before your rebuild begins.

    We also need the agreement of any financially interested party (bank etc) before we can proceed with a temporary repair agreement.

    Customers will need to have a clear understanding that if they proceed down this proposed temporary repair path using rebuild funds, they will have less settlement funds from Southern Response to finally repair or rebuild their home.

    Temporary Repairs for Repairable Houses

    If you need repairs done so that you can stay in your house until the main repairs are done we will see if we can bring forward some of those repairs to enable you to remain living there. 

    We will only pay for repairs to any part of your house to be done once.  If temporary repairs would have to be redone as part of the main repairs, we are likely to choose to cash settle your entire claim so that you can manage the repairs in your own timeframe.

  • What happens if your house is unfit to live in? 

    This could be:

    • due to earthquake damage, or
    • if Southern Response requires you to move out during repairs or rebuild

    Your house may be deemed unfit to live in if the extent of the damage means it is not fit for normal occupancy. This depends on whether the occupants can eat, sleep and live hygienically and safely given the damage.

    If your house is unfit to live in and you had AMI contents cover at the time the house was unfit to live in, a temporary accommodation allowance may be available to you, up to the value of 25% of your contents sum insured (ie, if you have $60,000 contents insurance you have up to $15,000 available for temporary accommodation) or for a time limit of 12 months (cumulative), whichever is exhausted first.

    Read more about temporary accommodation 

  • What happens after you have lodged your claim with EQC? 

    EQC will:

    1. Verify you had a current insurance policy at the time of the event which caused the damage.
    2. Assist you with any emergency repairs for safety, weathertightness and habitability.
    3. Identify any damage that EQC does not cover. If this is covered by the insurance policy you had in place at the time of the event, you will need to lodge an out of scope claim with Southern Response.
    4. Assess your house to determine if it will exceed the maximum amount of EQCover. 
    5. Assess any damage to the land - EQC covers land, within certain limits, damaged by the earthquake. 

  • What happens after you have lodged a valid claim with Southern Response under your AMI house policy for earthquake damage? 

    Southern Response will:

    1. Manage any claims for damage which are over cap (if the cost of reinstating the damage to your house and / or contents exceeds the maximum amount EQC will pay). 
    2. Manage any claims for damage which are out of scope (items not subject to EQCover but covered by your insurance policy). 
    3. Manage any claim for temporary accommodation and / or loss of rent. 
    4. Work with EQC and relevant local authorities to schedule any repairs or rebuilding work in line with EQC processes including if there is a land remediation programme in your area which may affect your property.

  • Why does the damage to your house need to be inspected more than once? 

    Some houses will require a number of visits to view the full extent of the damage.

    EQC - To determine the extent of the damage (including the land), if you require any emergency repairs and if the damage will exceed the maximum amount of EQCover for an earthquake event.

    Southern Response - To focus on damage to any areas not insured by EQC (out of scope). If your claim is assessed by EQC as exceeding the maximum amount they will pay, EQC will hand the claim to Southern Response to manage and Southern Response will do further and more detailed assessments.

    Important: Even if your house has been significantly damaged and assessed by EQC as exceeding their maximum level of cover for an earthquake event, it will not be known whether it can be repaired (or rebuilt) until Southern Response's Detailed Repair / Rebuild Analysis (DRA) has been completed.

    As part of the assessment process, you may also be visited by specialist engineers and tradespeople to assist with estimating the full extent of the damage.

  • What happens if your house was assessed after an earlier earthquake but you now have new damage and a new claim from a more recent earthquake? 

    This depends on the status of your earlier claim:

    1. If your house has been assessed and Southern Response has it recorded as being beyond economic repair:
      You will not need another assessment. 
    2. If your house has been assessed and Southern Response has it recorded as being repairable:
      It may need to be assessed again to view and record new or additional damage. Depending on the amount of new damage since your last assessment, the outcome could change. You will need to notify EQC (in the first instance) of the new damage.

    If your house has not been assessed by EQC and therefore it is not confirmed if your damage will be under cap or over cap, EQC will ask you to identify which damage is from which earthquake as part of their assessment.

    If your out of scope damage has not been assessed, where possible, please identify which damage is related to which earthquake when a member of Southern Response's assessment team visits to view the out of scope damage.

     

  • What happens if you have a claim with both EQC and Southern Response? 

    EQC and Southern Response will manage these claims independently but seek to work together to co-ordinate repairs in an appropriate order. For example, EQC could be managing your house repairs while Southern Response is managing your driveway and fence repairs.

  • What about curtains/drapes and floor coverings? 

    Your AMI Contents Policy includes any damage and/or loss to carpets and floor coverings not glued to the floor. (Floor coverings glued down are part of your AMI House Policy.) Your curtains/drapes are also covered by your Contents Policy.

    If you are paid out for these items as part of a claim settlement it is important to remember that you should not buy replacement carpet and curtaining until any claim decision regarding your house, or building work, is completed, which could take some time. We encourage you to plan for this as part of managing your payout.

  • What about swimming pools and spa pools? 

    The type of swimming or spa pool you have and its location on your property determine whether EQC or Southern Response is responsible for the claim.　

    EQCover includes:

    1. Swimming pools and spa pools if they are an integral part of the building which is your home.　

    EQCover does not include:

    1. Portable swimming pools or portable spa pools are covered by your AMI Contents Policy and Southern Response is responsible for any claim.
    2. Outdoor pools of permanent construction are covered by your AMI House Policy and Southern Response is responsible for any claim.