15 Mar 2018

Don't buy a house repaired by EQC, Christchurch homeowner warns

From Checkpoint, 5:43 pm on 15 March 2018

 

Solo mum Tania Ashton is warning people not to buy houses repaired by EQC, after discovering the home she bought needs repairs costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And Earthquake Commission minister said a law change may be needed to deal with Canterbury homeowners who purchased houses after the 2011 earthquake believing they had been fully repaired.

Ms Ashton, who has two teenage sons, bought her house in 2015.

A year later, EQC visited to check the repairs it had carried out prior to the purchase were up to scratch, and discovered they were not.

The family had to shift out and live in a motel while more repairs were carried out.

Last year, EQC found the second lot of repairs had still not properly levelled the home, but the commission's cap of $100,000 for the repairs had already been met.

Insurance will not cover the on-sold property - leaving it up to Ms Ashton to find the hundreds of thousands of extra dollars needed.

Today, EQC minister Megan Woods met with 14 Christchurch claimants in what was described as an emotional meeting.

The group was promised individual case managers for the 2500 people with outstanding claims, to speed up the process.

Like Ms Ashton, many have purchased homes with undisclosed damage and then found their private insurer is unwilling to provide cover, leaving them hugely out of pocket.

Ms Woods said a law change may be required to help the group.

For now she says the current law needs clarifying, which is why the government is paying for a declaratory judgment from the High Court.