Hard-won lessons from Christchurch on EQC strategies
An after-shock could be coming in the form of dealings with bureaucrats. Rob Stock reports.
Christchurch homeowners say their gruelling fights with the Earthquake Commission (EQC) can offer lessons to people whose properties were damaged in the earthquakes of the last two days.
‘‘We have learnt that you can’t trust EQC,’’ Christchurch homeowner Craig Edwards says.
EQC is not a friendly government department, he says, but an agency with an interest in keeping repair costs down and an ‘‘adversarial’’ approach to claims.
Homeowners in Kaikoura and other quake-affected areas have to quickly become experts in EQC law, Edwards says, but they can learn from the victories of Christchurch residents.
Edwards is a member of the EQC Action Group which won a landmark case in the High Court in April that established EQC had to fix earthquake-damaged homes to an ‘‘as-new’’ standard, not the pre-quake standard EQC had been assessing repairs to.
He says the landmark case should mean owners of newlydamaged homes fare better in their dealings with EQC than Christchurch homeowners did, but has this message for them: ’’You have to ensure EQC meets its legal obligations.’’
Christchurch homeowner Alistair Cree advises reading the EQC legislation.
‘‘Look at the terms to see what level of insurance you have. Treat it as a contract. You need to become an expert. That’s my experience.’’
Edwards says homeowners need to get everything in writing from EQC, and question everything said to them, either by EQC, or its assessors.
It’s also important to keep a careful watch on the quality of repairs, when they begin.
Some estimate that the cost to fix botched home repairs in Christchurch could eventually eclipse the cost of the nationwide leaky building scandal.
The not-for-profit Eqcfix.nz website, which is run by Cantabrians who battled EQC, is a key resource for owners of newlydamaged homes, Edwards says.
Melanie Tobeck-bourke from EQCFIX says homeowners have three months to get their EQC claims in, so they have time to work out their strategies, and build their team.
She urges them not to stint on paying fees to experts.
Homeowners need their own expert assessment of damage in order to ensure EQC lives up to its obligations, she says.
‘‘EQC and insurers have loss adjusters for a reason,’’ she says. ‘‘They have their own agendas. You are a homeowner with a different agenda.’’
A homeowner’s team should include a lawyer, but getting independent ‘‘geotech’’ and engineers’ reports is also essential as damage is not always visible.
People don’t realise, for example, that if a chimney has fallen down, damage probably goes all the way down into the foundations, she says.
Without expert help, it is too easy to accept assurances that damage is minor, or that a patch repair is sufficient.
‘‘It’s really important to start from the land up,’’ she says. ‘‘If the land is damaged, it has to be fixed first.’’
The costs of such reports can be claimed back from EQC and insurers, she says.
‘‘The lesson from Christchurch is you can’t afford not to pay your own experts. The difference between Christchurch homeowners who did, and those who didn’t, is hundreds of thousands of dollars.’’
EQC says it is focused on treating homeowners fairly, and meeting their legal obligations to fix their homes.
Trish Keith, EQC’S general manager for claims, says it has ‘‘incorporated the learnings from its experience in Canterbury’’ into a redesign of its claims processes. It’s included making letters simpler, and using graphics to show customers their progress through the claims process.
‘‘Feedback from customers who claimed with EQC from the February 14, 2016 event has been very positive,’’ she says.
That may mean people with newly quake-damaged homes do not need to be as staunch as some Christchurch homeowners have had to be.
Cherrie Milne, who has had a six-year EQC ‘‘nightmare’’, says: ‘‘You just have to be tough because they just take you for a ride.’’
‘‘They just want you to give up and say ‘ah, okay’.’’
Milne says she and her husband Dave decided they would not accept shoddy repairs, and despite their ill-health, have fought for their rights.
EQC has now accepted the repairs to their home are not up to scratch.
There can be strength in numbers. Edwards says forming support groups and teaming up with other people in like situations can help strengthen resolve for a long fight.
‘‘It’s going to be a long road,’’ he warns victims of the latest quakes.
It is also important not to allow yourself to be belittled.
Tobeck-bourke says she had been called a nutter and a conspiracy theorist over her battles with EQC.
But she has been successful, and she feels she and others like her are fighting a battle that’s about more than the damage to her property.
‘‘It’s changed my whole perspective on democracy,’’ she says.
‘‘If you want system change you have got to challenge the system from your own home.’’
‘‘You need to become an expert. That’s my experience.’’ Alistair Cree, right Christchurch homeowner