Ministry’s rental allowance backtrack
A temporary accommodation allowance for Cantabrians out of their homes for earthquake repairs will be reviewed after at least one homeowner was found to have been wrongly denied payment.
The Ministry of Social Development originally declined the Christchurch homeowner’s application for rental help because they bought the home after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
Homeowners can qualify for between $180 and $330 a week if their private insurer either does not cover temporary rental costs or if their cover has expired. The amount depends on family size and is not available to landlords.
Many insurers will not cover new owners for temporary accommodation as they are not the original policyholders.
Ministry deputy chief executive for service delivery Ruth Bound said in the meantime they would look at other homeowners’ claims for the allowance ‘‘on a case-bycase basis if they would like to get in touch with us’’.
The payments are handled by Work and Income, which is part of the ministry.
The Christchurch homeowner’s case was initially rejected during their home’s 18-month repair. Upon review, the decision was then upheld after an internal review by the ministry.
When Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb approached Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni on the homeowner’s behalf, the ministry reversed its decision and admitted being in the wrong.
Bound confirmed that, as a result, the ministry would ‘‘review the intention of’’ the temporary accommodation assistance programme over the next few months.
She said situations had arisen that ‘‘weren’t envisaged when it was first established’’.
In a letter to Webb, senior ministry staffer Agnes Sefo said the decision had been reversed after legal advice.
Based on the policy wording, the homeowner ‘‘cannot not be turned down based solely on (them) not owning and residing in the home at the time of the earthquake’’, given that they were ‘‘unaware at the time of purchase of the need for repairs’’ and had insurance cover.
Sefo said the issue highlighted ‘‘the misalignment between the policy intent and the policy wording’’, due to the expectation when introduced that the allowance would only be needed shortterm.
Since the allowance was brought in, applicants’ cases had been ‘‘increasingly complex and unique’’, and some issues had not been anticipated. To ensure the allowance was handled fairly, the issue would continue to be investigated ‘‘at a wider policy level’’, she said.
Ministry figures showed $60 million in temporary earthquake accommodation allowances had been paid to 3400 households to date. The ministry could not say how many people seeking the allowance had been turned down.