Date set for test case of on-sold quake homes
An August 2019 court date to determine liability for botched quake repairs to on-sold homes will come too late for Mike Stewart and Julia McIntyre.
The couple say another nine months is too long after waiting three years already to get re-repairs done, and they are being forced to sell their family home.
The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has announced the August 26 High Court case as its legal test to clarify liability on the issue.
Owners, including Stewart and McIntyre, who are suing insurers or EQC over properties bought since the earthquakes, cannot have their cases heard until the test case is decided.
The couple are among several hundred owners in limbo as neither EQC nor private insurers will fix botched or skimped repairs to their homes. The problem has arisen because previous owner’s private policies do not cover new owners when bad repairs are discovered and re-repair costs exceed EQC’s liability cap of $100,000 plus GST.
EQC had claimants’ homes repaired under a contract with Fletcher Building.
EQC deputy chief executive Renee Walker said the August case would provide the legal clarity needed. It wanted to have all the issues for the on-sold overcap test case determined at a single hearing, she said.
The case would test who was liable for wrong or incomplete assessments, incorrect repair methods, and defective repairs. It would also determine who would be liable for re-repair costs over EQC’s cap.
‘‘As we are all too aware, there are limitations to this position. Under the EQC Act, we cannot pay more than the cap,’’ Walker said.
‘‘The hearing will be a significant step in enabling homeowners with onsold overcap issues to move forward.’’
EQC Minister Megan Woods said in March the Government was seeking funds to fast-track the legal precedents, raising many owners’ hopes of a speedy resolution.
Stewart said they were sick of the delays and could not wait any longer now that the date had been confirmed.
‘‘We are pretty gutted about it. Why is it taking so long? We’re talking nearly a year down the track. Then it could go to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
‘‘As far as I’m concerned it’s a joke.’’ Stewart and McIntyre’s problems arose when the sale of their Linwood bungalow fell through in 2015 because botched repairs done for a previous owner came to light. Fixing the foundations was expected to cost at least $300,000 and the house remains unsaleable.
They had already bought a bigger house for their growing family and have been trying to maintain a $800,000 mortgage as a result ever since.
Stewart said they could no longer afford to own both houses and, as renting the Linwood house out did not cover the mortgage, they must now sell their home of the past three years.
‘‘Mentally, emotionally and financially we can’t deal with it any more,’’ Stewart said. ‘‘We’ve sold everything we own to sustain the mortgage, thinking it would be sorted soon. [The Government] were saying [the legal precedent] was going to be expedited, but there have been so many hold-ups.’’