Top of the South Island earthquake checks at midpoint
As insurance assessments in Marlborough near the mid-way point, people affected are still worried about the supply of tradespeople to do the repairs.
Flaxbourne Settlers Group chairman Stuart Oulton said of people he knew locally, some seemed to have been paid out fairly quickly but ‘‘probably the majority’’ were still waiting for payouts. He said there were also people in the area who had not yet had an insurance inspection, which was ‘‘quite concerning’’. A ‘‘big worry for everyone’’ was the shortage of tradesmen for repairs. Oulton said people were waiting months to get a builder or even a quote. The other concern in the region was heating, as many lost their heating source in the quakes.
‘‘Even a simple thing like firewood is something that people are sort of asking for help with.’’
Local groups such as the Seddon Lions Club and the Rural Support Trust had started assisting with firewood. Insurance Council of New Zealand figures showed 9282 residential building claims were made in the upper South Island, north of the Waimakariri River, near Rangiora. At the end of April, 4176 of those claims (45 per cent) had been assessed.
Full settlements had been made for 1233 claims, or 13 per cent, with a value of nearly $37 million.
Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton said the time between assessment and settlement was typically four to 12 weeks.
Marlborough District Council earthquake recovery manager Dean Heiford said through ongoing communication with rural communities, it was apparent people needed or wanted some face-to-face time with earthquakerelated organisations, to talk about their individual needs.
He said people ‘‘want to understand the specifics of their own issues’’, especially people with land damage.
‘‘Then we’ve got individuals who either haven’t had an assessment or don’t understand their assessment.’’
Heiford said it would be easier for people if they had some certainty about aspects such as the timing of assessments and payouts.
‘‘We are tending to get those that are totally frustrated coming to us, and it’s only a small percentage, probably the ones that are most vulnerable.’’
Grafton said feedback from the Marlborough communities was that their information needs were moving from the general to the specific.