Sunday Star-Times

DIY meth testing plan

Landlords hope to be able to test their own properties for meth contaminat­ion, Rob Stock writes.

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Insurers have been told they must do more to help landlords protect their properties from meth contaminat­ion, but landlords say they’ve got their own self-help plan.

Speaking at the Financial Services and Insurance Ombudsman conference, Miles Stratford from Meth Solutions appealed to insurers to take a lead in helping landlords protect themselves from the synthetic drug known as P.

That included better landlord education, and using their buying power to negotiate discounted meth testing deals.

Insurers could even use their financial muscle to take civil and criminal action against tenants who smoked or manufactur­ed meth in their policyhold­ers’ houses.

‘‘The thing I would like to see insurers doing is really educating their clients, and making it clearer on the steps landlords can take in order to mitigate their risk,’’ Stratford said.

That included making it crystal clear landlords needed to test their properties regularly to ensure they could prove any contaminat­ion happened under their current insurance contract.

‘‘I believe most people want to do the right thing. They just don’t know what to do,’’ Stratford said.

But landlords’ spokesman Andrew King, from the Federation of Property Investors, said insurers were doing fine, and it had its own plan for low-cost DIY swab testing for landlords that would do the job.

King said profession­al meth-testing was too slow, and too expensive for landlords.

Cheap DIY testing kits can be bought for around $15 which would give landlords a ‘‘yes/no’’ to the presence of meth contaminat­ion in their properties.

A ‘‘yes’’ would then result in a company like Meth Solutions being called in to do full testing, King said.

The tests would be done in the presence of a witness, should a claim for contaminat­ion later be made.

It would give tenants confidence they were not moving into meth-contaminat­ed homes, but also put them on notice not to smoke, or manufactur­e meth in the property, or they would be caught.

King said insurers had indicated they would support the DIY plan provided landlords were properly trained, and were using government-approved testing equipment.

‘‘The insurance companies will allow it,’’ he said.

Meth testing of homes prompted by media coverage has revealed a rising number of contaminat­ed homes, though there is still debate about what a safe level is for human contaminat­ion.

It’s also sparked a lot of insurance claims, and resulted in insurance companies being more explicit about what is and isn’t covered.

Some insurers have moved from excluding meth damage as not being ‘‘sudden’’ damage under their policies, or capping it to a maximum of $30,000 or $50,000.

In March IAG, which operates insurance brands including NZI, State and AMI, said the number of claims it got for meth contaminat­ion had increased from about 10 a month in 2015 to 50 a month last year.

Stratford said the long-term average for the proportion of the houses it tested had not fallen far since Meth Solutions launched five years’ ago, and was running at nearly 39 per cent.

However, he said that may not represent anywhere near a national average as landlords who choose to meth-test their properties might be sparked by suspicions about specific tenants.

Brendan McGillicud­dy from giant insurer IAG said his company had produced a detailed self-defence guide for landlords insured with it, and – prompted by concerns that not all meth testers were doing a good job – had built a referral network of trusted testers companies its policyhold­ers could use.

IAG expects landlords to regularly test for meth.

‘‘It’s important that you take extra care with vetting of tenants, regular inspection­s and meth tests, to minimise the risk of a potential loss,’’ its guide reads.

Meth contaminat­ion is the residue and chemical by-products left on surfaces like walls after someone has smoked, or manufactur­ed meth in a property.

‘‘The presence of meth at low levels does not necessaril­y pose an identified health risk,’’ IAG says. ‘‘That’s why our policies are designed to cover the cost of decontamin­ating or replacing items only where a clear health risk is identified.’’

I believe most people want to do the right thing. They just don't know what to do. Miles Stratford, Meth Solutions

 ?? REXINE HAWKES/STUFF ?? This is what profession­al meth-testing looks like. Cheap DIY tests could make it easy for anyone to get an indication if a property has meth contaminat­ion.
REXINE HAWKES/STUFF This is what profession­al meth-testing looks like. Cheap DIY tests could make it easy for anyone to get an indication if a property has meth contaminat­ion.

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