Quake claims still pouring in

More than 550 court cases over Christchurch earthquake insurance disputes are active in the High Court, and new cases continue to pour in.

The Christchurch Earthquake List was set up in May 2012 to deal with quake-related cases more swiftly than the regular High Court process. As of September

30, 1279 cases had been filed. An annual report on how the list is performing, by chief High Court Justice Geoffrey Venning, found a pattern of high numbers of filings has continued from 2016 to 2018.

There were 253 new cases filed in the year ending September 30,

2018. This was down from 271 in

2017 and 316 in 2016.

An average of 21 cases were filed each month in the year ending September 30, 2018. This was down from 23 per month in 2017 and 26 in 2016. In particular, the number of cases filed spiked in June 2018. Similar spikes happened in August 2016 and

2017. The report said the high number of cases filed had been caused by some insurers refusing to waive a potential limitations defence.

The defence is based on the Limitation Act, which says litigation must be filed to the courts within six years of the event the dispute is over. Many insurers say the time period starts from the date of the earthquake, while others believe it starts from when a claim is settled. The issue has not yet gone to court for clarification.

Insurance company IAG had waived the defence, but began to use it from July 1, which coincides with the spike in new cases. More than 70 new cases were filed in June.

A large number of cases relate to defective repairs: so far 177 such cases have been filed, of which 134 remain active.

Almost all cases resolved in

2018 were by settlement, which was no different to previous years. Justice Venning’s report said it was the most ‘‘common and cost-effective outcome for both parties’’.

Despite all information and expert opinion needing to be presented before a trial date is set, the report noted a large number of cases still did not settle until the last month before trial.

As of September 30, 64 of the

559 active cases were set down for trial.

The report said the list had ‘‘continued to function effectively in 2018’’.

Peter Woods, a partner at law firm Anthony Harper, said the list was still working ‘‘pretty well’’ – a view generally shared by the profession.

‘‘The homeowners are frustrated about delays, but I don’t think the lawyers would consider there’s much delay in the court’s handling of cases.

‘‘It’s more a delay in getting experts together really [that] is the biggest problem.’’

He did not expect to see spikes in filings in the future because companies likely to use the limitations defence had already done so. There could be another peak if Southern Response decided to use it, but he did not expect it to.