Getting your claim reviewed

Overview of the review process

There are separate processes and requirements for reviewing a settled Canterbury earthquake claim based on whether the claim was for building, land, or contents. This page will help you navigate the process and outline what circumstances may qualify for a review.

Your claim review will progress through the following steps.

1. Contact us to discuss your concerns. Provide us with as much information as you can. See below for the types of information that may be helpful to have on hand. 
2. A settlement specialist or claim manager will be assigned to review your concerns. 
3. The settlement specialist or claim manager will contact you to discuss the next steps.  

We’ll require you as the homeowner, to provide evidence that damage caused by the earthquakes has been missed or repairs to your home were substandard.

If you’ve already had work completed by a private contractor and paid them, we may be able to reimburse you, depending on the circumstances.

After we receive your request, we will review it and notify you of our decision. When considering review requests, we apply our limitations policy and the principle of de minimis.

Our limitations policy is based on the Limitations Act:

Limitation periods factsheet [PDF, 47 KB]

Request a building claim review

To request a claim review contact us with your claim number or the address of your property. 

Information you can provide

You may already have information that could help your settlement specialist or claim manager understand your concerns when you contact us.  

This information may include, but it is not limited to:  

• a list of the specific damages you’re concerned about and the rooms where it’s located  
• when and how you noticed the damage, such as doors not shutting, carpet being lifted, cracking on the wall, or a professional report 
• photos you’ve taken of the damage  
• reports or documents you think may be helpful during the review which provide  evidence of damage in the areas of concern.  

If you bought the property after the earthquakes, you will need to provide the sale and purchase agreement, deed of assignment and any pre-purchase reports.  

Your settlement specialist or claim manager can help if you have questions about the information required.  

Drainage claim reviews

If you believe you might have damage to drains caused by the Canterbury earthquakes, see our page on drainage claims. 

Information from your building contractor

Ask your building contractor to complete the form below to tell us about the damage. They should provide detailed information about newly discovered damage you think may have been caused by the earthquakes or sub-standard repairs. Visit our building claim page for more details. 

It will be helpful for the contractor to include the claim number so please provide it to them. 

Contractor statement of damage [PDF, 89 KB] – Printer friendly PDF

Request a land claim review

If you have concerns about the decision made for your land claim, or you have new information that supports your concerns, you can ask us to review your claim. Contact us first to speak to one of our team about your concerns and the next steps.  

You can request a review if your concerns relate to the following:

• Visible land damage 
• Increased Flooding Vulnerability damage (IFV)
• Increased Liquefaction Vulnerability damage (ILV)

Depending on your concerns, there are different types of supporting information that may be helpful. We encourage you to contact us first so we can help explain what information may be required.

If you already have information that you think may support your concerns, you can send it to info@naturalhazards.govt.nz or post it to PO Box 311, Wellington 6140.  

Request a contents claim review

Many outstanding contents claims relate to homes that have been, or are to be, demolished because of the severity of the damage caused by the earthquakes. These claims are usually for carpets and drapes.

Information to support your contents claim 

You can provide any one of the following:

• confirmation from your private insurer that the home is to be demolished
• a demolition certificate
• other evidence that the house has been demolished or rebuilt.

Damaged items

If you have outstanding claims for items that were damaged at the time of the earthquakes and you would like to claim for these:

• complete a Schedule of Contents form [PDF, 337 KB]
• you can also speak to one of our team about your concerns.

We may ask you some of the following questions when you get in touch. 

• Do you have photos of the damaged items?
• Do you still have the damaged items?
• Have the items been in storage?
• When and how did the damage come to your attention?

Reviewed claims may need expert reports

You may need one or more experts to assess your damage and write reports. These reports will be given to your claim manager to confirm the cause, extent and appropriate repair strategy for earthquake damage.

Getting your property damage assessed

Your claim manager will tell you whether expert reports are needed to determine the cause and extent of damage, and what type of experts are needed.

These reports are paid for by you, although we may reimburse reasonable costs if the report provides new evidence of earthquake-related damage or if we have specifically requested it.

Information we need to receive 

Expert reports need to give us enough information to make a decision under the EQC Act. A report should address the following:

Cause of damage

We require a satisfactory explanation for the cause of damage for each individual damaged element, i.e. was the damage caused by the Canterbury earthquakes or by something else.  

The expert must:

1. consider non-earthquake causes of damage and explain why they consider this was not the cause in this situation
2. disclose if there is any uncertainty in assessing when and how the damage occurred
3. provide enough detail to establish a definite cause. It is not enough to say something like: "Given recent seismic events, it can be assumed that the foundation cracking is earthquake damage"

Any failure of repairs

If the expert decides that previous earthquake repairs commissioned by EQC have failed, they need to explain when and why the failure occurred. For example, explaining why the repair was not properly completed.    

Any impact of renovations since the earthquakes

Experts should assess whether any renovations or other work done to the property since the earthquakes have impacted unrepaired earthquake damage.  

Impact of earthquake damage

Where relevant, the expert should note whether the damage has a material impact on the utility of the house.

Detailed repair costs

The experts should provide detailed repair costs in their report. It is important these are based on replacement value.

Replacement value fact sheet [PDF, 152 KB]

Any limitations to the above

If there are limitations preventing the expert from considering some of the above factors, the expert should explain why they cannot reasonably consider them.

Expert reports for a Canterbury claim factsheet [PDF, 828 KB]