Aerial view of liquefaction and earthquake damaged houses in Burwood, Christchurch.
The Earthquake Commission has cut a deal with 98 Canterbury homeowners that affirms the government entity's responsibility to repair earthquake-damaged property to a 'when new' state, as well as covering repairs for undamaged parts of a property and clarifying its position on cash settlement calculations.
In a joint statement between
EQC and the EQC Action Group, both parties agreed EQC would repair earthquake damage to a condition substantially the same as "when new". The property owners dropped their bid for a declaratory judgment on the extent of EQC's liability for the quake damage to their houses.
EQC said its position was always to repair houses to a "when new" state. But the homeowners said EQC used phrases such as "pre-earthquake standard" and "like for like".
"This created the impression that the standard EQC had to meet was something less than as when new," the group's deputy chairman Craig Edwards said.
The statement also clarified that if repairs on a quake-damaged part of a house meant work had to be done on an undamaged part, EQC would cover the cost of that work.
