80,000 quake claims still missing

Destruction in Manchester Street in Christchurch's CBD. Photo / NZ Herald

Thousands of Canterbury quake victims face long delays in being paid out for contents damage due to not providing full information, says the Earthquake Commission (EQC).

It hopes to settle all contents claims by December but cannot presently go ahead with around 80,000 claims because they were not accompanied by schedule of contents forms and any supporting documentation.

A spokesman said there were a number of reasons why people hadn't yet handed the information to the EQC.

"They may not be able to get into their house, it may be a dangerous situation and their house can't be entered, so they don't know what has been broken.

"Other people have had other priorities and the contents of their houses might not be have been top of it, right after the earthquake.

"But now we're asking for the details so we can push ahead and settle those claims."

Settling contents claims was a major priority for EQC and more staff had been employed to deal with the 128,000 claims submitted since September 4.

To date, EQC had paid out $108 million in contents claims.

People were also reminded that all documentation sent to EQC needed to include a claim number.

- NZPA