Herald on Sunday editorial: Quake city needs a second round of repair

Now the city is in a second generation of frustration - with substandard repairs that have come to light. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Editorial

Tomorrow is the seventh anniversary of the Canterbury earthquake, the one that triggered the whole sequence which, as we report today, still reverberates in Christchurch. These days the aftershocks are more frequently from dealing with insurance on damaged property, since repaired but not properly.

New Zealanders outside Canterbury have probably grown weary of trying to understand the frustrations they continue to hear from residents of the damaged city. The problems are even more tiring and frustrating for the residents. They are dealing with one or both of two tiers of insurance - that state's Earthquake Commission (EQC) that deals with natural disasters, and private insurers of homes and contents.

If the repairs could be done for no more than $100,000, the EQC "cap", claims appear to have been resolved reasonably easily. Frustrations arose when both tiers of insurance were involved and there were conflicting assessments of whether the damage required a repair or a rebuild. Now the city is in a second generation of frustration - with substandard repairs that have come to light.

In some ways it is not surprising, EQC and insurance companies dealt with more than 160,000 claims after the September quake and the far worse February aftershock directly under the city. The capacity of the local building industry was stretched and legions of foreign labour needed to be brought in. Repairs were done, many repaired houses have been sold to new owners and some of them are only now discovering the work was shoddy.

One insurance assessor estimates as many as 60,000 houses in Christchurch built before the 1970s may have been incorrectly repaired. In some cases foundations have not been brought up to standard, frames might not keep their alignment. With minor earthquakes still occurring occasionally, the inadequacies are being discovered. Repairs could run to $300,000 or $500,000, effectively the cost of a complete rebuild today.

That sort of cost far exceeds the EQC cap and private companies are reluctant to pay more than the bare indemnity value of older homes. Owners are going to the High Court to ensure the passing of seven years does not remove their insurance under the Limitations Act. They want the court to order EQC to pay out the full value of their claims.

One way or another, through taxes or insurance premiums, the rest of the country will pay and should not begrudge it. An earthquake can happen anywhere.