"I have asked Dame Annette King, the interim board chair, to consider these recommendations right away and to swiftly implement appropriate measures," she said.
The report recommended a team of experienced EQC staff should pull out all the physical files relating to remaining claims and go through them to ensure key data was correct.
Other recommendations included:
• Hiring more staff to reduce the case loads for case managers so claimants can get more personal attention
• Establishing a claimant reference group made up of claimants and community representative advocates to advise EQC on how to improve the treatment of their customers
• Making claimants' EQC files available to them on request and introducing a standard for better communication with claimants
• Increasing government monitoring to improve accountability.
Broader recommendations included allowing EQC more flexibility to make cash settlements above the EQC cap, which would then be recovered from the private insurers; and scaling up the Residential Advisory Service which provides independent help to claimants.
The Insurance Council said it supported EQC reviewing and confirm claims data and making it more transparent.
"We strongly support recommendations for EQC to review and confirm claims data and to make this data more transparent as this has been a source of concern for a long time," Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton said.
He said there were "significant challenges" to allowing EQC to make settlements above the cap, "not the least being that serious questions exist about the reliability of EQC's data and the fact that EQC does not apply full and final settlements".
Private insurers had received 945 over-cap claims from EQC in the last 12 months and 1864 in the last two years.
Christchurch insurance advocate and claims preparer Dean Lester said claims were being prevented from settling because of the siloed way of working.
"How can we progress claims if we can't even meet with the people who are holding up the claims. Last week I met with senior legal counsel in an insurance company and significant progress was made on a number of claims with them. This is a simple solution, combined with expanding the number of people who have authority to settle claims," he said.
Fellow advocate Ali Jones said the key was getting the right people with the right authority in place as soon as possible.
"It is not only about the number of staff, it is about their ability and knowledge. It's also about changing systems. I like the ability for EQC to cash settle over-cap claims but that's not worth a jot if the assessments and repair methodologies remain flawed and it takes five different people to sign off such a case."
Budget 2018 provided $8 million to establish an independent insurance tribunal to resolve outstanding EQC and insurance claims and $3.3m for a public inquiry to probe the performance of EQC following the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
The inquiry will inform legislative changes to the Earthquake Commission Act 1993 and to EQC, and a planned review of insurance contract law.
On the day Woods announced the review, EQC chairman Sir Maarten Wevers resigned.
The EQC received more than 770,000 individual claims for damage to about 168,000 residential buildings as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes.
