Claims help for Raetihi residents

Boom across the Makotuku Stream at Horopito PHOTO/FILE

Four homeowners and four businesses have taken up the Ruapehu District Council's offer for specialist insurance and compensation claim advice following losses suffered through the diesel contamination of Raetihi's water supply.

Ruapehu District Council (RDC) chief executive Peter Till said the offer to meet specialists from the council's own insurer Aon was open to anyone affected by the diesel spill whether they had insurance or not.

Mr Till said the offer was part of the council's commitment to give the Raetihi community all the support that it could following the water supply crisis.

A diesel tank on Mt Ruapehu belonging to Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) leaked into Raetihi's water supply, the Makotuku Stream, and was not discovered until September 28. The leak was thought to have been over a six-hour period.

"We had already organised a group meeting for business owners to meet with Aon specialists in mid-October during the water outage, but this provided an opportunity for people to meet one-on-one and get personal advice on their particular situation," Mr Till said.

The main issues, he said, revolved around loss of business and damage to residential property.

"For businesses this has included things such as lost bookings or opportunities. For residential properties the main issue is damage to plumbing from the diesel contamination."

Mr Till noted that the council has been asking people when making an insurance or compensation claim to send a copy of the details to the council so that it could develop a better picture of the damage and losses overall.

"This information will be invaluable for council when making further deliberations on what type of additional assistance Raetihi may need," he said.

"It will also be very important to have an accurate understanding of Raetihi losses in any discussions with RAL or central government about any future assistance.

"The picture so far is that individual losses are averaging between the $1000 to $4000 range with the higher end being suffered by local businesses."

Mr Till added that the council would still like to receive copies or a summary of individual claims.

"We are not interested in individual personal details but developing a 'big picture' view of total losses."

People can either post the information to the council or to info@ruapehudc.govt.nz with 'Diesel Contamination Claim' in the subject line.