EQC & Southern Response Ordered to Pay Costs
In Driessen v EQC & Southern Response [2016] NZHC 1048 the High Court (Davidson J) on 19 May 2016 has ordered EQC and Southern Response to pay costs and disbursements to a homeowner where EQC and Southern Response settled the claims after being sued for amounts greater than they had offered to pay prior to being sued. Prior to being sued in November 2013 EQC assessed the damage at $58,504. Southern Response assessed its liability at $20,000 for DFPP. Ultimately EQC paid $153,422 in November 2015 and Southern Response paid $358,232 in March 2016 (weekend before trial). The Court ordered EQC to pay $20,120.08 and Southern Response $50,030.30. The judgment shows the benefit in suing EQC and insurers.
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Southern Response & Missing DRAs
People that settled with Southern Response based on an Arrow Detailed Repair/Rebuild Analysis (“DRA”) may have claims against Southern Response under the Fair Trading Act where the settlement sum was based on a DRA, but Southern Response did not disclose that it had other DRAs with a greater sum that included extra components/allowances that were part of a rebuild cost. Concerned insureds need to act quickly by reason of limitation issues. Check whether the DRA settled on had allowances for fees and contingency etc.
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EQC & Failed Repairs
EQC has repaired thousands of houses inadequately. Any money spent by EQC on these repairs is wasted and ought not count when assessing whether EQC has paid “cap” under the EQC Act. In some cases the repairs by EQC were so bad that they have increased the amount that it costs to fix the house. EQC is liable for that amount also. So when dealing with EQC about failed repairs it is essential to establish what has been done and what needs to be done to properly remediate the house. We suggest involving your insurer in the process as you do not want to be short paid by EQC.
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