Hon Megan Woods

Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration

8 December 2017

Wellbeing survey shows need to resolve outstanding claims

The latest Canterbury District Health Board’s Canterbury Wellbeing Survey shows good progress on the Canterbury recovery but underscores the urgency of resolving outstanding EQC and insurance claims, says Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods.

The survey shows Cantabrians’ quality of life has stabilised since the earthquakes and that those experiencing stress most or all of the time, is at its lowest level since the survey began.

“The latest results show 82 percent of people rate their quality of life positively – with 24 percent rating it as extremely good and 58 percent good – and only four percent rating it as poor or extremely poor. This is consistent with previous surveys.

“However, there are a number still suffering major or moderate impacts from living day to day in a damaged home, still making decisions about house damage, repairs and relocation, dealing with EQC and insurance issues, or still suffering additional financial burdens.

“Fourteen percent still feel the negative impacts of being in a damaged environment and/or surrounded by construction work.

“For these people, they are trapped, unable to move on with their lives. We’ve got to do better for those people. That’s why this government is prioritising establishing an insurance and EQC arbitration tribunal to speed up the resolution of earthquake claims. It’s also why we saved the Residential Advisory Service which provides help for people still in these situations.

“This Government knows that our recovery can’t just be about laying more bricks and mortar, it’s about giving people the support they need to get their issues resolved, and get their lives back together,” says Megan Woods.

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