More certainty for Canterbury homebuyers
Hon Grant Robertson
Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission
19 August 2019 PĀNUI PĀPĀHO
MEDIA STATEMENT
Earthquake Commission claim numbers are now available on Environment Canterbury’s website to give people greater certainty when buying a home.
Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission Grant Robertson says people need to know if the house they’re buying has had a claim for earthquake damage and whether it has been fixed.
“The house might have been sold two or three times since the Canterbury earthquakes, so sometimes this information can be hard to come by.
“As part of their due diligence before buying a home, homebuyers can now quickly find out the claim history of a property and ensure they get further details through their real estate agent or lawyer.
“We can’t display claim information for approximately 25 percent of properties, for example for some cross-lease titles and where there are multiple units on a single parcel of land.
“A disclaimer will appear on the property’s page and people looking for that claim information for a property should contact EQC,” Grant Robertson says.
Also excluded from the database are claims made from the Valentine’s Day earthquake (February 2016) and the Kaikōura earthquake (November 2016), which were jointly managed with insurers.
The Property Search site will list the EQC claim number only. No personal or identifying information will be listed and EQC remains subject to the Privacy Act.
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