Frequently Asked Questions

The first port of call is your policy.  See if it has an accommodation cover.  Most good house and some contents policies do.  If your policy does, see what it says about when you’re entitled to the benefit.  Some will say that you are allowed the cover if your house is “uninhabitable”.  If so then it will depend on whether your house is safe, sound and sanitary.  If not you will be entitled to the benefit

Most policies have a monetary and a time limit.  For example 12 months or $15,000, whichever is the least.  Depending on how expensive your temporary accommodation is, you may reach the temporal limit before the monetary limit, so it’s a good idea to down size and down cost so your benefit will last longer.

Legally the insurance company can insist on a receipt or agreement and has no legal obligation to pay it to you.  However many insurance companies are paying a lump sum up front and you should ask your insurance company for this if it is helpful.

We suggest notifying both of them.  If you have more than one company notify all of them.  See our advice on this web site about keeping notes.

EQC covers only private homes and contents, not cars, vehicles and businesses.  And you are only covered by EQC if you have insurance with an insurance company and have been paying the EQC levy when you pay your premium.

EQC will pay up to $100,000 plus GST

If your house is insured then your land within 8M of that house will be covered by EQC up to certain limits.

If you have loss of profits cover then you may be covered for net profit.  It depends on whether there is damage to your premises and also on whether you have prevention of access cover.  See our section on this web site on business insurance.

You may, depending on how your policy covers loss of profit.  But if you can prove that you’d have made a profit but for the earthquake damage to your business then you may still be covered.  However if there was no real prospect of a profit even without the earthquake, then you’ll probably get nothing.

You may be, depending on what your policy says.  Insurance companies have talked about no cover due to de-population.  But it is not a clear cut issue and will depend on your particular circumstances and policy wording.

Unless your policy specifically states that the property must be occupied at the time of the claim that is not a requirement.  As long as you can prove that, but for the earthquake damage, you would have received rent, you can claim for that loss of rent.  If, for example, the house was vacant because it was in between tenants or being renovated ready for new tenants, you will be able to claim for loss of rents as long as you can prove that it would have been earning rent if it had not been damaged in the earthquake.

If you have loss of profits insurance with a prevention of access extension, you should be able to claim while your access is prevented by damage to other properties in the vicinity or damage to services.  If, however, you don’t have prevention of access cover, unless you are unable to operate because of damage to your premises, you may not be covered. 

If they are two separate events, then it would be two claims.  The difficulty of course is proving what was lost or damaged in each event.  As long as you can do that, you can claim twice.  That may be very important if your sum insured is a little bit low.  Even if the damage in the earthquake exceeded the sum insured, and then more property was stolen after the earthquake, you may be able to claim for both because most domestic policies have an “automatic reinstatement” clause so that your policy is automatically reinstated as soon as an event occurs.  You may therefore be able to recover in total more than the sum insured.

Firstly, insurance companies cannot apply "average" to claims for domestic policies like house, contents and cars.  They can do so in relation to commercial policies as long as they comply with some very strict legal requirements, and you would need to check that the insurance company has complied with this.

It depends on what your policy says, but usually under a replacement policy the insurance company will have to use like for like.  For example if you have Rimu ceilings, that is what they have to use.  And if you've tongue and groove flooring, that is what they have to use, even if it was covered with carpet.  Only when materials are not available today does the insurance company noot have to use them.  Don't be pushed into accepting cheaper materials just because the existing materials are expensive.

If the insurance company has elected to write off and rebuild then under a replacement policy that is what you get - new for old.  The insurance company can't force you to accept recycled goods

If your policy has no fixed sum insured, then the insurance company must rebuild whatever the cost and cannot limit you to an amount.  Don't be forced into signing an agreement limiting the insurance company's liability.

No.  As long as your claim is clearly well over the EQC limit there is no reason whatsoever that your insurance company can't pay its share.  Gather the proof you need and submit the claim.