Christchurch homeowners 'bullied' into taking cheques - Labour

  • 14/09/2016
Christchurch homeowners 'bullied' into taking cheques - Labour

The Labour Party claims the Earthquake Commission (EQC) will be abdicating its responsibilities if it pushes Cantabrians to accept cash settlements for outstanding repair work.

Documents released to Labour show the EQC would prefer to give cash to homeowners rather than send in workers to carry out repairs. 

The party's Canterbury spokeswoman Megan Woods believes it shows a lack of commitment. 

"This is what we've been hearing anecdotally on the ground for a long time - that people have been feeling pressured, and in some cases bullied, to accept a cheque from EQC instead of getting their houses fixed."

The documents show that the EQC wants to resolve as much remedial work as possible by the end of 2016. In July there were 954 remedial jobs still on the books - where contractors need to return to fix faulty work.

Nearly 1000 jobs were yet to be visited by an EQC estimator for the first time.

EQC wants "faster claims resolution", and says the offers are a part of that.

Newshub.