Scouts at war over insurance payouts

Scouts at war over insurance payouts

Two Christchurch Scout groups say their national body is holding on to valuable insurance payouts they are entitled to for their damaged buildings.

One group says the wait to rebuild their den has seen their membership fall from 70 to just nine scouts.

The land where the Sumner Scout group's den once stood is now a vacant section.

The Government red-zoned the land in 2012 and an insurance payout of $650,000 was made to Scouts New Zealand.

Four years on, the committee that ran the Scout den claim they haven't seen a cent.

"We paid the policy and so in our opinion we own the policy - the value of that asset should be ours," says Mt Pleasant Sea Scout spokesman Eric Ellis. "It shouldn't be taken out of the local community."

Since the quakes the Sumner Scouts and Mount Pleasant Sea Scouts have merged and want to spend some of the insurance payout upgrading the current club house

"It was a community asset gifted to the local kids and it should stay in the community," says Rose Chambers, from the Mt Pleasant Sea Scout Committee.

It's not just the Sumner group waiting on their payout. So is Kaiapoi Scout group - on the other side of the city. Without a den, their numbers have dwindled down to just nine.

A spokesman for the Kaiapoi scout group says they're still negotiating with the head office over their $85,000 insurance payout which they say was paid to the national body in 2014.

In a statement, Scouts New Zealand said: "Property proceeds, including the CERA settlement, will be spent in the best possible way for Scouting in Canterbury."

That's little comfort for this Scout club committee who just want a safe building for their kids to practice in.

Newshub.