Kaikōura earthquake claims settlement

This project will help to inform future residential recovery approaches in New Zealand by exploring what impact cash settlements had on housing quality and the wellbeing of claimants following the Kaikōura/Hurunui earthquake. In particular, the research aims to inform two key recommendations made by the Public Inquiry into the Earthquake Commission:

[5.1.3] Conduct a detailed assessment of the impacts of cash settlement of claims in the example of the Kaikōura/Hurunui earthquake, including the longer-term impact on quality of the housing stock.
[5.1.4] Incorporate the findings of the detailed assessment of cash settlement for the Kaikōura/ Hurunui earthquake into a larger and ongoing study that tests the advantages and disadvantages of cash settlement, the results of which could be drawn on when deciding the best response to future natural disaster events.

These insights will be gathered by:

• Analysis of claims and building consent data to understand the additional construction workload generated following the earthquake (Tonkin + Taylor)
• Desktop review of the Canterbury Earthquake Series (CES) and the impact the insurance settlement had on housing quality and claimant wellbeing. (Resilient Organisations)
• Analysis of ‘as is where is’ real estate sales following the Kaikōura/Hurunui earthquake to understand how many homes were sold with earthquake damage. This will also be compared to ‘as is where is’ sales in Canterbury following the CES. (Infometrics)
• Survey of homeowners to understand their experiences of the cash settlement process following the Kaikōura/Hurunui earthquakes, and the impact on housing quality. (Resilient Organisations)
• Interviews with stakeholders including homeowners, building contractors, insurers, territorial authorities and real estate agents to understand the benefits and impacts of cash settlement on earthquake recovery. (Resilient Organisations)

Based on the above analysis, the project team will develop a framework that outlines the advantages and disadvantages of cash insurance settlement following a major disaster. This framework will map a decision path for the management of housing repair based on several factors including the scale of event, vulnerability of populations, construction sector capability, and insurability.