Insurance Council Continues To Be Disingenuous

The following can be attributed to Canterbury Claimants spokesman and Chartered Accountant, Cameron Preston:

 

Yesterday Tim Grafton put out a statement refuting my claims. However, the ICNZs CE, Mr Tim Grafton, continues to be disingenuous - see below for Mr Grafton's statement:

Chief Executive of the Insurance Council Tim Grafton says “Cameron Preston misrepresents the progress being made on the Canterbury residential rebuild.  Insurance Council members settled 5,392 major repairs and rebuilds in 2015 taking the total settled since the earthquakes to 18,958.  Of that total, 5,295 were repaired or rebuilt by a company contracted by an insurer and the balance of 13,663 were repairs/rebuilds managed by the insured through another company.  There has been  a record number of consents granted in Canterbury for repairs/rebuilds reflecting the insurance settlements of almost 19,000 residential properties.  In addition to this, insurers have also settled 61,677 property claims where damage occurred that is not covered by EQC.  Our members have also settled over 90% of commercial claims. In total $16.7 billion has been paid by insurers toward the Canterbury recovery.”

Our group Canterbury Claimants responds as follows to Mr Grafton's statement:

Yesterday Mr Grafton said “Nearly 5,400 major repairs and rebuilds were completed in 2015” 

Now he is saying:

“Insurance Council members settled 5,392 major repairs and rebuilds in 2015”

The question Mr Grafton should be answering is: “How many repairs and repairs were completed in 2015 by the ICNZ members?” because their own figures show it was nowhere near 5,400.

Completing a repair / rebuild of a house / property means it is repaired or rebuilt - is new / repaired, tools on the ground, builders working on site.

Settling – is different. It’s about writing a cheque. So why is it something to celebrate that after 5 years, the insurance companies are “writing cheques” and settling people with broken, damaged, leaking houses? And how many people just wanted out after 5 years of this stress and pressure but now have to deal with the rebuild / repair themselves?

It is  entirely disingenuous of Mr Grafton and the insurers to be saying nearly 5,400 major repairs and rebuilds were completed in 2015. It's this kind of manipulation and playing with stats and words that has projected a far from correct or clear picture of what people are having to deal with as a result of insurers dragging their heels – and he has the gall to have a go at EQC for their slow pace. It’s unacceptable..