In its first substantive judgment in Houston v Southern Response Earthquake Services CEI-OOXX-2019 the Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal has shown that it will be a waste of time and money for homeowners. The decision by the chairperson of the tribunal, a former family court judge, CP Somerville, fails to follow an applicable Court of Appeal case about the policy standard of remediation and does not decide any super-structure repair scope or whether the insurer strategy complies with the Building code. Mr Somerville surprisingly approves a jack/pack repair for a house with a heavy roof and heavy cladding on TC3 land adjacent to a stream with a floor level differential of 72mm as being “as new”. Mr Somerville refused to get involved in deciding technical engineering issues and building code compliance. These are the issues in most earthquake disputes. Hopefully the judgment is successfully appealed.
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