EQC Land Class Action
If EQC assessed your land as damaged by Increased Flooding Vulnerability (IFV) and/or Increased Liquefaction Vulnerability (ILV), and EQC settled your land claim by paying diminution of value (DoV), you may be eligible to receive further payment for the additional costs to repair the land, or the value of the damaged land.
Grant Shand Barristers & Solicitors launched this class action in September 2021. We believe homeowners should be properly compensated for their land that was damaged by ILV and/or IFV, and EQC’s DoV methodology fails to achieve this. The application to certify the class action takes place 22 & 23 February 2023 at the Christchurch High Court.
What is the EQC Land Class Action about?
EQC insures residential land under s19 of the Earthquake Commission Act 1993 with a cap for the residential land claim set at the lesser of:
- the value of the minimum lot size of the operative district plan;
- an area of land of 4,000 square metres; or
- the area of land actually lost or damaged.
After the Canterbury Earthquakes EQC identified 9553 properties as being damaged by ILV; 9744 as being damaged by IFV and 4143 as damaged by both. These properties likely required significant amounts to be spent on them to repair the land, and in many cases, the cost to repair the land would have exceeded the cap (as set out above).
EQC determined that rather than pay homeowners what the costs would be to repair the land (up to the appropriate cap) it would instead pay for the loss in value of the land, this was called diminution of value (DoV). By doing this it reduced its liability by about $1.5B. Instead of being paid around $160,000 owners only got about $20,000.
We believe that payment based on DOV is legally wrong and payment should be made for the costs of the repairs (up to the relevant cap).
Can I join the EQC Land Class Action?
To be able to join this class action you need to ensure that you meet all of the qualifying criteria listed below (taken from the [draft] application to the Court for a Representative Order)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How much will it cost me to join this EQC Land Class Action?
This class action is funded by a litigation funder, Canterbury Litigation Funding Ltd. The most that you will pay is 15% of any settlement or judgment. The 15% includes any legal fees.
Group members will have no liability for legal costs if the class action is unsuccessful.
How much money will I get?
It is impossible at this stage to provide any specific figure on what you could expect to receive.
This is due to a variety of factors that are unique to each homeowner’s situation (for example how much EQC has already paid you, the area of land damaged, the costs to repair the land, etc.).
What are the chances for success for the EQC Land Class Action?
We believe the claim has merit, otherwise we would not be doing it.
What are the benefits of a class action?
Running each individual claim through the courts would be costly and time consuming.
Being able to combine class member’s claims that involve common questions of fact and law, reduces the average cost of litigation by only addressing the common issues once at trial, instead of multiple times.
Does it cost anything to register?
No, it costs nothing to register.
Will registering mean I become a client of Grant Shand Barristers & Solicitors?
No, registration will not make you a client of Grant Shand Barristers & Solicitors. It just gives us a way to keep you informed about developments and the progress of the class action.
Our Fees
You will not pay Grant Shand directly for legal fees.
