Insurance companies have to date adopted the position that they will not pay professional fees associated with rebuilding a house unless those fees are actually incurred. Southern Response particularly regards them as “additional costs” and not part of the “rebuild cost”. In McLean & ors v IAG New Zealand Ltd [2013] NZHC 1105 the High Court (Whata J) decided that “professional fees” were necessarily incurred as part of a rebuild. It did not matter that the costs were not incurred. The costs were part of the calculation of the rebuild costs.
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