Source: Auckland Council
Various community and wellbeing support is available to you, including free help with processing home insurance claims, rates relief, temporary accommodation assistance, and wider financial and mental health support.
Free support for processing home insurance claims
If you would like support and advice on your residential home insurance claim, the New Zealand Claims Resolutions Service (NZCRS) can help.
The NZCRS is a free and independent service that provides residential homeowners with advice, case management support where appropriate and access to legal, technical and wellbeing services to help them achieve timely, fair and enduring resolution of their residential insurance claims resulting from natural disasters.
They are there to help whether you’re unsure of what your insurer is telling you or have specific questions about either your insurance policy or the process that will be followed to settle your claim.
Do your homework before accepting a settlement.
NZCRS Director, Darren Wright says they are starting to see a flow of settlements being presented to homeowners by insurers, and that it’s important for homeowners to understand their rights and obligations. He says homeowners should ask their insurer who will manage the repair – will your insurer arrange for the repair work to be done, or will you be responsible?
“If you receive a scope of work and payment from your insurer, it’s important to understand this is the insurer’s assessment and an interim payment based on what they believe the repair cost and strategy should be. The homeowner needs to engage their own builder to assess the scope and provide a quote for the repair costs.
“If your builder’s scope is different from the insurer’s assessment, or the money paid by the insurer is not enough to cover your builder’s quote, then get in touch with your insurer. You should clearly set out what is different and what costs are not included.
“It’s critically important you don’t incur any costs or agree with your builder on any contract until the insurer has accepted the changes and/or the cost variations. If the insurer is going to carry out the repair, it’s still important to check the scope to make sure you agree with it.”
You can contact NZCRS on 0508 624 327, email contact@nzcrs.govt.nz or visit nzcrs.govt.nz
2023/2024 rates relief – how to apply
Auckland Council recently announced it will be giving a 100 per cent rates relief to all households that are uninhabitable as a result of extreme weather events in the first half of 2023.
We hope this support helps to ease the financial burden for those most severely impacted.
If your house was red placarded as at 30 June 2023, you will receive a 100 per cent rates relief for the full 2023/2024 rating year. A credit will be automatically applied to rates invoices, so you don’t need to do anything.
Every property has a unique situation, and some yellow and white placarded homes are habitable while others are not. If you believe your home is uninhabitable, then please apply for rates relief using this online form. We’ll assess each application based on your personal circumstances. Please apply by 1 December 2023.
Insurance payments for rental accommodation about to run out?
If you were displaced from your home by the extreme weather events earlier this year, you may be eligible to receive interim financial support if your insurance payments for rental accommodation runs out.
The payments will commence from 4 September 2023, but those eligible can receive a lump sum payment covering them from as early as 1 June 2023.
If you would like to apply, there are a few steps you need to complete before you can claim the financial support. This includes registering with Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) and putting in an application with Work and Income (WINZ) which opened on Monday 21 August.
To find out how to apply and for more information including about criteria, visit WINZ. You can also read the government’s 19 July announcement on the Beehive website.
