A High Court decision that allowed a group of policyholders to proceed with a representative action against Southern Response will be back on trial following a court appeal.

The case will be heard at the Court of Appeal on July 5 in Wellington where the group of some 40 claimants accused the state-owned insurer of engaging in a deliberate strategy to delay earthquake claims and minimise payments.

The greenlight for the class action was granted by the High Court in December 2016. In February, Southern Response filed an appeal of the High Court ruling as it claimed that a class action “will not fairly and efficiently resolve each customer's individual insurance claim” and that it may delay the settlement of individual claims.

Grant Cameron, solicitor for the group, said "the group remains very concerned that they get access to the courts as without that, they feel they will never obtain justice".

"The group feels very strongly that the insurer is using the appeal as a way to maintain pressure on them to accept less than their policies require the insurer to pay, and it’s a cynical way of putting the final day of reckoning."


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