The Earthquake Commission (EQC) Amendment Act has been passed by Parliament.

Megan Woods, the minister responsible for EQC, has outlined the key changes to the law, which include:

• An immediate extension of the timeframe for lodging a claim from three months to two years
• Providing EQC scope to share information as necessary to settle insurance claims
• Removal of the $20,000 EQCover for contents from July 2019
• An increase in the cap on EQC residential building cover to $150,000 from July 2019

Changes will be phased in over 12 months from July 2019 as existing insurance policies are renewed or replaced. Under the changes, EQC will continue to insure residential buildings and land, although it will no longer provide cover for contents.

“The review, and the changes that have been announced, have looked at the lessons, not only from the Canterbury earthquakes but other events since the current Earthquake Commission Act was enacted in 1993,” said Sid Miller, EQC chief executive. “Along with these policy changes, we have also introduced a range of operational and organisation changes since 2017 to improve our claim management processes and customer experience.”