The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has announced it has completed 98% of all initial residential building assessments, 88% of residential building settlements, 96% of contents settlements and 98% of land settlements as of January.

Of the 38,000 residential claims that resulting from the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, EQC has 800 initial assessments of residential buildings, 5,000 building settlements, 4% of all contents settlements and 2% of all land settlements left to complete.

The EQC also said it has around 12% of building claims left to be settled in Marlborough, 20% in Hurunui, 30% in Kaikoura, 11% in Christchurch and 12% in Wellington City.

According to the commission, so far, it has paid $295 million to insurers who manage EQC customers; and $32.19 million to customers who it manages (land and/or properties with open or unresolved claims for prior natural disaster damage).

“We were responsible for directly managing just over 5,400 claims. As of January 31, 2018, we’ve got just over 150 claims, or 3%, left to settle,” EQC said.

“We’ve learnt from managing previous natural disaster responses that it’s really hard to forecast exactly how long it’s going to take to finish the last few claims.”

“As at today, we’re confident we are well on track to complete the vast majority of the remaining EQC claims by the end of March this year,” it added.

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