In an announcement made last week, state insurer Southern Response said there were only around 200 Canterbury earthquake claims left to settle, but that number is now being disputed.
Claimant advocate Ali Jones told TVNZ1’s Breakfast she believes there are potentially hundreds more claims that are not resolved.
Ms Jones' claim follows the recent apology from Southern Response’s new boss to the many Christchurch claimants left out of pocket following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
“To hear now that there are only 200 claims left is really a little bit of a joke,” said Ms Jones.
“I think there are potentially hundreds more that could still go over cap to Southern Response.”
Ms Jones said there are people that may not even have been assessed yet.
“Some may have stuck their head in the sand because who actually wants to get into all of this after eight-nine years,” said Ms Jones.
“Some of the damage hasn’t even been discovered yet.”
Ms Jones in calling for an investigation in the wake of what she calls a '"backhanded" apology.
“Some are saying there needs to be a royal commission of inquiry into Southern Response and how it’s performed,” she said.
“Some of these things that Southern Response apologised for in a very backhanded way are still happening.
“I think there needs to be a full investigation.”
There is currently a Class Action lawsuit which thousands of Canterbury homeowners will be automatically included in against Southern Response.
It includes around 3000 homeowners who claim they were underpaid before 2015 by being given the lesser of two “quotes”, known as detailed repair assessments (DRA’s).
Unless claimants choose to opt out, they’ll all be included in the class action.
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