Homebuyers in Christchurch who unknowingly bought earthquake damaged homes don’t have long to register for EQC’s on-sold support package.
The aim of the package is to help those who bought properties thinking earthquake repairs had been settled, but later found damage that had been missed.
To be eligible, the damage must exceed $100,000 and the house needs to have been purchased after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes and before August last year, when the $300 million Government package was introduced.
The Earthquake Commission is warning those who meet criteria that the clock is ticking to sign up.
“I would like as many people as possible to get their applications in as quickly as they can, 'cause I think it’s really important that we do have everybody who needs this assistance captured by the 14th of October,” says Pip Andrews of EQC.
About 2500 people have already registered, but there could be many more left to come forward.
“There’s been roughly 92,000 properties that have been sold since the Canterbury earthquake sequence. Now that’s not to say all of these people will be in a situation where they need assistance," says Andrews.
“But we did mail out to just over 44,000 people to make sure we captured those who we thought might be vulnerable and would require assistance through this programme so there is quite a large number."
The advice from legal experts is not to rely solely on the on-solds programme to get a result.
Homeowners are encouraged to engage the likes of engineers and surveyors who are familiar with assessing and repairing damage.
They have three weeks left to come forward.
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