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Ooohh... Earthquake


Zev

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It's been a bit of a shaky world today... :tears:

Many thanks to Neon and Adreinne for the efforts to help and the nice visit. It was a great surprise and so good to take time out for a bit.

Also, thanks heaps to ExoticReptilesNZ for the amazing care package. You would be amazed how just about every single thing in that care package became useful in the last 24 hours. :hail:

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They got a cheque for the stuff damaged (flat screen TV, computer monitor, carpets cleaned after tank mess) but are waiting for the house itself to be assessed. There are definite slopes in places there were none before :-?

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This one was nearly right under you!

Universal Time March 5 2011 at 0:19

NZ Daylight Time Saturday, March 5 2011 at 1:19 pm

Latitude, Longitude 43.60°S, 172.49°E

Focal Depth 2 km

Richter magnitude 3.4

Region Canterbury

Location * 10 km south-west of Christchurch

* 20 km west of Lyttelton

Hang in there :o

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Our neighbour had the insurance rep out yesterday looking at her rented house next door (tenant has gone to Nelson for a break). He discovered our insurance was with his company also so he looked our place over while in the area. Contractors are coming Tuesday to remove the chimney which has toppled at the top but the bricks to ground leval are pretty unstable. It will be a relief to see it down.

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This one was nearly right under you!

Universal Time March 5 2011 at 0:19

NZ Daylight Time Saturday, March 5 2011 at 1:19 pm

Latitude, Longitude 43.60°S, 172.49°E

Focal Depth 2 km

Richter magnitude 3.4

Region Canterbury

Location * 10 km south-west of Christchurch

* 20 km west of Lyttelton

Hang in there :o

Yes the Worsleys Rd one was very close to me :tears: Have just walked in from work and ready to relax...and theres another one!! There go the sirens again...

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That last one was a kicker. I was out feeding the fish and it thrust upward so hard that my feet left the floor! I then went to run to the doorway and couldn't even walk!! All the tanks sloshed about all over the place and the glass cracked on my tank lid again. :o

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My aunt just texted saying "That was a big one!"

NZ Daylight Time Saturday, March 5 2011 at 7:34 pm

Latitude, Longitude 43.57°S, 172.73°E

Focal Depth 11 km

Richter magnitude 4.8

Region Canterbury

Location Within 5 km of Lyttelton

10 km north of Diamond Harbour

10 km south-east of Christchurch

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So those of you with house insurance, do you actually get back enough to do what you need to do get the house or broken part in working order again?

I take it those who rent and don't have contents insurance are stuffed and just have to cover their own losses or is there some place you can apply for some cash?

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Those with a good contents policy (something that doesn't depreciate assets and replace them at indemnity value after a set number of years) won't have a problem as they should look at receiving 90-95% of the value of the contents specified on the policy; given that some small assets will be based on indemnity value.

Those with cheaper policies will be paying for it now as the policies are set on indemnity value which can be as low as 10-15%.

Those without contents insurance will be in a pickle, but the salvation army and general population will help out. If there are govt. grants, the tax payer pays in the end.

For those with freehold homes with house insurance, you should be looking at total replacement of the home based on the size mentioned in the policy if it is deemed uninhabitable.

Those with mortgages are required to have a full home replacement policy (as set by the terms of the mortgage for the primary mortgagor) in-place just because of events like this.

For partially damaged homes -

House insurance will cover the house itself, but not the contents. It is likely to be repaired, or settled for cash.

Contents is widely defined as those objects that will fall down if you turn the house upside-down and give it a good old shake. House policies won't cover contents, but contents will cover the house in the case of legal liability cover which is usually from $2m to $20m depending on policy.

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I moved back home tonight but am without fish for now :/ Will probably have to move the tank to get the carpet professionally cleaned (possibly replaced?) + scared of more earthquakes + scared of chlorination + scared of having to reset filter so the fish might have to stay at Antwan's a bit longer.

We will ring EQC later next week to ask these questions, but in the mean time does anyone have any ideas? We didn't need to claim for the first quake so are a bit clueless.

a) EQC site says something about 1 claim per dwelling. I'm technically a boarder, with a separate insurance company to the homeowners. Do we still submit all our house/contents claims together or do they do their own stuff/house separate to my contents?

b) Their house's carpet is (possibly) damaged by my fishtanks. My contents includes liability, so am assuming it will all be ok... I remember Jen saying something about a probe to check underlay dampness. Did the assessors have this? Does anyone have a probe we can borrow to check? At this stage we aim to get it cleaned and then wait for the assessors to see if it needs replacing too. Hopefully it won't be a headache with having 2 insurance companies.

c) Is there some sort of flat rate payout for food in the fridge/freezers? I didn't take any photos or make a list before chucking all the stuff out earlier in the week :/

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hey bd,your contents policy should cover the damage done to the carpet as it was damage done at a single instant in time and not gradual damage. However for a successful claim, the tanks must be covered by the insurance.

Each and every insurance policy has what's called an earthquake levy. Basically if you have to make a claim at the moment, you first call the EQC, lodge your claim and then your insurance company.

The one claim per dwelling will refer to home owners (house) insurance. It will be separate to your contents policy and if you were making a claim, you'll need to lodge one with the EQC and your own insurance provider.

Carpets can be a tricky one. If the carpets are attached to the side of the house and will not come undone if the house was turned upside-down, the home owners house policy will cover them. If the carpets are like rugs that are untacked; they are classified as contents. If the carpet was damaged by a content, in most cases the contents policy will cover it, but the EQ is an exceptional circumstance and it is likely to be replaced under the house policy.

Fridge / freezers - It's best to take pics of what you intend to claim on, but since that is not always possible you can try making a claim and leaving it in their hands. Keep your receipts from items you had to purchase immediately after the quake and you might be able to make a claim based on that as those items may be viewed as replacements for what was immediately lost.

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EQC pay the first 20k on contents but you need to inform them and your own insurance company. If you don't know the value of a broken tank for example---inform them both and say you will get back to them when you can get a value from a petshop or whatever. They will give you a reference number to quote when you get back to them. List everything because they will probably give you a cheque for final payment.

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I lodged a claim for contents with EQC online. They sent back a form to fill out. It says you need to support anything with a replacement value over $100 with a quote / valuation. I'm getting all that info together before I send the form away. Only waiting for the quotes for our tanks now.

"To help with the speedy processing of your contents claim please complete the attached “Schedule of Contents” form. This should describe all the affected items. For each item please list the name, a description, its age and a replacement value and then give this to the Loss Adjustor when they visit the property. If your claim is for contents damage only then a loss adjuster will probably not visit so please forward the completed Schedule Of Contents to EQC at the address below, along with any valuations or quotes for the replacement of your damaged items."

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BD - The property owners should also have insurance cover if yours doesn't cover it.

Jennifer and Alan - it was good to catch up with you both yesterday. I was scared stiff when the 4.8 hit just after 7pm last night and kept waking during the night thinking there had been another one!

No one who does not live in ChCh can really appreciate what is going on down there. No amount of news can show what it is truly like.

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Ahh just wanted to say - please dont run and stand in a door frame during an earthquake, they are unsafe according to my gdad who is a builder. Think about it it is just a hole in a wall made with some small bits of wood, which in turn is holding up the roof/ceiling...

I removed the bit about triangle of life after reading around a bit more (shoulda done that first) - dont want to spread something that could be deemed as unsafe (Sorry). Google it if you are interested in knowing what it said.

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