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Buying a home that's had an EQCover claim

Find out whether the home has had an EQCover claim, and what to be aware of if a property claim is being transferred.

The Natural Hazards Portal

The Natural Hazards Portal shows settled EQCover claims from 1997 onwards on residential buildings and land throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Visit the Natural Hazards Portal(external link) to see whether the residential property you’re interested in has had a previous EQCover claim.

EQCover claims information on the Portal includes:

  • the property address
  • the natural hazard event date
  • event type (natural hazard event that caused the damage e.g., earthquake, storm)
  • claim type (whether the claim was for land or building damage).

Claims which are still open and being assessed are not included on the map.

What EQCover claims mean on a property

A property with an EQCover claim is not necessarily a bad thing. In the Portal, if an EQCover claim has been settled on a property, it means: 

  • there has been damage in the past from a natural hazard and a payment was made to settle the claim, or the repair was managed and completed by Toka Tū Ake EQC 
    the property may have been restored to its previous state 
  • the building may have been demolished and rebuilt to appropriate standards, making it stronger and more resilient to future natural hazard events 
  • work may have been done to lessen the impact of future natural hazard events (for example building a retaining wall to hold back a potential landslide). 

Properties without an EQCover claim could still have had natural hazard damage. The damage may not have been identified, or it could have been fixed at the owner’s expense, without submitting an insurance claim. 

Visit the Natural Hazards Portal(external link)

Find out more about a claim 

To find out more information about a claim on a property you can: 

  • ask the real estate agent anything you want to know about the property. They can’t withhold any information they know.
  • ask the vendor or agent to see the documents that support any repairs they have completed, if the EQCover claim was cash settled.
  • complete an Information Request Form on our website to find out more about the claim. This can take up to 20 working days.

More information 

See Transferring a EQCOver claim to someone else for information about what homebuyers need to be aware of, and what EQC needs, when transferring an EQCover claim as part of a property purchase. 
 
If you are buying or selling a home in Canterbury, see our Buying or selling a home in Canterbury page for important information specific to the area.

The Assignment of claims with natural disaster damage factsheet for new Canterbury homeowners also outlines the assignment process, limitations of assigned claims and what is required to reopen an assigned claim.