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Making urgent repairs

If your home has been damaged by a natural disaster there are some things you may want to do straight away.

Your insurer is your first – and best – contact point. They manage your EQCover claim on our behalf, and they’ll be able to provide you with the best advice specific to your situation.

If you’re concerned about the safety of your property, contact your council (or local Civil Defence during a state of emergency). They are responsible for deciding whether a property is dangerous or insanitary under the Building Act 2004.

If you need to carry out urgent work to make your home safe, sanitary, secure, and/or weathertight:

  • talk to your private insurer first (if you haven’t already), and check if the cost of the work may be reimbursed as part of your EQCover claim. Any reimbursement is subject to review by your insurer
  • only do the work if it is safe to do so
  • engage a suitable expert/contractor to carry out the work where necessary
  • keep records including quotes and invoices and take photos BEFORE and AFTER carrying out the work.
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What is urgent work?

This is work that is needed after a natural disaster to make your home habitable and protect it from further damage by ensuring it is safe, sanitary, secure and weathertight.

Carrying our urgent work should only be done if it is safe to do so and once you have spoken to your private insurer. Any permanent repairs should only start once you have had all damage assessments completed and you have received your EQCover settlement. Your private insurer will talk you through this process.

Examples of urgent work to your home may be:

  • turning off power if there are exposed wires
  • boarding up a broken window
  • restoring essential services, such as toilets and running water
  • replacing a damaged heat source
  • turning off the water or gas if it is leaking
  • covering any holes in the roof or walls
  • making a damaged chimney safe.

Examples of urgent work to your residential land may be:

  • fencing off any unsafe areas
  • temporarily bracing a retaining wall which is at risk of collapse
  • temporarily diverting any overland water flow away from landslip area (e.g. placing a tarpaulin along the top and sides of a landslip )
  • removing debris from a driveway to restore access to a home.

General process for carrying out urgent work

Contact your private insurer first

Contact your private insurer about any urgent work you think you may need to undertake.

In some cases, your private insurer might arrange for the urgent work to be completed on your behalf and deduct this cost from your overall EQCover claim entitlement.

Take photos, if it is safe

If it is safe and possible to do so, always take photos before moving or working on anything.

Check our factsheet Taking Photos after a natural hazard event for some tips on how to do this.

Reimbursement

Any reimbursement for urgent work is subject to review by your private insurer.

They will assess that your claim is valid in accordance with the Earthquake Commission Act 1993 (EQC Act). It’s strongly advised to speak to your private insurer before you complete any urgent work.

If your request for reimbursement is accepted, the cost of any urgent work will be included in the calculation of your overall EQCover entitlement. However, the payment may be made separately.

Important: Don't start permanent repairs until your likely EQCover entitlement is known. Your private insurer will talk you through this process.


Urgent work for residential land damage

Only undertake urgent work to residential land should if it is safe to do so. Talk to your insurer first, as they’ll be able to provide you with the best advice specific to your situation.

Landslips can be dangerous, so we don’t recommend undertaking urgent work without specialist advice.  

Some damaged areas of land may not have EQCover. We only cover the residential land as defined in the EQC Act. The cost of any work you do to uninsured land may not be reimbursed.

Read Land cover for more information about the residential land we cover.


Your responsibilities

Once you have talked to your private insurer, you may be able to undertake urgent work. In some cases, your private insurer might arrange for the urgent work to be completed on your behalf and deduct this cost from your overall EQCover claim entitlement.

If you are engaging your own contractor to complete the urgent work to your home/or property, you must:

  • keep copies of any invoices and receipts and send these to your private insurer for review. If it is a valid EQCover claim, the costs will be reimbursed.
  • keep a record of what work was needed and why
  • keep a record of what work was completed and when
  • take BEFORE and AFTER photographs of the work

Clean up

If you’re staying in your home, you'll probably want to clean up spillages and breakages straight away.

To help your insurer estimate your damage later on, if safe to do so, you should try to:

  • take photographs of the damage BEFORE you start cleaning up
  • keep all your damaged goods and parts, except for perishable items (e.g. food that has been spoilt or that comes from a broken freezer)
  • make a list of your perishables – and take photos – before you dispose of them.
    Make sure you dispose of perishable items safely.

More information

Dealing with flood damaged items factsheet(external link), created by The Insurance Council of New Zealand, has more information.