The Influencers: Dr Megan Woods

It was a pleasure to announce the establishment of the Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service (GCCRS).

After the release of the report of my Independent Ministerial Advisor into EQC earlier in the year, it was clear that more needed to be done to help people who have been waiting for their claims to be resolved. We’ve set this up in order to give homeowners a free to access, impartial pathway to settle their claims. It will provide independent case management to bring together fast tracked claims handling, specialist engineering support, psychosocial support and legal expertise to help resolve claims.

GCCRS will operate on a ‘no wrong door’ basis. Anyone with an unresolved claim can call or come to the new office on Cashel Street and settlement support brokers will tailor the approach to suit each individual situation. Claimants will have one person in charge of their claim who will drive it along for them – they won’t need to call up and speak to a different person all the time. They will know who is responsible for settling their claim. I’ve also asked EQC and Southern Response to develop new processes to ensure a streamlined, cross-agency resolution process and I’m inviting private insurers to join this scheme too.

In the first two days, 50 people had already got in touch with the service. We know there are so many people out there who want to have their houses fixed and get on with their lives and GCCRS will allow them to do just that.