Sarah-Alice Miles - The Insurance Aftershock: The Christchurch Fiasco Post-Earthquakes 2010-2016

Frist Published 2012

By Dunmore Publishing Ltd

This Edition Published 2016

by Labyrinth Publishing

85 Shepherd Avenue

West Melton, Christchurch

New Zealand

National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Miles, Sarah-Alice.

The Insurance Aftershock: The Christchurch Fiasco 2010-2016 / Sarah-Alice Miles.

ISBN 978-0-473-35101-9 (Soft cover); ISBN 978-0-473-35012-3 (Kindle); ISBN 978-0-473-35011-6 (Epub)

1. Canterbury Earthquake, N.Z., 2010-2016.

2. Insurance Aftershock, N.Z., 2010-2016.

3. Earthquake Insurance ClaimsNew ZealandCanterbury.

4. Natural DisasterNew ZealandCanterbury.

5. Earthquake insuranceNew Zealand.

I. Title.

Copyright Sarah-Alice Miles, 2016

Disclaimer: This book is the result of extensive research and represents the findings and subsequent ideas and opinion of the author. The information herein is not intended to be and should not be a substitute for ones own research with regard to individual or unique policy information or legal advice. Every attempt has been made to ensure that the information in this book is as accurate as possible, up to date and accounted for. This book cannot address homeowners policies unique to specific insurers, nor does it address how individual insurers interpret their own policies or any particular provisions within those policies. The publisher, Labyrinth Publishing, the author and any distributors of this work are not engaged in rendering professional services and hence this book cannot provide any guarantee or warranty. Neither the publisher, author nor distributor shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilised in any form or any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the author, except within an educational institution, where one chapter or ten percent, whichever is the lesser, may be copied for educational purposes only, and except in the case of brief quotations used within critical articles and reviews.

The Aftermath

As exhaustion takes over my body. I sit here and wonder, should we just leave this place?

Should we let go of this City we once loved, once thriving, now just an empty space.

Our land Green/Blue, an asset we would gift our children, is now just a damaged burden,

While Orange and Whites futures still remain uncertain.

How can they just sit there and smile, as the people weep?

If earthquake wasnt enough, the wound the Government has caused is deep.

The east side of our City, broken, our City a barren ghost town,

Whilst they waste months taking the Grand Chancellor down.

Red zones start to say goodbye, to a place they raised their young,

Heartbroken mothers, fathers, daughters and sons.

Is there land available? The answer obviously no,

Where are these poor people expected to go?

Our home cries as it rains, and it drips from the ceiling,

While Gerry, John and Bob are wheeling and dealing.

To keep the rich happy, and keep us in line,

They ignore us, the people, when we try and speak our mind.

Earthquakes continue for decades they say,

Green/Blue, Red zoning has just been delayed.

Darla Hutt

The Author

Sarah-Alice Miles

Sarah-Alice Miles is a multidisciplinary professional with an arts degree in Modern Languages and Linguistics (Mandarin Chinese and Italian). She also holds a Law degree from Otago University, New Zealand. At Otago she was awarded a scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies in comparative private international law at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, The Netherlands. Always interested in the human condition she also holds degrees in Psychology and Psychotherapy (Gestalt) and has worked in this field for the past ten years in Christchurch. She also is qualified with a Bachelor of Commerce in Dispute Resolution (Mediation) and utilizes these skills in mediation settings within the clinical environment. She was an active participant in a specialized community Flying Squad after the February 2011 earthquakes, a team of professionals specializing in psychological triage for the most seriously traumatically affected citizens.

Prior to her return from the Netherlands to New Zealand in 2004, she worked in the investment banking industry for ING Bank as a lawyer in both London (primary legal adviser in the area of e-commerce) and The Netherlands (with responsibilities for legal enforceability of financing structures, collateral structures, inter-bank loans and syndication). In 2002 she was employed as part of the Senior Management Team for the holding company, Aon B.V. Holdings in Rotterdam, The Netherlands with responsibility for matters relating to the merger and acquisition of foreign interests in Africa and Eastern Europe.

Among her interests, Sarah-Alice is a qualified viticulturist and oenologist (Post Grad) and has been involved in the development and production of special viticulture techniques for growing Pinot Noir in marginal climates. With a keen interest in art, she is also an accomplished and exhibiting artist and attended and obtained a Master of Mosaics qualification from Venice, Italy. With a good command of Dutch and Italian, Sarah-Alice has lived in Italy (5 years), Spain (4 years), The Netherlands (8 years), Ghana in West Africa (3 years) and the United Kingdom (2 years) and for the last 12 years in New Zealand.

Sarah-Alice is author of The Insurance Aftershock: the Christchurch Fiasco Post-Earthquake 2010-2016 and a dedicated reporter and social commentator. Her post-earthquake Blog the Christchurch Fiasco has proved popular and pivotal in the exposure of the many anomalies and idiosyncrasies of the post-earthquake recovery situation in Christchurch.

Website: www.theinsuranceanalyst.com

Gmail:

Blog: http://thechristchurchfiasco.wordpress.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fiasco.files

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fiascofiles #Sarah-Alice Miles

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/fiasco-files/59/99a/b86

Acknowledgements

Writing this book has at times felt a solitary task. I was regularly reminded of my own insurance battle and the process of immersing myself in the topic sometimes made me feel impatient and annoyed. Nevertheless, throughout the writing process I have remained focused and constantly on alert for new and interesting information.

One of my greatest challenges was to decide when to stop writing and hence my decision to continue on with a second edition. The events in Christchurch are an ongoing story; and even though this story has ended on paper, the battle for justice and a return to normality for the people of Christchurch continues and will do so for the years to come.

So although I wrote alone, I wish to express my gratitude to many people, who in one way or another helped to bring this book to life.

Thank you

To my husband, Herman van der Kloot Meijburg, who provided me with the time and space simply to do what had to be done. His gentle solid support is unconditional.

To my father, Perry Edward Miles, who for the last five years has been very generous and patient. He housed us while we tried to settle our earthquake insurance claim with State Insurance (IAG).

To Simon van der Sluis for his friendship and efforts in the design of the book cover.

To my Dutch family and friends.

To Herman Wijffel for his generosity in contributing the foreword and taking the time to share his thoughts and ideas with me.