Nearly 40,000 earthquake claims

Claims to the Earthquake Commission have come in at a rate of 268 every hour since the massive earthquake in Canterbury on Saturday morning. 

Bill English, the minister in charge of the commission, is visiting Canterbury this morning and the Government is poised to announce a reconstruction package this afternoon.

Latest figures released at 8am this morning show there have been 39,579 claims to the EQC since Saturday morning. Of the total, 32,395 have been in Christchurch, 3,340 in Selwyn, 2,329 in Waimakariri, 255 in Timaru and 436 in Ashburton.

EQC remains in talks with central and local government as well as private insurance companies about a speedy home reconstruction plan that is expected to be announced at 2:30pm this afternoon.

The Minister responsible for earthquake recovery, Gerry Brownlee, has touted this afternoon's announcement as one that will provide answers to quake-hit residents looking to rebuild.

"It's complex and we want to make sure the values in people's properties are maintained," Brownlee said yesterday.

"There are a number of moving parts in this ... talks continue and I am really pushing very hard that we get a simple, straight-forward process for people to follow."

EQC had 36 assessors inspecting Christchurch homes yesterday, with a further 25 assessors expected to arrive by tomorrow. In total, 120 staff will be in the region by the end of next week.

In a normal year, there are about 45,000 to 50,000 building consents issued nationwide so officials are trying to find a way to deal with the large number that will be needed in Canterbury in a short period of time.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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