Judgments allow Southern Response to pay $300m compensation directly to Canterbury homeowners

High Court judgments released on 20 September have confirmed Southern Response can now directly contact 3,000 Canterbury homeowners about $300 million compensation owed to them.

Homeowners have until 20 December 2021 to opt-out of the Ross Class Action (RCA) and choose direct payment. 

They should now seek independent legal advice about their compensation claim, and guidance on how to apply to Southern Response for the balance due to them.

Anyone who thinks they are eligible for the Southern Response compensation can go online to Anthony Harper's dedicated website www.SouthernResponsePayment.co.nz to submit their claim information and a request for legal advice. 

In August 2019, Anthony Harper lawyer Peter Woods established in the High Court that Southern Response had misrepresented the earthquake insurance entitlements of Karl and Alison Dodds. The judgment in favour of the Dodds opened the way to rectify the other 3,000 Southern Response claims. 

People who settled their Southern Response earthquake claims before 1 October 2014 on the same basis as the Dodds, are likely entitled to a further payment of 20 percent of their original settlement plus interest. The average compensation payable is approximately $100,000 for each homeowner.

Anthony Harper will also provide advice on the Ross Class Action opt-out, and how that relates to the Southern Response offer.

Anthony Harper is charging a fixed fee of $2500 plus GST for recovering this compensation and giving legal advice. Southern Response will reimburse the homeowner $2000 of this. 

More information is available at Anthony Harper's dedicated website SouthernResponsePayment.co.nz

More information about the High Court Judgments can be found here: https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/judgments/high-court/?mc_cid=37d4389b36&mc_eid=c9ed61ce1f