Crown quake bill set to rise
The cost to the crown for the Christchurch earthquakes could rise by another $1 billion, Finance Minister Bill English says.
The cost to the crown for the Christchurch earthquakes could rise by another $1 billion, Finance Minister Bill English says.
As a result of a high court decision released late last week, the Earthquake Commission (EQC) is now liable for multiple earthquake claims on the same property.
Although it was too early to say exactly how much that would add to the crown's total costs, Mr English said, it could be as high as an extra $1 billion.
Mr English said the current cost to the crown for the earthquakes was about $12.9 billion.
Last week, but before the court's decision was released, the EQC revised the mount it expected to pay out from $3.05 billion to $7.07 billion.
At the time Mr English said that would likely clear out the EQC's natural disaster fund, which would trigger a crown guarantee.
He said EQC levies could be “considerably higher” in the future to rebuild the fund.
The total cost of the earthquakes rebuild is expected to be $29.5 billion.
Colin Williscroft
Tue, 06 Sep 2011
Tue, 06 Sep 2011
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Crown quake bill set to rise
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