IAG partners with Hawkins to rebuild and repair

IAG partners with Hawkins to rebuild and repair Quake-affected Canterbury

IAG’s New Zealand business advised today that it has partnered with Hawkins Construction to lead its project management of the rebuild and repair for residential and commercial customers affected by the earthquake for its Lantern, NZI and State brands, as well as general insurance customers of some of the country’s leading financial institutions, including ASB, BNZ and PSIS, which IAG underwrites.

IAG has approximately seven thousand claims lodged in relation to the earthquake. Many of these are for residential homes with damage in excess of the Earthquake Commission’s cap of $100,000 + GST for house claims. Others are commercial customers which are not covered by the Earthquake Commission.

Acting chief executive of IAG’s New Zealand business, Karl Armstrong, said that IAG were delighted to appoint Hawkins Construction Limited to provide project management expertise. The deal means up to fifty building project managers will work with dedicated claims consultants to co-ordinate and manage rebuilds and repairs as quickly as possible. The dedicated unit would work with building and construction companies and maximise the best availability, material and labour costs.

“This will be the most significant rebuild and repair we’ve seen in New Zealand in recent history and first and foremost, we want to support local businesses in the region. Our project management office will engage with all businesses in the region and it has a mandate to work where it can with locals first,” said Mr Armstrong.

Hawkins Construction’s south island regional manager, Quin Henderson, said Hawkins was delighted to work with IAG, and that the role of the project management office would include everything from identifying and engaging contractors to management of the process and final inspections to ensure work completed met all requirements.

Mr Armstrong said that while many customers may have already been visited by an assessor, there was a lot of uncertainty for customers as to the process from here.

“The Government has advised that land for the vast majority of residents is able to be fixed but it will be some time before land remediation by the Earthquake Commission takes place which affects when we can rebuild and repair in many cases.

Our claims consultants will work one-on-one with each affected customer and keep them advised of the process and the timeframes they can expect throughout,” said Mr Armstrong.

Customers wanting further information should contact:

ASB 0800 200 242, www.asb.co.nz

BNZ 0800 24 88 88, www.bnz.co.nz

Lantern 0800 800 800, www.lanterninsurance.co.nz

NZI Contact your broker or call 0800 227 653

State 0800 80 24 24, www.state.co.nz

PSIS 0800 425 025, www.psis.co.nz

Building, construction and other companies wanting to express interest and availability can contact the project management office on 03 379 3691.

ENDS

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