Insurance

Lane Neave has a strong track record in insurance law after developing a reputation as one of the leading firms acting for insured parties on claims arising out of the Canterbury earthquakes. During that time we acted on some of New Zealand’s largest earthquake insurance claims and were awarded New Zealand’s best insurance lawyers at the New Zealand Law Awards. We are proud of the role we played in the regeneration of Christchurch.

We act primarily for insured parties on a wide range of claim situations, including claims under material damage and business interruption policies, health, public liability, and professional indemnity.  We provide innovative and practical advice to individuals as well as businesses of all sizes.

We have assisted with the resolution of insurance claims at every level from providing advice on policy response to litigating insurance disputes in courts at all levels. We have also assisted clients to engage with dispute resolution services like the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman. We have also have a strong network of engineers, builders, valuers and quantity surveyors who we can engage as independent experts as needed.

Highlights include:

• Acting for the Body Corporate of Sanctuary Villas, Christchurch, in successfully resolving their complex claims rising out the Canterbury earthquake sequence.  This matter involved issues of reinstatement of indemnity limits over multiple events and apportionment of damage.
• Acting for the Body Corporate of a large shopping complex in Christchurch in complex litigation regarding earthquake repairs and the extent of policy cover to the various issues facing the building.  The claims were resolved prior to hearing.
• Acting for a client and their insurer under their public liability policy in respect of a multi-million dollar claim made against the client. This substantial claim involved identifying and working alongside numerous experts, as well as dealing with developing legal issues on the interplay between negligence and nuisance laws.
• Acting for an engineer and their insurer in relation to earthquake repair design work.