Earthquake insurer Southern Response is being accused of leaving homeowners out of pocket by withholding refunds - which it says is not its policy.
Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
The Labour candidate for Christchurch Central, Duncan Webb, said the Crown-owned company has been wrongly keeping refunds returned to it by the city council when building consents lapse, rather than paying them to homeowners.
The refunds relate to cases where customers have opted to cash-settle their claim after building consents were applied for.
Southern Response said it was currently reviewing a relatively small number of lapsed consents to see whether refunds have been paid or not.
It said its policy was to pass any refund on.
