Disputing categorisation and buy-out decisions

Last updated: 22 December 2023

To help storm-affected property owners who want to dispute elements of the categorisation and buy-out process, we have established a new process.

What a property owner can dispute

Property owners can dispute:

• the property risk category they are given
• the market valuation (as at 26 January 2023) to be used in the buy-out offer
• the outcome of an application made under the special circumstances provision
• the outcome of a decision relating to the individual circumstance of an uninsured homeowner.

How to raise a property category dispute

You have three months from receiving your property categorisation to dispute the category.

To raise a category dispute, email recoveryreview@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz with your completed application form.

How to raise a property valuation dispute

You have one month after receiving the market valuation for your property to dispute the valuation.

If you need to raise a valuation dispute, you can discuss this with your property advisor who will contact you to discuss your Category 3 property buy-out once you are at that stage of the process.

What happens when you raise a dispute

When you dispute your property category

When you raise a dispute, we will first complete an internal technical review about the decision and will provide a response as soon as possible.

If you are still unhappy with the outcome, you can seek a further external review which will be undertaken by an independent expert. That independent decision is final.

When you dispute your property valuation

If you are unhappy with the market valuation (as at 26 January 2023) you have the opportunity to provide another valuation from an Auckland Council appointed registered valuer to consider.

If we decline to revise the valuation, you have one month to apply to have the valuation dispute determined by an independent valuer of your choosing from council’s panel of experts (subject to availability). That independent decision is final.

Special circumstances

We know that everyone has very different situations, so property owners are able to apply to have their special circumstances considered. In exceptional cases, the council may need to depart from the buy-out policy positions where departure in an individual case is consistent with the council’s policy objectives.

It is important to note that financial hardship is not a factor that will be considered in determining whether special circumstances apply.

Read about the application process in the guidance document. You can use the form to make a special circumstances application at any stage in the process.

Uninsured individual circumstances

You can apply for Auckland Council to consider your individual circumstances. We may consider reducing your uninsured homeowner contribution (of 20 per cent) to the same level as for insured homes (of 5 per cent).

Situations where we may consider reducing your contribution include where:

• there was little or no insurable loss suffered as a result of the events
• you were not able to obtain insurance at the date of the events because of previous severe weather events (but you can demonstrate a previous relevant history of house insurance premium payments)
• you were uninsured at the date of the events but can demonstrate a relevant history of payment of house insurance premiums.

Read more about the application process in the guidance document. Use the form to make an Individual Circumstances application.

Decisions on individual and special circumstances are at the discretion of council.

Our dispute resolution framework

We have a dispute resolution framework for homeowners who wish to dispute certain decisions made by Auckland Council relating to their property.

This framework provides dispute options for the following decisions:

• The categorisation of the property as category 1, 2C, 2P or 3 (categorisation decision).
• The reference valuation contained within the council’s offer to buy a property (valuation decision).
• The outcome of an application made under the “special circumstances” category (special circumstances decision).
• The outcome of decisions relating to insurance proceeds, including Earthquake Commission proceeds or the outcome of a decision relating to the individual circumstances of an uninsured homeowner (insurance decision).

The dispute resolution process cannot be used to challenge the design or content of the voluntary buy-out support scheme.

Read the full dispute resolution framework in the Category 3 Homeowner handbook. We will give you a copy of this handbook when we confirm your Category 3 status.