A New Zealand court has confirmed a claimant can only make one claim for the maximum sum insured in a policy, rejecting a bid to have Tower Insurance pay for property damage caused by three separate quakes.

The plaintiffs took the dispute to the Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal, which subsequently referred the matter to the High Court - the equivalent of an Australian state supreme court – for its opinion on the case.

They had submitted claims under one policy for damage their 100-year-old property suffered in each of the three major quakes that struck the area between September 2010 and June 2011.

Tower declined their claims on the basis that it is only required to make one payment up to the cap set by the policy, which it has done.

Justice Rachel Dunningham agreed with Tower’s argument that the maximum sum insured value of $NZ455,000 ($434,588) contained in the home policy “is not a per event cap”.

The plaintiffs were paid the statutory cap of $NZ100,000 ($95,489) by the Earthquake Commission for separate damage caused by the three quakes.

Independent experts hired by the plaintiffs assessed repairs to the house would cost about $NZ3.03 million ($2.89 million) at August 2017. The house has not been repaired.

“The primary issue in dispute is whether the maximum sum insured, $NZ455,000, can be claimed once or in each earthquake event,” the ruling made by Justice Dunningham says.

“There is nothing to suggest that the sum of $NZ455,000 is a per event limit. Rather, it is the limit on the sum insured, which is clearly expressed to be indemnity value only.

“The market value is not a cap per event. Therefore, in practical terms, Tower has succeeded in its argument that the $NZ455,000 is not claimable per earthquake event.”