New Zealand’s Southern Response will wind up its in-house claims settlement function by the end of this year, with remaining claims to be handled by the Earthquake Commission (EQC) to reduce costs as the number of unresolved Canterbury earthquake cases declines.

Southern Response, which was set up after the collapse of local insurer AMI following the Christchurch earthquakes, has settled more than 99% of its claims portfolio of more than 48,000, and expects only about 300 claims will remain by the end of this year.

“We want to ensure that all remaining Canterbury earthquake customers are well served right through until final settlement of all claims, and we believe that bringing all of the remaining Crown claims into the one agency is the best way of doing that,” Southern Response CEO Anthony Honeybone said.

He has decided to step aside on December 20 when the transition takes effect. Southern Response’s GM of Legal and Strategy, Casey Hurren, will become Company GM from December 21.

Southern Response will continue with a focus on ongoing legal, financial and reporting obligations and will retain ultimate decision-making responsibilities and manage litigation, with EQC acting as agent.