Latest / Best of Business / Darryn Fisher: NorthChamber Chief Executive says several Northland businesses unsure if they're insured for recent power outage

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Darryn Fisher: NorthChamber Chief Executive says several Northland businesses unsure if they're insured for recent power outage · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: together Do for Sel.
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  Speaker 2: Transpower has admitted that the crew working on the piland
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  Speaker 2: were the ones to blame. Yep, they didn't remove nuts
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  Speaker 2: on two legs, they removed nuts on three legs. Here's
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  Speaker 2: the chief executive, Allis and Andrew. Yeah, now you can't
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  Speaker 2: hear anything. Don't worry about it anyway. She just explains
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  Speaker 2: the situation for Transpower. Right, it's the Transpower, it's the
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  Speaker 2: contractor who did it, Omic Soom and the Minister Sime
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  Speaker 2: and Brown. None of them want to talk about it.
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  Speaker 2: Darren Fisher is the Chief Executive North Chamber, Northland's business chamber.
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  Speaker 2: It is with us now, hey.
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  Speaker 3: Darren, good evening.
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  Speaker 4: How are you very well? Thank you?
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  Speaker 2: Does knowing that it was just something stupid make it
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  Speaker 2: better for you guys or worse?
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  Speaker 3: I think it raises the level of anxiety, to be honest.
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  Speaker 3: I mean I don't know if you can be ensured
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  Speaker 3: negligence in this respect. So as far as our businesses
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  Speaker 3: here are concerned, I'm not sure whether they're covered or not.
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  Speaker 3: I mean owns power are certainly not fronting up to
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  Speaker 3: any form of compensation themselves, just breaking the Consumer Guarantees Act.
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  Speaker 3: So I mean, yeah, I think the says to the problem.
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  Speaker 4: Well, okay, hold on.
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  Speaker 2: So I looked at that because Alison Andrew had seen
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  Speaker 2: people can make a claim through the consumer guarantees that
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  Speaker 2: go through their electricity provider. I just assumed that it
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  Speaker 2: was her admitting that they are liable for compo.
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  Speaker 4: You seeing it.
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  Speaker 3: Differently, certainly seeing it differently. I think Consumer Guarantees Act
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  Speaker 3: relates to you and I at home as an average retailer.
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  Speaker 3: It doesn't relate to business. From a business perspective. We're
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  Speaker 3: encouraged to make claims through our own insurers, which would
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  Speaker 3: then obviously comet at a premium cost to ourselves and
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  Speaker 3: then no doubt havingn effect on our ongoing premiums. And
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  Speaker 3: I mean those as everyone in business in New Zealand.
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  Speaker 3: Those premiums for insurances already out of control, So making
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  Speaker 3: a claim for negligence on someone else's won't be helpful.
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  Speaker 4: Darren, have you taken legal advice.
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  Speaker 3: Just in the process of that, now, if I've had
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  Speaker 3: some just initial feedback through our legal partners, But I'm
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  Speaker 3: waiting to hear some specific feedback from some of our
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  Speaker 3: members insurance.
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  Speaker 4: What are your lawyers telling you just initially.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, there's that, we're not sure whether it covered or not. Really,
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  Speaker 3: I mean that's the unknown is still unknown.
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  Speaker 4: Have you tried to talk to transpar about whether they
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  Speaker 4: are liable here?
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  Speaker 3: Yees? So we had Transpower address ourselves and a number
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  Speaker 3: of members of the business community North in this morning
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  Speaker 3: at ten o'clock and you know, they already signaled to
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  Speaker 3: us that they're going to be making an announcement at
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  Speaker 3: one o'clock, but disappointingly, they wouldn't share any further information
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  Speaker 3: at that time and the advice they gave us in
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  Speaker 3: was in line with what they gave us again at
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  Speaker 3: one o'clock, so not terribly helpful to them.
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  Speaker 4: So they didn't say anything about whether they would pay compo.
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  Speaker 3: No, definitely not.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Darren, I really hope for your sake that actually
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  Speaker 2: your lawyers tell you that you can go hell for
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  Speaker 2: leather with these Thank you so much for your time.
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  Speaker 2: That's Darren Fisher, the CEO of North Chamber.
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