Eight out of ten for performance and deserving of bonuses - that's Southern Response's report card according to its board chair.
And that's despite the state quake insurer being tied up in ongoing and expensive legal action.
Southern Response is appealing a High Court decision that found it misled and deceived claimants Karl and Alison Dodds when it kept secret from them a higher detailed repair assessment to rebuild their quake damaged home - meaning they unwittingly settled for hundreds of thousands of dollars less.
And the court ordered the insurer to pay-up.
Southern Response says the appeal is about getting clarity around questions raised by the judgement - but a court document shows it's asking for the decision to be overturned and wants the Dodds to pay its court costs.
Lisa Owen asks Southern Response chair, Alister James, if he thinks the decision to appeal is fair.
Southern Response says the total amount paid in staff bonuses for the past financial year is $1.13 million and that 130 staff were eligible for bonuses.
Southern Response also says the value of those bonuses represents about 6.5 percent of the total claims handling expense for the year.
It says performance payments are based on targets that include both quantitative targets and soft skills, such as effective communication, outstanding customer service and undertaking tasks beyond job expectations, but that does not relate in any way to the amount that a customer is paid.
