Lower-value WHRS claims process

The WHRS Act 2006 establishes a lower-value WHRS claims process for claims whose repair costs, or the Weathertight Services assessor’s estimate of the repair costs, are $20,000 or below. The $20,000 value is set by regulation and may change in the future.

A settlement advisor will be assigned to the claim when the claimant chooses to use the lower-value WHRS claim dispute resolution process. The settlement advisor will help the claimant and the other parties resolve the claim through negotiation or mediation. There is no fee for this service.

The lower-value WHRS claim dispute resolution process has four possible stages:

• Initial contact stage – Where the settlement advisor contacts all parties the claimant has requested, checks if any further parties should be invited to participate and usually organises a telephone conference where administrative details and the possibility of negotiation and mediation are discussed.
• Negotiation – If the claimant and the parties agree, they can try negotiation where everyone gathers together to discuss the issues and try to work out a resolution. The negotiation session is chaired by the claimant. See the section on negotiation or more information
• Mediation – If the claimant and the parties agree, they can try mediation using a professional mediator, provided by Weathertight Services free of charge to help facilitate the meeting. See the section on mediation for more information.
• Adjudication – If negotiation and/or mediation are unsuccessful the claimant can pursue parties in more formal adjudication through the Weathertight Homes Tribunal. There is a fee of $400 for this. See the Weathertight Homes Tribunal website for more information.

If the claimant chooses to resolve their claim through the lower-value WHRS claim dispute resolution process they send us a referral to resolution form along with a nomination of parties form which will be provided to them at the time.

The settlement advisor will then start contacting the parties the claimant has nominated and discuss the claim with them. They will ask the parties if they hold any relevant documents and if they are aware of any other parties who should be involved. They will also ask if they are willing to participate in the dispute resolution. From these discussions the settlement advisor will be better able to assist the claimant and parties in deciding whether to pursue a private settlement through negotiation or to proceed directly to mediation.