Today's Dominion Post has a curious story reporting that "Some leaky-homes owners are being fleeced by "cartels" of lawyers, experts and builders, according to a briefing to council bosses." The important conclusion is that " a growing number of leaky-home owners come out of the claims process without enough cash for repairs once legal bills and experts' fees are paid."

Putting to one side the issue of whether 'cartels' exist ( and the article doesn't really establish that they do), the article rather seems to reflect the rather obvious truth – that litigation is simply an expensive way of obtaining compensation. A truth, that blessed as we are in New Zealand without the burden of personal injury litigation, we often forget.

Geoff McLay

19 August