The Christchurch High Court established a special earthquake list to handle claims arising out of the Christchurch earthquakes.  Most claims are against insurance companies.  So far the list is working very well to advance claims to a resolution.  The Court allocates a conference to occur relatively quickly after the filing of the proceedings.  The next conferences are on 28 and 29 November 2012.  If you filed a proceeding now you would be allocated a conference on 18 December 2012.   I recommend that anyone with an insurance issue or claim against an insurer to seriously consider filing the proceedings in the High Court.  It will speed up the progress of your claim.  I have the most claims in the list against insurance companies of any lawyer.