Southern Response, the government-owned company responsible for settling claims by AMI policy holders for Canterbury quake damage before April 5, 2012, is now facing accusations it spied on claimants. The suggestion is it did this through the security contractor it hired, named by Newshub as Thompson & Clark, which has a record of being implicated in borderline unethical and immoral practices. Southern Response would not specify it hired Thompson & Clark - which says on its website it is ''New Zealand's leading security, corporate intelligence and protection agency''. Now the State Services Commission has launched an inquiry into Southern Response, to consider if by contracting a security company it may have breached operating standards. A Newshub investigation last week discovered hundreds of quake-affected Christchurch residents may have been spied on while trying to get insurance claims settled and found that $180,000 of taxpayer money was paid to Thompson & Clark.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 11, 2018 16:18 UTC