The letter of the policy, or the spirit of the policy?
There is an insurance loophole that appears to be bigger than any sinkhole we've seen.
Residents in Christchurch's red zone - the suburbs effectively set to be wiped from the map - were given two options last week.
One was to be bought out by the government at rating valuation - what many of us know as GV.
The other option, ideal for people with replacement policies, was the government bought your land, and you dealt directly with your insurers about your house.
But when people with total replacement policies began to do just that, some got a hell of a shock.
Their insurers told them they won't replace their homes, they'll only repair them, even though they're earmarked for certain demolition.
It is an insurance nightmare.
Crazy as it may sound, Campbell Galloway wishes the damage to his house was worse.
He's caught between a crack and a hard place: The government has deemed his land unsuitable for housing - he's in the red zone, but his insurance company is likely to say this is a repair job, and they will pay to fix a house.
A house that will ultimately be bulldozed.
Like many others Mr Galloway assumed that when the government announced last week that his suburb was in the red zone, his 'total replacement policy' would kick in.
But his insurers told him they don't have to build him a new house somewhere else. That if it's possible to repair the cracks and crevices, they'll do that instead.
“They're still wanting to repair our house and put in new driveway,” Mr Galloway said.
He was told the decision to bowl over his house and thousands of others was a government decision, and wasn't a direct result of the earthquake.
And you don't have to go far down his street to find others who fear they face the same predicament.
“We're living in limbo. We don't know what to do. We'll probably have to take the GV, which is nothing we can afford to buy,” neighbour Leanne Meimaris said.
“We've got four sons and my husband is disabled, and our life's come on hold. We thought we were covered by a replacement policy and we'll get a new home”.
Some red-zone homes might be repairable and relocatable, though most new subdivisions won't let them in.
Campbell Galloway’s house can't be moved anyway, and if he takes the government offer to buy his house and land and buys elsewhere in Christchurch, Tower has told him they won't re-insure him.
“We've always been happy with them but if any other companies are like that, then we'll have to shift out of Christchurch".
Incredibly this situation has left some red zone residents hoping for another hefty aftershock to make their homes irreparable.
“We would be better off if we got another shake and it fell or it had fallen before. We wouldn't have to worry about it. We'd have full replacement,” Mr Galloway said. “We'd be better off”.
Watch the video.