This luxury Redcliffs home is at the centre of a pricey High Court wrangle in Christchurch.

Owners of a luxury Christchurch home claim it will cost nearly $8.5 million to rebuild – the same as fixing the New Brighton Pier.

Golden Homes businessman Pavlos​ van Aalst​ and GJO Trustees have launched High Court proceedings against their insurer, IAG New Zealand Limited.

IAG believes the earthquake-damaged home at 145 Main Rd, Redcliffs can be repaired for about $2 million.

The "luxury highly specified building" was built between 2007 and 2010. The property is about 812 square metres and overlooks the Avon Heathcote Estuary.

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A statement of claim shows the home was severely damaged during the Canterbury earthquakes, sustaining "unacceptable levels" of foundation deformation, lateral spreading, cracked floors and leaning and cracked walls.

IAIN McGREGOR/FAIRFAX NZ Anthony Harper head of litigation Peter Woods says most of the 263 High Court claims against EQC could have been avoided.

IAG insured the property from June 1, 2010 for full replacement cost.

The plaintiffs claim the home is beyond repair and the cost of rebuilding is $8,455,690.81. The rebuild figure is about the same as the $8m to $9m quoted to repair the earthquake-damaged New Brighton Pier.

Law firm Anthony Harper's head of litigation, Peter Woods, is representing the plaintiffs.

JOHN COWIE/FAIRFAX NZ The property sustained major damage during the Canterbury earthquakes.

Woods said the rebuild cost was based expert advice.

"It's a quantity surveyor's assessment of the rebuild cost based on rebuilding an equivalent.

"There is a dispute over whether it is repairable or a rebuild.

"The thing [building] hasn't dropped uniformly, it's tilted. It's a really complex property," Woods said.

The $8.5m figure would be revised closer to the trial, but it was too early to say whether the case would go to trial at all, Woods said.

IAG customer reinstatement general manager Renee​ Walker said the insurer's expert advice showed the two parties were more than $6 million apart in their estimations of how much a rebuild would cost.

"We have reviewed the plaintiff's claim in light of the costing and advice of experts on a number of occasions and believe the offers we have made on the basis of all the available information have been fair and reasonable," Walker said.

"We are disappointed we have not been able to settle this claim directly with our customers, rather than through the courts. However, in this case there are wildly divergent views of what appropriate costs are, and we are therefore unable to reach agreement."

The nature of the claim was vastly different to that of Francis and Barbara Giddens, where the insurance giant was ordered to pay the Christchurch couple almost $850,000 for breaking a binding contract that said their home was a rebuild, Walker said.

"In this case, the plaintiffs seek a declaration that 'the house has been totally destroyed; that the plaintiffs have the right to elect to rebuild the house, and that the cost to rebuild the house is $8,455,690.41'."

Proceedings were filed in November 2015 and the case remains active. Further legal discussion was set down for May 27.

Woods said his clients had moved out of the property, but he understood they were living there at the time of the earthquakes.

His clients did not wish to comment.

Van Aalst is listed as sole director of Peak Construction Ltd, which operates Golden Homes in Christchurch, according to the home builder's website.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

- Repairs to the New Brighton Pier are expected to cost $8-$9 million, after it sustained damage in the Valentines Day earthquake - around double what it cost to originally build the pier.

- Christchurch's tallest office tower, the 17-story Forsyth Barr building, was bought in its quake-damaged state for $8 million in 2014.

- Christchurch's biggest backpackers, the 300-bed All Stars Inn on Bealey Ave, cost $8 million to build last year.

- The Cardboard Cathedral cost about $5 million to build.

- Christchurch Airport's 45-metre high control tower, the tallest of its kind in New Zealand, cost $6 million.

- The new Christchurch RSA building, which includes a memorial plaza and a restaurant, cost $6.5 million.