Leaky home owners are fighting for 220-million dollars in damages

About a thousand of them are involved in a class action lawsuit against building materials company James Hardie.

It begins in the High Court at Auckland today.

They claim cladding provided by the business was defective, and was what caused their homes to leak.

Linda Thompson is one of the many owners involved in the case, and says the whole ordeal has been a nightmare for her.

She was left with 337-thousand dollars in repair costs, with only 67-thousand dollars granted to her by the Government's financial assistance package.