"Priority case widow still waiting".

[Suezy]

'Priority case' widow still waiting
OLIVIA CARVILLE
Last updated 05:00 17/04/2013

KIRK HARGREAVES/Fairfax NZ

 GONE: Ian Caldwell died in Christchurch's February 2011 earthquake.

Earthquake widow Julie Caldwell is about to face her third winter in a cold and cracked TC3 home, despite being deemed a "priority case" by recovery authorities more than two years ago.

The usually timid mother-of-two is fed up with the "empty promises and Band-Aid solutions" from officials and has come out swinging against the system.

"At the beginning of all this I would never speak up for myself but now, since Ian [her husband of 27 years] has died, I've got to.

"They said I was a priority case but as far as I am concerned, if I am a priority then heaven help those people below me."

Since the earthquake, Caldwell has been left to grieve in her broken North Beach family home.

Along with her daughters, she has faced raw sewage coming up through the shower, windows that cannot be closed and a house that shakes whenever a car goes past.

She has had temporary "Band-Aid" repairs done "so many blimmin times I can't remember" but two years on, she says she is still waiting on a verdict on her house.

Her insurer, State Insurance, has said an on-site meeting will discuss the repair of Caldwell's home at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, the ranchslider has been fixed about six times, there are wide cracks in the bedrooms, the toilet has come away from the wall and because the house loses so much heat, the widow faces $400 power bills through winter.

Caldwell works three days a week in retail and receives the widow's benefit, but struggles to keep up with the bills and accept authorities' "empty promises".

"I think Ian would be ... proud of the way we have carried on, but I wish he was here because then he could deal with them [the authorities]."

Ian Caldwell was buried in a landslide while he was trying to secure rocks above the Sumner Redcliffs RSA on February 22, 2011.

"It has just been too long and we can't cope with many more winters like this. I need some light at the end of a very long tunnel."

The Earthquake Commission (EQC) deemed Caldwell (along with other immediate family members of quake victims) a "priority case" shortly after the quakes, an EQC spokesman said.

EQC believed the house was below cap, yet State Insurance argued that it was above cap.

After a review, EQC finally made a cap payment in November.

State Insurance spokeswoman Renee Walker confirmed Caldwell was a "priority customer" and that the house would be a repair.

"We completely sympathise with her situation and know what she has been through," she said.

CALDWELL'S LETTER TO THE EDITOR

It is just over two years since I lost my husband tragically in the February 22 earthquake.

The problems of those years have been and still are causing a very stressful situation, with no solution to my ongoing woes.

I have had empty promises from all relevant parties with regard to the state of my house.

It's so bad that a big slab of concrete has been put in front and braced to anchor it and stop it from shifting any further.

I've had structural engineers, EQC assessors and insurance assessors so many times I've lost count. Each time a different opinion is given as to if it's a rebuild or a repair. No-one knows.

I have also had several tradesmen repairing things so many times. The ranchslider still doesn't close properly, just like the windows, and raw sewage has come up into our shower. The council did come to the party on that one, but still there is a lingering smell.

I'm a one-man band on a very low, fixed income and having to face every day without my husband of 27 years, trying to keep things ticking along and looking after my two daughters.

Any time soon, I feel I will have exhausted all my patience and faith in things being righted in the near future. My home is a constant worry with only Band-Aid solutions offered. I need some light at the end of a very long tunnel.

- © Fairfax NZ News
Copied from The Press.

Photo below
SOLO BATTLE: Two years on from her husband's death, earthquake widow Julie Caldwell, pictured with dog Chance, is struggling to cope in a house that is still broken.

I have put on where you can get into the Press and read the article- as the comments are also very interesting indeed.
'Priority case' widow still waiting | Stuff.co.nz

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[ato2]

That is pretty awful....sad to see someone in that situation all that time.

[Sara]

My heart goes out to this lady. After all this time. It is about time the insurance companies and council and EQC stopped dicking about. Time to stop focussing on the central city and do something for the poor people in the suburbs that are still hurting. Time for a new system . Time to move ahead and stop all the beaurocracy. Get real you people with all the power. Elections are coming soon. What no power! How sad.

[Suezy]

Things in Christchurch are still pretty bad and with winter coming along things are going to be really serious.  They are still discussing the Convention Centre- covered stadium and a bike trail round the river Avon.  Even our war memorial has still not been fixed for Anzac  Day which of course has also upset  the RSA.
Was talking to one of my grand daughters tonight who has had 270 tons of liquefaction in total removed from her property in Wainoni Road - and still has not sighted the payout that was promised to enable them to move on either. They have purchased a section and arranged a mortgage- but also needs that money as well.  They also have sink holes on their property and one is  massive where the clothes line with towels on it just disappeared down it - never to be seen again.  She also got farily depressed awhile back with the continual hassles that they were having and not getting anywhere - but now come to terms with life again.
One of our neighbours whose house should be written off - and still living in it with two children - has been fixed up at his expense and just has to wait for two years before they will even look at repairing it. Thatis after  about 7 inspections of it. The Insurance has paid for the roof to be fixed to stop the rain  running down the walls in the kids bedrooms when ever it rained.
I could tell a lot of stories that is going on down here.

Just saw this and thought I would put here too,
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/the-rebuild/8558755/EQC-email-error-delays-settlements