EQC settlement for a lost driveway a slap in the face while navigating Stage 4 cancer

Nelson's 2022 storms took out a section of our 200m long + 20m elevation driveway. 3 weeks later, Rebecca was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic cancer.

8 months on we are still having to park at the bottom of the driveway and walk up to our house, carrying everything, several times a day, in all weathers. The driveway provides the only access to our house and is steep and slippery.

Despite the slip being within 60m of the house, EQC's final settlement was a total slap in the face, just $4000 of an estimated repair bill of $80k. Our situation falls under a loophole where EQC only covers the tiny 4.5m2 footprint under the driveway concrete, and not the massive 70m2 of supporting bank that slipped out from under it.

The stress caused by battling EQC and IAG for the past 8 months has been immense on Rebecca. She should be focussed on her health and healing and not having to fight government bureaucracy - with terrible communication, huge delays and then a pitiful settlement.

We are now facing the reality of having to take out a new mortgage to fund the driveway repairs. Despite having paid the compulsory EQC levies for 20+ years, we now feel completely shafted by them.

We are indebted to kind friends and kiwis who contributed to Rebecca's healing journey, helping her to include supplements and other immune boosting treatments to complement her conventional treatments, but are humbly asking for donations from the nation to help us get through this incredibly tough time.