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Forced out by slip: No noise, no rumble – just a late-night knock at the door

  • 15 weeks tomorrow...

      2 November 2022
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    And still nothing... well... except...

    I found a job. Fitting my previous volunteer work around the job (that I need to pay for the current additional costs) however is proving challenging.

    EQC paid out for the land lost. This is because the cost to repair was too high for them. And, as per their policies, they will always pay on the lesser value. So they paid on the land lost and the land they estimate we will lose in the next 12 months.

    According to their estimates the value paid would JUST cover the paper work component of their proposed repairs.

    They've said the repairs (not the paperwork) it will cost $300k + GST to fix, but we've been told that it's more likely to be over $500k + GST (assuming we can get consents, because of the complicated nature of the remediation).

    Our Insurance company also advised that repairs must be done to continue to be insured. And because there is still no damage in their eyes to the house, they will not pay out on it.

    Our Bank froze the EQC funds when it paid out (something we didn't know could happen).

    When we queried why, they released the funds but told us that we could no longer borrow against the house as it had devalued so much due to the slip.

    The garage at the house flooded AGAIN last weekend with the rain that went through so we also had to go and clean that up.

    And yesterday, our insurance told us they would be closing off the displaced accommodation supplement that was helping subsidise our rent even though we are still displaced.

    The last few weeks have been VERY difficult.

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  • Mental health

      16 October 2022

    It’s been a while since we have updated.

    There has been progress, but not the positive kind for us. We are finding that those companies and organisations that we thought are there to help us (who regularly take our money) haven’t been there to help us at all.

    It’s been 12+ weeks now. And it’s really started to impact our mental health and general wellbeing.

    For me (Jaime), I’ve been experiencing nightmares, insomnia, muscle tension and clenched teeth just to name a few.

    Nightmares trying to get my son out of the house and I can’t because I’m stuck outside. Or trying to get us all out of the house and not being able to find the exits. Dreaming of rain and downpours and it waking me up feeling panicked.

    My teeth clenching/grinding has resulted in a chipped tooth.

    Tim is struggling too. He’s trying to be brave and strong. But how long can you be brave when it feels like everything is weighted against you.

    It’s hard - a good chunk of the days we struggle to get out of bed. Trying to figure out how we can move forward is the first thought when we wake, the last thought when we go to sleep and it haunts us in our dreams too.

    I’ve (Jaime) been seeing a Mental Health Practitioner and she has told me that unfortunately as long as our trauma exists (and most likely for a time afterwards) I will continue to experience these symptoms. The same will apply to Tim too.

    At the end of the day, it seems (from our point of view) that the big businesses and organisations seem to focus on liability and the most cost effective path.

    I’m posting this to acknowledge the trauma, but also because I know that others are going through trauma of their own.

    It was recently mental health awareness week (26 Sept - 2 Oct) and I want to post about that.

    If you are feeling down or don’t know where to turn to it’s important to reach out for help.

    Our mental health is important. Your mental health is important.

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    • 17/10/2022 by Donna

      Hi Jaime

      So sorry to hear you and Tim are going through all this trauma, and that nothing appears to be being resolved. How terribly frustrating. Sending love and prayers 🙏

  • No progress

      15 September 2022
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    Today is 8 weeks.

    We have had no progress.

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  • No real progress...

      22 August 2022
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    Hey all,

    Quick update.

    Our neighbours suffered a slip in the weekend. Alongside many others along the cliff face of the Stokes Valley hills. They're safe (thankfully) and haven't been evacuated as their house is further back from the slip face than ours.

    No real progress on the Insurance front. I know that there was a preliminary report submitted from the geotech engineers (that we haven't seen) and that meant the land valuer was able to be dispatched. But that was almost a week ago and we haven't heard anything since.

    The land valuer assesses the land lost and values it based on its use on the property. This value influences how much EQC may pay out to help contribute to the repair bills. Understand that the cliff face, while it held our fruit trees (that we had planted to help protect the bank) will be worth less than the land the house is physically sitting on so the payout would be less accordingly. This means if we get a payout, we will need to fund the remainder of the repairs through our own means.

    In regards to potential funding due to being displaced (MSD), it appears that we will not be eligible for funds. They acknowledge that we are paying for two households but from the initial discussions our income is classed as too high to qualify for assistance. Frustrating after paying taxes for so many years, yet when we need help it isn't there. They did mention that if a Civil Defence emergency was declared that may change.

    This means that these Givealittle funds are going to be so valuable to us. And for that we are so grateful to all of you who have given.

    Thank you. <3

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    • 22/08/2022 by Donna

      Very frustrating for you. I hope you get some closure soon xx

  • You are all amazing, but we also need to thank...

      7 August 2022
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    We need to take a moment to thank some people that have been there for us recently.

    It feels like there isn’t enough space to list you all. And if I’ve left you off, it doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate you - our brains are just fried.

    But huge thanks go to:

    Cheyla, Neil and Sarah

    Karen and Richard

    Janine and Aaron

    Dave F

    James S

    Callum F

    Rhiannon & Jon-Luke

    Mel and Michael G

    Reggie, John, H & McN

    Jamie H

    Our whole Hapkido family

    Cooper's friends

    The movers from Saturday - Johnny, Cheyla, Neil, Rhiannon, Jon-Luke, Aaron, Janine, Andrew W, Karen, Richard, Jamie H and Jesse, Sean, Gavin M, Kelsi, Trevor, Gavin P, Chris & Nikki B, Geoff W, Patrick, Daryl, John E, Callum, Sam W and the two volunteers from Hutt City Council (Jamie and Chelsea?).

    NZRT-18 Hutt City Emergency Response Team - these volunteers are worth their weight in gold.

    Upper Hutt Martial Arts Academy - who I volunteer for

    Complete Martial Arts Supplies - who helped with boxes at short notice

    Upper Hutt College - Cooper's school and the support they gave him.

    Ministry of Education NZ - Tim’s work

    Lightwire - Tim's old work

    DTS New Zealand - Tim's old work

    The Chiro - Our Chiropractors

    Debra @ Storage One Maidstone (who gave us her personal cell to call when we had all the extra rain and may need to evac our stuff)

    Our new landlords for being so flexible and responsive this week.

    All of you who have donated through this page.

    Everyone that messaged us about housing.

    Everyone that messaged us about our cats.

    On Saturday we got about 90% of our possessions in the 3 hours that the council gave us to evacuate the house. Still some stuff in the roof, under stairs, clothes etc but got the main stuff for now. We moved some other stuff into storage.

    The council threw us a curve ball, they would only let Tim and I in the house and only 4 people on the deck at anytime. So Tim and I moved probably 95% of everything.

    Absolutely exhausted and I’m sure we will be very sore for a few days, but legendary work. We have most of our rental setup thanks to the awesome people from Saturday.

    And today we got our fur babies 💕

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  • Thank you so much!

      31 July 2022
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    We are so grateful to those of you who have given so far.

    I'm sorry I don't have the energy to post a reply to each one of you. But I can tell you that there have been plenty of tears due to all your wonderful help.

    We were a bit worried about heading back to look at the slip face today after the heavy rain overnight. I've attached a picture of what it looks like today. You can see a lighter area where there has been some water run off.

    Because we got the council report and red sticker reissued at 5pm on Friday we've been in limbo over the weekend trying to work out where to from here. Thank you to everyone who has been suggesting ideas to investigate.

    We met a reporter today from Stuff/Dominion Post who took some pictures for a follow up article. I'm not sure when that will be posted online but they've said that they're including the link to this page also.

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