Cyclone Gabrielle: Tararua couple’s ‘complex’ red-zone situation delays insurance settlement

Their house sits just past the other side of the Marainanga Gorge. What used to be a 30-minute drive from Pongaroa has turned into a two-hour drive.

A report commissioned by their insurer FMG confirmed their worst fears – the land their house sits on is at risk of slipping further after the most recent cyclone-inducing slipping.

“The hill behind our house, about 300 metres of the hillside has slipped and a lot of it has landed on the back of the house,” Michael said.

“The land at the front of the house is also moving so the entire hill it is sitting on is unsafe.”

Fitzpatrick said their home is transportable and he hopes to move it to another part of the property if it is safe to do so, but he and his partner still have not learned anything more about their claim from FMG, leaving them stuck.

He recently learned about the land categorisations and prospect of land buyouts on offer in Hawke’s Bay and he has questioned Tararua District Council about it, but he does not want his land to be deemed unlivable.

“We don’t want to get a buyout… I hope to god they don’t turn around and say “No, none of the property is suitable for the house’.”

Trudy Hales, Tararua District Council’s recovery communications and engagement advisor, said the Council has not yet spoken to Central Government Ministers about land categorisation or government buyouts.

“At this stage, we have not spoken to ministers specifically around this as it is currently going through the Cyclone Gabrielle Recovery Taskforce,” Hale said.

“There are currently geotech reports and advice from insurers that need to be delivered and assessed before we can have these conversations.”

Hale said there are three red-stickered properties and 12 yellow-stickered properties in the Tararua District.

Fitzpatrick said his primary concern is still getting a final settlement on his insurance so decisions can be made before they run out of money for temporary accommodation.

“You try to ring them and you get put on hold, you’ve got a case worker but we’ve never spoken to the case worker we were given, we always get put on someone else,” Fitzpatrick said.

Nicki Mackay, chief recovery officer at FMG, said that 60 per cent of claims in Hawke’s Bay had been settled to date and 65 per cent of claims in Pongaroa, with nine remaining open.

“Firstly, we sympathise with the circumstances faced by Michael and Kylie. Like so many across the impacted regions, they are facing uncertainty and are looking for a resolution,” Mackay said in a statement.

She said FMG had paid out the Fitzpatrick’s $30,000 plus GST alternative accommodation cover in full by May and they were continuing to work with them on the damage caused to their property.

“This isn’t the first time land has slipped and damaged this property, resulting in an insurance claim. The first was in 2011 and again in 2022,” she said.

“Landslip slips like these are complex to assess and manage and it is important that time is taken to make sure we all understand the future risks to people and property as well as the costs of repair and remediation.”

Mackay did not offer an expected timeframe for the resolution of the Fitzpatricks’ claim but said Tonkin and Taylor’s engineer’s report would help progress the claim.

She said all clients with an open EQC claim in response to Cyclone Gabrielle or the Auckland Anniversary Weekend flood had a consultant assigned to them and the Fitzpatricks were able to direct dial or email their FMG consultant as needed.