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Nor West News : May 23rd 2013
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Thursday, May 23, 2013 0800 42 45 46 www.gjgardner.co.nz GJ-RMTB-67-RN0313-RT With 16 years in business constructing over 980 fantastic homes - why wouldn't you let Rodney's most trusted builder build your new home for you? RODNEY OFFICES Orewa: 20 Tamariki Avenue. (09) 427 9231 Mangawhai: 6 Molesworth Drive. (09) 423 1020 SHOWHOMES Millwater: 1 Bonair Crescent. (09) 959 0171 Kumeu: 1A Tapu Road. (09) 412 5371 Snells Beach: Mahurangi Ridge. (09) 425 6175 Warkworth: 19 John Andrew Drive. (09) 422 2538 FRANCHISEE 2012 INTERNATIONAL WINNER NETWORK Unbeatable coverage of readers 15+ 808,000 Auckland's most powerful media Ph 09 525 0666 Source: Nielsen CMI Q3 2011--Q2 2012 TODAY Woodhill 100 Rural rave Photo festival ONLINE Full steam E-EDITION City's future Win a ride in the qualifying sprints of the annual offroad racing event -- P2 Rain didn't stop crowds turning out for the ANZ Young Farmer Contest grand final at the Kumeu Showgrounds -- P10 Budding amateur photographers display their work -- P15 Visitors enjoyed a preview of the Helensville Railway Museum when the Kaipara Cannonball train chugged into town. Go to nor-westnews. co.nz to read more and see photos by Colin Lunt. Find out more about the unitary plan at nor westnews.co.nz. Cruel twist of fate By CARYN WIGMORE Disaster damage: Samantha Bennett stands in her conservatory where the tornado struck. Photo: CARYN WIGMORE Go to nor-westnews.co.nz to see Prime Minister John Key talk about theHobsonville twister. It sounded like a bomb exploding. It was like an entity in the house. -- Samantha Bennett Whenuapai UNINSURED tornado vic- tim Samantha Bennett is financially crippled six months after her home was torn apart at Whenuapai. Her case has prompted a warning from Insurance Council of New Zealand chief executive Tim Grafton who says not having insurance is a risk not worth taking. A twister tore the roof off Miss Bennet's house last December and exposed it to serious flooding. Cladding was stripped from the exterior of the building and a car outside was wrecked. Miss Bennett saw long sheets of black in the sky seconds before the tornado hit. It sounded like a bomb exploding. It was like an entity in the house.'' She scooped up her stun- ned mother Jo Bennett and huddled with her in a corner of the lounge, clinging to the fireplace. Most of our house ended up in the water -- the damp smell afterwards was ter- rible,'' she says. The family is struggling to pay debt after replacing the roof, clothes and furniture while still servicing a mort- gage. Every last penny I had is gone,'' Miss Bennett says. The former real estate agent suffered traumatic stress syndrome after the tornado and still relives it in her nightmares. She hopes to return to her old profession soon. Mr Grafton says the case is relatively rare but not isolated. Around 1 to 2 per cent, approximately 10 in every 1000, of New Zealanders don't have house insurance, he says. And a further 20 per cent don't have any coverage organised for their contents. It's really sad when some- one doesn't take out compre- hensive insurance to protect their most dearest posses- sions, whether it's their con- tents or their most valuable possession, their home. Sadly events like the tor- nado just demonstrate the value of having insurance coverage because without it you risk losing just about all your wealth in one stroke.'' Mr Grafton says some peo- ple get caught out after for- getting to renew lapsed poli- cies, especially when going away on vacation. His advice is simple: Don't go on holiday and leave the house uninsured. Insurance is just an abso- lutely critical way of manag- ing that risk so we strongly would urge people who aren't insured to get themselves insured.'' He says mortgagees should be especially careful to keep up with their insurance payments. The last thing anybody wants is to lose everything and that's what you put at risk. If you haven't kept up with it you will find yourself in a terrible situation if you lose your home.'' COUNTING THE COST The fatal storm killed three people, Tom Stowers, Keith Langford and Brendon Johnson. It also left dozens injured and hundreds displaced when it slammed into the Hobsonville-Whenuapai area in December. Trees were uprooted, debris pierced houses and tragically three lives were lost at a Hobsonville Point School construction site. The tornado cost $8.7 million. That's a $2m increase on the original estimate. The bulk of the insurance claims, $6.1m, are for house and contents, while commercial claims total $1.9m and vehicles $410,000, the Insurance Council of New Zealand says.
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