He's Mr Fixit For Other Storm Victims But ... Carpenter Cannot Nail His Own Insurer
Illawarra Mercury
Wednesday December 23, 1998
Work has not been the same for contract carpenter Gibson Emmett since the August 17 storms.
Ordinarily, he would be celebrating an influx of work from storm-related insurance jobs around the city.
But as one of eight Illawarra storm victims yet to be paid by insurer Zurich, each such job is a demoralising kick in the guts.
``Every day I go to work to fix up other people's houses that are covered by insurance knowing that my insurer won't pay up," Mr Emmett said.
``It makes me that mad sometimes that I can't go to work."
But he soldiers on for the sake of his wife Francisca and their twin daughters Nadine and Kylie, 14.
He rises at 6am and spends the day replacing the ceilings, walls and architraves of other people's storm-damaged homes.
Then he goes home and works for five hours a night to repair storm damage to his Porter St, North Wollongong, house.
Because Zurich won't honour the Emmetts' claim, the family has exhausted its life savings on the repairs worth an estimated $150,000.
``I'm fixing houses that have had a couple of centimetres of water through - it was 2m deep in my place," Mr Emmett said.
``I cannot see the difference between the type of water that came through their places and what came through mine."
Mr Emmett said the thought that he was now effectively employed by the insurance industry that had failed him made him sick in the stomach.
``It's bad for me psychologically and I feel like giving up my trade," he said.
The loss of the family's two uninsured cars has added to Mr Emmett's burden.
The vehicles were washed into Fairy Creek during the storms and allegedly were destroyed in a subsequent Wollongong City Council recovery operation.
Ten days after the storm, $30,000 worth of salvaged carpentry equipment and children's musical instruments were stolen from his home.
And a slipped disc he sustained lifting his extended family on to the roof of their house during the storm is making his life a misery.
``Everyone says have a merry Christmas but I don't think mine will be very merry at all," he said.
Council general manager Rod Oxley, who was unaware of the alleged destruction of the cars, said he sympathised with Mr Emmett.
Council crews had worked under the direction of the State Emergency Service to clear the channel as quickly as possible and therefore could not be held accountable.
A Zurich spokeswoman said yesterday that the company was re-examining the Emmett case at the request of the family's solicitor. The company's decision would rest on a second hydrologist's report that was due yesterday.
© 1998 Illawarra Mercury