Homeowner still seeking a fix to earthquake-damaged property

Mandy Fraser is in a standoff with EQC over repairs. Photo / File

Four years after the shaking stopped, Mandy Fraser and her elderly mother Violet are still shivering in an earthquake-cracked and sloping Christchurch house.

Almost every day, Mandy drives her car emblazoned with 'EQC: Please fix our house' from her broken Bromley home in the post-disaster eastern suburbs, to the offices of the Earthquake Commission (EQC) to hold vocal one-person protests.

She is refusing to accept EQC's cash settlement offer of $22,000 for repairs.

Mandy, 55, has independent engineering reports which suggest repairs will cost thousands more.

The two parties are still in discussions, but their positions seem poles apart.

Mandy is refusing to be "bullied" into taking the cash deal.

"If it's not illegal what they are doing to me, then it's extreme bullying," she said.

Labour MP Ruth Dyson said the Frasers' case was typical of what was still happening to hundreds of Cantabrians. She is helping negotiate a deal with EQC.

"These women have been waiting for a long time to get repairs done, and to have cash settlement as her only option, I do not think is fair," Ms Dyson said.

"It's unbelievable that people are still having these arguments so long after the event."

Mandy, full-time carer for her 85-year-old mother Violet, said the house they bought new in 1997 is now cold, draughty, and on a lean.

When she washes the dishes, the water level in the sink slopes.

One monthly power bill last winter topped $400.

The faults can be easily fixed, EQC says.

A spokesman said the government agency had spent "a great deal of time and effort" trying to resolve the claim.

"In making its settlement decision, and to address a number of concerns raised by the customer over a number of years, EQC has considered an independent engineering report (a structural and geotechnical report, which involved six engineers), its own engineering reports, a report from the property's private insurers as well as the reports provided by the customer," the spokesman said.

"EQC has kept the customer and her MP informed of the progress of her claim and believes it has met its obligations to her."

Ms Fraser will continue to refuse the "laughable" cash settlement offer and keep up her solo protests.

"This process over four years has been worse than the 40 seconds the earthquake lasted for," she said.

"They don't like me protesting in the streets, but I will keep standing up for myself. I have no choice. We want our life back."