A family of seven lost everything but the pyjamas they crawled out in when a horror landslide crushed their home.

Eight months later, they’re still homeless after their insurance and government support claims were declined.

Tauranga couple Teressa Hodgson and Luke Hanan remember clawing through mud and broken glass in the dark, screaming the names of their five children in the moments after a torrent of mud, rocks and trees crashed through their home with such force it shunted it into the street.

“We thought it was an earthquake. We couldn’t find the kids. I was hysterical – the walls of my daughter’s room were bowled – it was a miracle her brothers got her out of a broken window by piling up mattresses,” says Teressa.

The 20m slip happened around midnight on January 28 as the Bay of Plenty was battered by torrential rain that days earlier had raged through Auckland and Waikato, killing four people.

The family is grateful to be alive, but lost the house they’d spent the last two years renovating, their car, clothes, toys, photos – everything.

Eight months on, they are “stressed, facing bankruptcy”.

In cramped conditions at Teressa’s parents’ house, they are still paying a mortgage on a “pile of mud”.

“Two of the kids have to stay elsewhere, so that’s upsetting. The endless battle to apply for help and be rejected is more traumatic than the slip,” Teressa Hodgson told Stuff.

The first blow came when their insurance was declined due to a “technicality”.

“We’d only just taken out the insurance days before the slip. There was a stand down period.”

The family were also declined government support packages from Civil Defence and the Ministry of Social Development, apart from a short 10-week accommodation support payment.

“That was after it just happened. We applied three times, got rejected and eventually got a bit for a short time.”

This month they applied for the latest accommodation support package for flood and cyclone victims, but were rejected by MSD, again on a technicality.

The family say they are not looking for “handouts”, have worked all their lives, paid taxes, and speaking out “in case others are in the same boat”.

“The prime minister even came to visit us. He was visibly shocked at the damage and said it was a miracle we got out. It gave us hope,” says Teressa.

Chris Hipkins visited the family in Tauranga on February 9. On February 13 Cyclone Gabrielle ripped through the North Island, claiming the lives of 11 people.

Only that day the government had announced an $11.5m support package to provide “immediate relief to 25,000 people” affected by the floods.

Luke and Teressa were not amongst them.

“A social media post used a photo of our crushed house mentioning the Civil Defence package. But we were declined it and told Tauranga was not in a state of emergency at the time of the slip.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visited Egret Avenue, Maungatapu, Tauranga in February to meet Luke Hanan and Teressa Hodgson and their children, after their house and contents were lost when a slip crushed the property. Photo: Mark Taylor/Stuff.

In July the government announced the North Island Weather Events – Temporary Accommodation Assistance, available from September 4, to cover rent for people affected by the floods or Gabrielle if their insurance had run out. Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni, said at the time that it was to “bridge the gap” for families still displaced.

Luke and Teressa, ineligible, are still in that gap.

Insurers have so far paid $2 billion of 112,812​ claims after the twin weather events, with final cost estimated at $3.5 billion.

Luke and Teressa haven’t had a dollar of that.

Tower chief executive Blair Turnbull says he “deeply sympathises” and “our hearts go out to them” but its home insurance policies included a 48-hour stand down period for certain weather-related events.

“Mr Hanan and Ms Hodgson took out cover on the evening of Friday, January 27, roughly 30 hours before the damage was caused to their home. We understand that their home and contents had been uninsured for a period of weeks prior to them taking out their insurance with Tower. This meant that our stand down period for certain weather-related events applied.”

18 Egret Avenue, Maungatapu, Tauranga was the family home of Luke Hanan and Teresa Hodgson, destroyed by a slip after flooding in January. Photo: Mark Taylor/Stuff.

Tower continues to manage the couple’s Toka Tū Ake EQC claim under the Earthquake Commission Act, which provides government support for insured homeowners affected by natural disaster up to $300,000.

The couple believe the company’s attitude is “cold”.

”We don’t want their sympathy and their hearts, we want the cheque. You would expect human compassion, flexibility. Even if it was a part payment. Insurers are just in it for the money, not caring about people’s lives.”

Hipkins says while he can't not comment on an individual situation, MSD would be reaching out to the family again.

“I absolutely remember the devastation at this site on the day I visited, and am distressed to hear the family feel they haven’t had the right level of support.”

Acting Regional Commissioner for MSD, Graham Allpress, says MSD has reviewed its decision, and they are not eligible for the latest package.

“MSD can only make these payments if specific eligibility criteria are met.Teressa and Luke are not eligible because they didn’t receive insurance payments, or have a rental tenancy agreement, or register with MBIE’s Temporary Accommodation Service.

“We know it has been a very difficult time for Teressa, Luke and their family. Their situation is complex, in part because of insurance cover and its timing.”

The couple say without the support of the community, it would have been “harder to survive.”

“It was my dad’s work that got us trauma counselling sessions,” says Teressa.

Luke says bankrupcy now might be his only option. His sister, Kate Hanan, wrote to Hipkins that the “lack of support financially and emotionally” had impacted his mental health.

“He has worked extremely hard his whole working career to support his family. He’s paid taxes, insurances. He should not be left to battle this alone.

“I ask you to put yourself in his shoes.”

-Annemarie Quill/Stuff.