Grieving family discovers destroyed home is uninsured

A family reeling from their mother’s death from cancer and the loss of their home to fire have had their trauma compounded by the revelation that the insurance on the house had lapsed.

Steve Vacopoulos told A Current Affair that his wife Catherine had managed the family’s finances until her death from a brain tumour in early January.

Just a few months later on Easter Sunday, the family returned from a relative’s house to watch in horror as their home burned to the ground.

Shortly afterwards, they received a letter informing them that they were uninsured and would not be covered.

Mr Vacopoulos said Catherine’s behaviour before her death had become increasingly erratic, a side effect from her cancer.

A particular aspect of this included hiding the mail around the house, which Mr Vacopoulos suspected included a letter from their insurance company informing them that payments were due.

The house had been covered since 1990.

The family lost nearly everything, including video messages from Catherine to her three children - Joel, Calista and Axell - which were to have been played on their 18th birthdays and at their weddings.

However, in a rare stroke of luck, a box of Steve and Catherine’s wedding photos survived the blaze.

Mr Vacopoulos, an engine builder by trade, said that he is determined to rebuild the family home.

“People ask us if we’re going to sell the property. My kids were born here, I don’t want to sell it,” he explains.

“This is our home.”

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