A married couple has reported the loss of all their possessions following a burst water main that flooded their storage unit. Steve and Gill Wallis placed all their belongings in a Quick Self Storage facility located in Derbyshire when they moved to Turkey in 2018 after retiring. In February 2021, the ruptured pipe sent a 100ft plume into the air, with a significant amount of water landing on the storage unit containing Mr. and Mrs. Wallis’s possessions, as well as those of other customers. Severn Trent Water has acknowledged liability for the incident; however, the owned insurer has effectively capped its compensation offer at the items’ resale value.
After the incident, the couple cut short their stay in Turkey to check on their storage unit. Unfortunately, this revealed that they had lost every item they owned. Mr. Wallis claimed that the loss went far beyond furniture, noting that sentimental items like 35 years’ worth of family photos cannot be replaced by money. When the couple entered the storage room, they noticed debris on the floor. Although an employee assured them that the debris posed very little risk, tests later revealed it contained white asbestos, also known as chrysotile. They have not yet decided whether to incorporate this development as part of their compensation claim.
The couple’s statement is part of a larger group of customers that are disputing the compensation offered by Severn Trent Water. The insurer has offered £6,500 to the Wallises for their possessions, significantly less than the £17,000 they had estimated their items’ worth. Other affected individuals have reportedly been offered similar compensation amounts, representing less than half of their total claim. Severn Trent Water stated that insurers had settled the compensation based on the current second-hand market value, which is the legally accepted standard.
One of the affected individuals, Gordon Thorpe, had stored his equipment for his car and motorbike maintenance business. He recounted that his precision tools had been ruined by the water, thus making them inaccurate and unusable after rusting. Another customer, Jenny Nelson, declared that they had received enough insult and were already at their wits’ end. She noted that the compensation offered was inadequate for the damages and losses suffered
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
