Sunk by the smallprint
Insurance loophole hits deluge victims in village that was ‘flood-free for 100 years’
a HOTEL- SPa owner whose property was ruined by flooding sobbed yesterday as she revealed that she isn’t insured for the damage – because of a smallprint loophole.
Pam Webb, 49, said an exemption was put into her policy without her realising.
She is among dozens of residents in the village of Fishlake, South Yorkshire, who have defied an evacuation order amid fears of looting, as forecasters warned of a possible second wave of flooding.
They have refused to leave despite homes, roads and gardens being swamped by floodwater which was waist-deep in some places over the weekend.
With another deluge expected, an RaF Chinook last night flew tons of aggregate into the area around Doncaster to bolster defences and help drainage.
Miss Webb said she was ‘completely heartbroken and devastated’ after her home and business was flooded by the overflowing River Don.
Truffle Lodge comprises luxury accommodation and a spa with a swimming pool, Jacuzzi and steam room.
Miss Webb said she was booked up until Christmas and she will have no option but to shut for the foreseeable future. If the destruction wasn’t bad enough, she discovered yesterday that her insurance policy did not cover flood damage. ‘They put an exemption for flooding in the policy that had not been there before,’ she said. ‘I should have picked it up but didn’t.’
Miss Webb, a divorcee, said there ‘hasn’t been a flood here before for 100 years’.
She added: ‘ Other people may well have been caught out by this as well. I have no idea what the cost will be. It’s going to be huge. I don’t know what I will do, it’s my livelihood and my home.’
The Met Office said over half a month’s rain is set to fall on Thursday across much of England. a ‘danger to life’ warning has been issued covering Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire through all of Thursday. a spokesman said: ‘ There is a small chance communities could be completely cut off, perhaps for several days.’
about 75 per cent of Fishlake was flooded yesterday.
Josh Knaggs, 29, who has defied the evacuation order for 700 locals, said: ‘My bungalow is under at least 4ft of water, everything is gone. It’s a prime target for thieves. They know people aren’t in their houses.’
Farmers have been particularly hard hit. Robert Robinson said: ‘My whole farm is just covered in water. We’ve animals that are suffering because of the water and we can’t get in and out without tractors.’