B&B was hit after I was told nobody would insure me
A B&B owner has spoken of his devastation over losing around £40,000 in damages and loss of takings after his business was flooded twice in a week.
In a bitter blow, Mark Davies, who runs Darwin’s Townhouse B&B in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, had been told he could no longer get insurance flood cover just 12 days before the River Severn burst its banks last Tuesday.
Mr Davies, 59, said his broker had spoken to several insurance providers before the floods hit – but not a single one was willing to insure his business against flood damage. He said it would be months before his B&B is fully operational again following further flooding yesterday.
‘It’s been a double whammy,’ he said. ‘No one is touching this any more. It’s a crying shame really when you think of some of the businesses around here and the losses that could kill them.’
The entire basement of his guesthouse has been flooded, wrecking stores of linen and food, while ten of the 20 rooms at his B&B have been put out of action.
When asked what his message to the Prime Minister would be, he said: ‘Come down and say hello. I would throw down that gauntlet. What are you going to do? I have had to pay a phenomenal amount in tax and rates and yet I’m seeing very little in return. My personal feeling on Boris Johnson is he should make some sort of nod to acknowledge all the devastation across the country that he is responsible for,’ he said.