Confusion over who pays for bomb damage
URGENT answers are being demanded to resolve who will pay for damage caused to properties following the controlled detonation of a Second World War bomb in Exeter.
On February 26, around 2,600 properties were evacuated, including 1,400 students from university premises, following the discovery of a 1,000kg Luftwaffe bomb on a building site off Glenthorne Road.
The 2.55m long device was blown up by military personnel the following evening. Despite hundreds of tonnes of sand and a special structure being built to contain the blast, many buildings nearby have been badly damaged.
There is conflicting information about whether liability is down to the developer of the site, the Home Office or individual insurance companies. The closest home to the detonation site belongs to the Exeter Diocese and is the home of Church of England curate, the Reverend Ash Leighton Plom, and his wife and son.
They have been told the damage will take months to repair and they will need to move out for several months while major renovation work is done.
Other homeowners whose properties have been damaged are experiencing problems with insurers.
Now Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw has written to the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, and Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Mr Bradshaw said the Defence Secretary initially told him he believed liabilities from the incident might fall to the developer of the site. He said: “The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) briefing that I have been sent states that ‘liability for damage caused by EOD intervention typically falls to the Home Office’.
“Residents whose properties and vehicles have been damaged have been instructed to approach their insurance companies. It has emerged that some residents have been told by their insurers to contact the Home Office instead.
“I am very concerned that residents – including a private care home which experienced severe damage to their building and others who were displaced, whose properties or vehicles have been damaged and who have been distressed by the experience – may now face resistance or refusal from their insurers to process claims and to pay out.
“Other residents face smaller repair costs that fall below their insurance excess. I have asked the Government to provide an urgent clarification of where liability for the damage and costs lies. I have also asked the Government to provide a fund to cover residents’ costs where home or vehicle insurers refuse to pay, where householders are uninsured or under-insured, or where costs fall below the insurance excess.
“Additionally, I have asked for consideration that this fund covers reasonable claims for compensation by residents directly affected.
“While I will ask the Financial Conduct Authority to consider the concerns I am hearing about insurers, I have asked the Government to provide a briefing on the incident to insurance companies, and to use any powers they have to intervene where these firms refuse claims or direct claimants to the Home Office.”
Mr Bradshaw has also requested to see post-incident report prepared for the MoD.
Churchill Insurance advice suggests their home insurance policy covers damage to both building and contents caused by an explosion.
It goes on: “So therefore, any resulting damage from a controlled bomb explosion would be covered, where a customer has the required buildings or contents insurance in place. Our policies, however, do not provide any provision of cover for the discovery of a bomb in a garden.”