Six months after a ’freak’ hailstorm hit Ottery St Mary, a Talaton-based insurance Inspector has been praised by his firm for helping victims of the flooding get back on their feet.
Cornish Mutual Insurance Inspector Gary Burgess took on the task of locally leading the South West insurance company’s response in October last year. He was on the scene within hours helping people affected by the severe weather and organising a team of flood damage restoration specialists and loss adjusters to visit policyholders.
In some areas around 1ft of hail fell in just two hours and flood waters rose up to 4ft (1.2m) engulfing both houses and cars and causing widespread damage. Some people had to be rescued from their homes, after the Devon town was virtually cut-off. Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage was done to homes, vehicles and businesses.
He said: "Most of our Members were right in the thick of it when we arrived and just needed help, advice and assistance as well as reassurance that we were onto it. Being there was a huge benefit because they could clearly see we cared and it made everything worthwhile."
Managing Director of Cornish Mutual, Alan Goddard commented: "Gary and the team did some tremendous work to help those affected by the flash flooding. It’s not only about getting the job done, but going the extra mile, which they did superbly."
Alan Maynard (pictured) suffered significant damage to his house and also saw his car washed away into the river. He said: "It just lifted off the ground and floated like a boat. We were lifting furniture up, trying to save what we could but it was too late for the car."
After the storm, Alan’s furniture, carpets, fridges and washing machines were all ruined. He added: "We only live about five metres from the river but we’ve never seen anything like it - within an hour there was 4ft of water at the door, which was buckling, coming in through the cracks."
Alan, whose farm was badly affected, has been dealing with Gary for over 21 years and has a number of policies with Cornish Mutual said, "We’ve never dealt with anybody else. Gary was great, we called him in the morning and he was here by lunchtime. He’s been out two or three times since, whenever we’ve had a problem."
John Burrows (pictured) lives on an 85 acre farm in Ottery St Mary with his wife and lost 35 sheep during the storm. He said: "We had no warning at all, the water came so quickly there was no time to move the sheep."
Mr Burrows contacted Gary who visited him almost immediately. He added: "Gary came to see me on the Monday and we had payment for our claim on the Friday. You can’t ask fairer than that – really excellent service."
Gary Burgess also visited David Gibbins who had three downstairs rooms ruined by flood damage. David said: "Water came into the front of the house and straight out the back, I was brushing it out as fast as it was coming in."
Adam Smith from Exeter-based loss adjusters Spectrum went to visit those affected by the floods. He said: "As soon as the flood waters had subsided and roads were passable, we started visiting those affected. We made telephone contact with Members in the morning and as the storm was very localised we were able to get out to see most people later the same day."
"It was a huge team effort working with Gary and the claims staff at Cornish Mutual, together with flood restoration specialists Richfords. Our combined prompt actions meant that Members were informed of the process and if necessary we managed to get initial payments out quickly – many on the same day. Wherever possible we worked with Members to use local contractors to complete the remedial work at their properties, which expedited the process."
David Gibbins, whose family have been Cornish Mutual Members for over 50 years, took around six weeks to get back to normal, "I was really impressed because within a couple of hours of calling Gary I had Spectrum here and Richfords a couple of hours after that."
Cornish Mutual has offices in Exeter and Truro, employs 65 Members of staff and provides insurance products for people and businesses across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset.
