A dad of two received a phone call when he wasn't in to say his neighbour saw scaffolders working on the house using his hot tub and drinking his beer.
David Wright from Irby was forced to move out of his family home after part of his roof blew off during Storm Arwen that hit the country at the end of November 2021. Following a number of phone calls to his home insurance provider, Zurich, he moved his family into a small bungalow in Springfield, a number of miles away from his home for what he was told would be "four months max".
Now, seven months on from the damage, David and his family appear to be no closer to moving back into their home. The 45-year-old told the ECHO about the tedious hoops he's had to jump through as well as what he believes is the poor standard of workmanship shown by the sub-contractors used by the insurance group.
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The construction compliance manager claimed the wrong type of roof was fitted. David said: "It was a flat roof that would have cost £3,500.
"It's almost as if I'm working for them trying to sort my own insurance policy out. They're supposed to be working for me.
"I made a complaint straight away on December 12 because I had reservations initially. The builders came round to survey the roof four times and didn't even get out of the van."
David, along with his partner Nicola, 45, and their two children, Lewis, 10, and Lauren, seven, are living in a cramped bungalow with little-to-no garden space compared to their family home that has a garden and space for Lewis to play football. David says the moment that sums up the last seven months is when he received a phone call from his neighbour that the workman employed by Zurich to put scaffolding up were using his hot tub and drinking beer in the garden.
David said: "They took the wrong ceiling down in the house. They haven't taken any of the wet plasterboards down. The flat roof that they put on it is wrong. There are all kinds of different problems. The emotional stress and heartache has been horrendous. I am honestly so close to just breaking.
"We've been let down time and time again. I rang up the project manager at the time [the scaffolders went in the hot tub] to say that someone had been in the hot tub and that my neighbour had witnessed it and that they believe it was the scaffolders. I came back and the hot tub lid was up and damaged.
"On the hot tub you have wind straps to keep it down, they were all open so I rang the sub-contractors and they told me to phone the police if I thought it was a problem. I even have photos of the beer caps on the decking from where they've drank beer out of the fridge."
A spokesperson for Zurich Insurance Group told the ECHO: "We are very sorry to hear about the problems Mr Wright has faced in relation to the claim for damage to his roof. The delays and some of the service he has experienced falls short of the high standards we pride ourselves on. We have issued a compensation payment of £350 in recognition of this.
"Following a meeting yesterday, we have agreed a way forward to address the outstanding works required to Mr Wright’s home. We are also conducting a full investigation into some of the contractors used, to ensure that those hired on behalf of Zurich, provide the best and most professional service possible."
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