Couple can't go home nine months after blaze

Pamela and Clive Herbert are longing for the day they can move back into their house in Cranston Avenue, but say they have been denied by the incompetence of the builder and lack of urgency from their insurers Direct Line.

Having insured home and contents through Direct Line for 15 years the couple reported the claim as normal and the company, owned by RBS, proceeded to instruct claims adjusters to organise tenders for the work. This process alone took approximately four months.

All Pamela and Clive wanted was for their home of 26 years to be just as it was before the fire on April 15 2009, but they say the contractor hired to do the repair failed to do it to satisfactory standard.

They claim builders covered up charred wood instead of replacing it, painted walls still damp from fire hoses, and that they did not replace the roof properly.The resulting wrangles over the quality of craftmanship then delayed the process still further.

Pamela, 56, has limited mobility following a car accident three years ago that left severe nerve damage in her lower spine. She also has breathing problems due to small airway disease, which means she should not be in a smoky environment.

Clive is 60 and suffers Spastic Paraparesis which is causing the muscles in his legs to waste.

He has lost weight because of stress caused by the process, and been close to giving up on the claim.

He commented: "We can't cope with it."

They have been staying at De La Warr Heights with their 34-year-old son Martin, who was also living at home at the time of the fire.

He lost all his possessions in the blaze, which was caused by an electrical fault in a storeage area at the top of the stairs to the loft extension.

The fire damaged the first floor of the house and loft and left the lower part tainted by smoke.

Clive, who goes back twice a day to look after their three cats, said: "The place still smells of smoke even after they said it was ready for decoration. The builders came and took part of the roof off and replaced it, but other parts of the roof are still burned and they painted it over with shelac to mask it. Where we had a nice timber roof before we are left with this area that looks like Santa's Grotto. Compared to what we had it looks horrible now.

"I want it back as it was. I don't want a bodged-up job."

Clive said he had major doubts from early on as he watched repair work progress and felt it was not of a standard he could accept. He sacked the contractor from the job and the couple are now waiting for the insurance company assessor to check over the work before allowing a new contractor to start having put the job out to tender in September.

He claims the way Direct Line has reacted to their concerns has made the the situation "so much worse than it should have been".

Pamela commented: "Being out of my home is just so sad. I feel so sad that nobody is listening to us. I just want my home put back to what it was the day before the fire. It has made me so depressed '“ distraught because nothing has been done. All I want is to get back in my house and get on with our life... but they are not listening to us."

A spokesperson for Direct Line said: "We have met with Mr Herbert to review the work done on his home, and to discuss each of the points he has raised.

"We can confirm that there are a small number of issues to be rectified with the work that has already taken place, but we are confident that these can be resolved.

"We were happy to lend our support in this instance, however, as the contract for the work is between the builders and Mr Herbert and does not directly involve Direct Line, any specific issues Mr Herbert has regarding the work need to be agreed directly with the builder in future.

"A good deal of work has been undertaken in the months since the fire, but there have been some delays as well, due to two separate tender processes taking place.

"It is not uncommon for tender processes to take four to eight weeks to complete, so these have taken up a significant amount of the time since the fire.

"We have provided Mr Herbert and his wife with alternative accommodation since the fire occurred, so they have not had to stay in the home while the damage was being repaired."