Anguish after late father’s belongings cleared from Chichester flat and thrown away

A woman was unable to save her late father’s belongings from being dumped into landfill after a letter stating the clearance date for his flat was sent to the deceased man’s address.
Ros Earwicker with her late father, Martin EarwickerRos Earwicker with her late father, Martin Earwicker
Ros Earwicker with her late father, Martin Earwicker

Ros Earwicker had booked a van to help her move her father Martin’s possessions out of his home in Kathleen Gardens, Chichester, which is managed by Clarion Housing, on January 9.

But when she turned up at the property, she found the locks had been changed and the flat had already been ‘completely cleared out’.

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The 47-year-old rehab support worker was so distressed that she had a panic attack.

All of the photos, books, music and computer records she had hoped to keep were lost. “Everything is gone,” she said.

Losing the sentimental items – such as treasured photos of her grandfather, who had worked as a porter at Graylingwell – was the biggest blow for Ros.

“It’s the memories,” she said. “Stuff that we had made as kids when we were at school, dad had them proudly displayed on his bookcase. All that stuff, it’s all in landfill.”

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When she contacted the housing association, she was told they had sent out a letter stating the date the flat would be cleared.

But because Ros was listed as ‘next of kin’, rather than as ‘executor’, this was sent to her father Martin’s address rather than her home in Bognor – a policy Ros said was ‘absolutely atrocious’.

“This is what I’m so angry with,” she said. “They had my details, they had my phone number.

“They could have just given me the letter so I could have read it myself, rather than send it to a dead person’s flat.”

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Ros had found visiting her father’s flat particularly difficult since his death aged 70 last July because he has passed away inside the property.

She had not yet started to sift through the pile of post at the door.

“You’re grieving. It’s a psychological battle,” she said. “It’s an extremely difficult environment to work in.

“Everyone who had lost someone knows how hard it is.”

Ros called for the housing association to reassess the way it communicated with families.

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“I’m concerned that other people don’t go through the same situation I’ve been through,” she said.

Clarion confirmed it would carry out an interval review into the incident.

A spokesman said: “We are very sorry for the upset this experience has caused Mr Earwicker’s daughter at an already difficult time.

“Given previous contact with Mr Earwicker’s daughter, we should have made additional effort to contact her in regard to possessions being recovered.

“We will be conducting an internal review to ensure a similar mistake does not happen in the future.”