A distraught widow faces financial ruin after the ceiling of her home collapsed without warning, wrecking her lounge and damaging her furniture.
At first her insurance company rejected the claim without even sending an inspector to check the damage.
Deborah Bruce, a nurse at St Ebba’s hospital was widowed last year when her husband Paul, died aged 44, from congenital heart disease.
She has three children, Daniel, 16, Harry, 14 and Georgia, 12, and has been struggling to keep the family home together in Hook Road, Epsom. For some time she has been concerned about vibrations from heavy lorries using the road.
Last Wednesday morning chunks of concrete, rubble and other materials fell into her lounge on the spot where her children often sit.
“If they had been there one of them could have been badly injured or worse - I could have been burying a child.”
Mrs Bruce, 42, who is insured with Halifax Insurance, was horrified to find her claim rejected without the company making any attempt to check on the state of her home.
“They told me I am not covered for wear and tear - but this is not wear and tear, a builder has told me it is a total failure of the ceiling.
“I thought I was doing so well trying to keep everything together and this is like a kick in the teeth. I don’t know what I am going to do.”
After the Epsom Guardian contacted the insurance company the Halifax changed its mind and sent someone to check the damage and has agreed to pay for repairs to the ceiling but not for damage to the decorations or furniture.
“it needs to be replaced - some of it has been shredded where the rubble came down,” said Mrs Bruce.
“I am on a limited income and I don’t know what I am going to do. Christmas is coming up and I am heartbroken.”
She intends to carry out a survey to find out if other homes in the area have been affected by vibrations from lorries using the narrow residential road.
A spokesman for HBOS insurance which owns the Halifax declined to say why the company had originally refused to visit Mrs Bruce’s home or pay even part of her claim but added: “We have been to visit Mrs Bruce to discuss her claim, and have agreed a way forward that all parties are happy with."
But Mrs Bruce is not happy and she warned everyone to check the small print on their insurance policies.
“I wouldn’t want anyone else to have to go through what I have had to go through - I have no one to fight my battles for me anymore.”
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