'My insurers say Storm Darragh was not a storm'

People are continuing to count the outgo of Storm Darragh - but 1 antheral has been told by his insurers it was not really a tempest astatine all.

Dennis Iliffe has been refused a pay-out due to the fact that upwind speeds successful his location municipality of Kidderminster did not deed 55mph.

Mr Iliffe said helium was "absolutely astounded" to larn the upwind that damaged his location was 2mph excessively slow. His security supplier Ageas has been asked to comment.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has confirmed that a tempest is "a play of convulsive upwind defined arsenic upwind speeds with gusts of astatine slightest 48 knots (55mph)".

Mr Iliffe has been near £500 retired of pouch aft having his aerial replaced and chimney repaired.

On Ageas' refusal to wage out, helium said: "They didn't privation to know. They said the gust was lone 53mph and it has to beryllium 55mph to beryllium declared a storm."

Some of Mr Iliffe's neighbours besides suffered harm to their properties - with different aerials destroyed, brickwork damaged, extortion tiles blown off, and 1 with the windows blown retired of his greenhouse.

At slightest 1 ran into the aforesaid problems that Mr Iliffe is present facing.

Mr Iliffe had been forced to comparison his occupation to alleged "acts of God", which are traditionally quoted by security providers arsenic events they volition not cover.

"You wage insurance, you deliberation you're covered," said Mr Iliffe.

"But erstwhile you travel to marque a claim, they don't privation to pay."

He accepted that security providers whitethorn beryllium wary of radical utilizing storms arsenic a pretext to marque a assertion connected properties already successful request of repair.

"But what connected world are you covered for?" helium asked. "If you person a fire, does the occurrence person to beryllium a definite temperature? It beggars belief."