Compensation delay for victims of burst pipe flood

Water from a burst mains pipe landed on the roof of the storage unit and caused "significant" damage

Customers of a self-storage business flooded by water from a burst mains pipe say they are still waiting for compensation.

Water fell for several hours on the roof of Quick Self Storage at Ambergate, Derbyshire, on 21 February.

Many lost most of their possessions inside and, four months on, have not heard how much compensation they are due to receive.

Severn Trent said the processing of claims had been "slightly delayed", but people would hear more "in due course”.

The owners of Quick Self Storage at Ambergate in Derbyshire had only taken over the site weeks before the burst pipe caused a flood

The burst pipe sent a 100ft (30m) plume of water into the air, much of which landed on the storage business on the A610 Ripley Road.

Jenny Nelson, 33, from Derby, had placed all of her personal possessions into a unit for safekeeping while travelling around Asia for nine months.

"With me being away, I couldn't go into the unit.

"My mum went in and found all of my boxes covered in mould. Much of it priceless stuff I will never get back," she said.

Severn Trent brought in a specialist salvage company and insurance loss adjustors.

Jenny said: "I've emailed them, people have called several times, I've heard nothing. People are really unhappy. We are at our wit's end."

Jenny Nelson, from Derby, had put all of her possessions into a storage unit while she travelled abroad

Daniel Jenkins said his family had lost "pretty much everything" in the flood

Daniel Jenkins, 44, is currently staying with his young family at a relative's home in Belper while house-hunting.

"Everything has been destroyed, apart from a few items in vacuum bags," he said.

"We have lost pretty much everything. Pieces of art, furniture. We are having to start from scratch.

"It's taken ages to go through it all, and we have been reliving it all over again, which has not been nice."

He said he had also had very little communication from Severn Trent and its insurers.

A headboard, owned by Daniel Jenkins, which was left covered in mould after the flood at the self-storage unit

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “Claims processing has been slightly delayed as our teams were not able to enter the building until it had been deemed safe to do so.

“However, [our insurer] is now processing the claims and will be in touch with those affected in due course.”

The owner of Quick Self Storage, Marcus Singh, 44, from Nottingham, said his firm was in the same position as its customers.

"It's slow going - our pay-out is part of the same claim. Until insurers have agreed values, I can't reopen the building," he said.

"I am desperate to get set back up and trade once again."

Mr Singh said he hoped to be in a position to be able to repay rent to customers in the next "couple of weeks" after seeking clarification from Severn Trent's insurers.

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