Storage site still shut year after burst pipe flood

The owner of a storage business left "decimated" after a burst pipe flooded the warehouse said he was still not able to operate more than a year later.

Water fell for several hours on the roof of Quick Self Storage at Ambergate, Derbyshire, on 21 February 2024.

One of Marcus Singh's two insurance claims was agreed in March, but he says he is still waiting to settle another through Severn Trent's loss adjusters, Sedgwick, after he rejected an offer made earlier in the year.

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: "Sedgwick will continue to liaise directly with those affected to work towards an agreement."

Mr Singh said he had been "shocked" to see his business on the A610 Ripley Road, which he had started just weeks earlier, "getting absolutely hammered by a torrent of water" coming from the burst pipe last year.

"It must be 100ft into the air, and coming right down on to the corner of our building," he added.

The 45-year-old said: "It was clear to see that the water was crashing through the roof of our warehouse, which isn't designed to sustain that level of weight bearing down on it."

Mr Singh said water was falling on to his business for about six hours

The father of two said the water flooded both floors of the warehouse and was "washing through all the units and caused catastrophic levels of destruction for the site".

"Thankfully there were no customers or anybody injured at the time even though there were customers and our employee in the site when it first happened," he added.

Mr Singh said he had been dealing with two insurance claims to try and get his business back on track.

One was for the building itself, through his own insurer, and an agreement was reached at the end of March this year.

He has been told it will take a couple of weeks for the money to arrive, and a further three months for building work to be completed.

Meanwhile a second claim - the business interruption claim - has not been settled, and is being dealt with by Sedgwick.

Mr Singh said he was given an offer on 13 January, which he rejected a few days later.

He said an independent third-party accountant had calculated the loss to his business, adding Sedgwick's offer was less than the figure given.

Mr Singh took over the business on 29 January 2024

Mr Singh described it as "derisory", and said he was still waiting to hear back about a second offer, which he understands has been drawn up.

He added: "I need some clarification because I don't know whether I will even be able to recover that business in the first place, so I need that clarification urgently so I can make my decision based on that."

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: "Sedgwick as our appointed loss adjusters is progressing the claim for business interruption because of the issue, in conjunction with the separate claim with his own insurers relating to the property itself."

This loss adjuster is also dealing with claims for the customers' damaged belongings.

The spokesperson added: "In terms of other claims relating to this incident, the vast majority have been resolved and we are working to close out those that remain as quickly as possible."