A leading insurance firm has come under fire for telling a family it was “not an emergency” after a car crashed into their front window, leaving a huge hole in their home.
The incident took place in Hale Village, Liverpool, at 9am on Sunday and saw a vehicle run through a fence and crash into the car parked on the family’s driveway before smashing through to their hallway taking part of the wall and a structural beam with it.
However, according to a report in the
Liverpool Echo, LV= told the family that no-one could help until Monday – leaving them to deal with the problem during the night.
Speaking to the publication, Chris Wallis, whose uncle is the owner of the property, said “they kept telling us it’s not a home emergency, it’s a building problem and they don’t work weekends.”
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Wallis claimed that the home was occupied by his family, including his 70-year-old grandmother and two young children, when the incident occurred and that he spoke to “about 15 different people” at LV= around 9am on Sunday in an attempt to gain assistance.
He tried again four hours later and a man was sent round - but when he saw the extent of the damage claimed he couldn’t touch it because it was too serious.
The family were apparently offered overnight accommodation but according to Wallis they were reluctant to leave the home unattended. As a result, they planned to use an old fence to block the gap for the evening.
An LV= spokesperson said this after a request for comment from Insurance Business: "We are very sorry for the initial problems that our customers experienced following the damage to their home at what must have been a stressful time for them. A loss adjuster was appointed on Sunday to help them arrange the appropriate repairs to their home and has now been in attendance. Alternative accommodation has also been offered to allow structural work on the property to take place. We pride ourselves on the service that we provide our customers and will be reviewing this case to see what lessons we can learn, as well as offering compensation to Mr and Mrs Dinsdale."
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