‘My insurers say Storm Darragh was not a storm’

people are constantly Count the Cost of Storm Darragh – But one man has been told by his insurers that it wasn’t actually a storm.

Dennis Iliffe has been refused payment because wind speeds in his home town of Kidderminster were not up to 55mph.

Mr Iliffe said he was “absolutely astonished” to learn that the wind that caused damage to his home was blowing as little as 2 miles per hour. Their insurance provider Ageas has been asked to comment.

Association of British Insurers (ABI) has confirmed that a hurricane is “a period of violent weather defined as a sustained wind speed of at least 48 knots (55 mph)”.

Mr Iliffe is left with £500 out of pocket after repairing the airframe and repairing the chimney.

Of Aegis’ refusal to pay, he said: “They didn’t want to know. They said the gust was only 53 mph and to declare a hurricane it had to be 55 mph.”

The properties of some of Mr. Iliffe’s neighbors also suffered damage – other aerials were destroyed, bricks were damaged, roof tiles were blown off, and the windows of one’s greenhouse were blown out.

At least one person faced the same problems Mr. Iliff now faces.

Mr Iliffe was forced to compare his problem to so-called “Acts of God”, which are traditionally cited by insurance providers as events they will not cover.

“You pay the insurance, you think you’re covered,” Mr. Iliff said.

“But when you come to claim, they don’t want to pay.”

He acknowledged that insurance providers may already be wary of people using the storm as an excuse to file claims on properties in need of repairs.

“But what exactly are you covered for?” he asked. “If you have fire, does the fire have to have a certain temperature? It takes trust.”