Lack of builders drives Giselle up the wall

Jun 23 2009 Surrey Herald

AFTER a police car smashed into her garden wall last August, Giselle Whitham secured an insurance claim a few months later and thought the hard part was done.

All that remained was the relatively simple task of finding a builder to get the wall fixed - or so she thought.

For more than a month after insurers said they would fund the repairs, Mrs Whitham, of Feltham Hill Road, Ashford, has yet to secure a builder willing to do the work - and it has left her baffled.

She says she has phoned 30 firms, 27 of which have demanded money up front without even giving a quote.

The remainder gave quotes that varied wildly, from £800 to £1,600, and, when she did choose one firm, they failed to turn up.

And with the insurance firm unwilling to pay out before the work is done, she fears the wait could go on for some time yet.

Mrs Whitham, an immigration officer with one son, said: "The whole world is purporting to have no work, yet no-one seems willing to do this job for me. I know it's small but it's still money.

"Some have said they've got bigger jobs on, which is fair enough, but others say they need to pay their sup-pliers first and need the money up front.

"I would have thought they would have had better relationships with their suppliers than that. I never realised an insurance claim would cause so many problems.

"There's a signed letter from the insurers saying they'll pay. I'd pay for it myself but I just don't have that type of money.

"I've got a a small boy, so I wanted to get it fixed quickly, but now I've done everything I possibly can and I don't know what to do next."

The accident happened during a car chase when a marked police Ford Focus lost control and skidded into the wall on August 30 last year. No-one was injured in the incident.