Insurers accused of delaying compensation after floods

A Gloucestershire restaurateur has hit out at her insurance brokers for delaying compensation after her business was forced to shut following the recent floods.

Erica Graham, proprietor of Allium in Fairford, told Caterer that the eaterie has been closed for five weeks but despite her insurer Fortis's acceptance of liability, the company failed to make any payment.

"We have had to continue to pay our staff and suppliers without any form of income," she said. "While Fortis has accepted liability, it is continuously delaying payment making things really difficult for us to cope."

However, when Caterer contacted Fortis, the company claimed it had made a payment of £25,000.

"While there are outstanding losses in progress due to evaluations, we are working as hard as we can and have made an interim payment of £25,000 to the restaurant," a spokeswoman said.

Graham denied having received the payment but, shortly after Caterer had spoken to Fortis, the company contacted her saying a cheque should be with her shortly.

Graham last night said she had "finally" received the cheque but was still disappointed at Fortis's handling of the situation.

"Immediately after Caterer called, the company got in touch about the cheque," she said.

"While I am delighted about having received the money, I am still disappointed about the difficulties we were faced with due to the long wait."

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By Kerstin Kühn

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