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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Susie Beever

Couple claim Morrisons van caused £25,000 damage - but they offered £746 compo

A couple claimed they were offered just £746 after a Morrisons van caused £25,000 worth of damage to their dream garden.

Stan and Sharon Wainwright put their heart and soul into the £20,000 garden, which features a luxury front lawn complete with a centre piece, water feature and two large fountains.

But according to the couple, their labour of love was decimated after a delivery driver ploughed into their wall while delivering their weekly shop.

Stan, 71, said the van clipped a front pillar, damaging it "beyond repair", whilst hitting an electricity box which left the fountains without power and exposed live cables.

The couple, from Norfolk, said because of the fountain drying up, they're now been left with an algae problem and the entire debacle will cost about £25,000 to fix.

The damage has led their fountain to dry up, resulting in algae which is damaging the stonework (Eastern Daily Press / SWNS)

Morrisons, meanwhile, offered just £746 in compensation, they said - less than 30 times what the Wainwrights will need to pay.

"I have tried everything to get some co-operation from Morrisons and their insurance company, and they are just not interested," said Stan.

"Morrisons caused the damage to our property and they are not interested in resolving the situation."

CCTV captured the moment the driver allegedly crashed into Stan and Sharon Wainwright's garden wall (Stan & Sharon Wainwright / SWNS)

Green-fingered Stan said the algae problem would cost £18,000 to sort alone, as the fountain needed to be replaced.

He added: "The result of the electric being disconnected for so long is that the water is stagnant and green algae is now starting to spread."

"We informed Morrisons' insurance company that a tradesman had quoted £290 to clean the fountains but it was not guaranteed the stains would be removed.

"The longer the delay to addressing the problem, the increased likelihood that the complete units will require replacement.”

The cracked pillar has cut off the fountain's power supply and left live cables exposed (Eastern Daily Press / SWNS)

Stan said the couple only noticed the damage the day after the delivery, when they watched CCTV footage.

The couple's fight for compensation started with a trip to their local store, and has since escalated to sending recorded letters to the supermarket executives.

Morrison's insurance company told the couple it was “not liable for any damage to the fountains", he said.

"This is not right as if the electricity had not been damaged by the Morrisons delivery vehicle our fountains would have been working and no damage would have been caused,” he said.

The damage caused to the pillar (Eastern Daily Press / SWNS)

"If they had arranged for the work to be done quickly the electrics could have been repaired and it all could have been completed before any damage was caused to the fountains."

The couple claimed the supermarket offered just £746 to fix the brick pillar and electrics.

Morrisons confirmed it had made a three-figure offer as compensation for the accident.

A spokesperson for the supermarket chain said: "Our insurers have thoroughly investigated this claim and loss adjusters have attended the property in order to assess the damage.

"We are only liable to repair the actual damage and have settled on an amount that does that."

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