A couple blame a Morrisons van for alleged £25,000 damage to £200,000 dream garden - which supermarket values at £746. Stan Wainwright, 71 and Sharon Wainwright 67, have a luxury front lawn complete with a centre piece, water feature and two large fountains.
According to the couple, a Morrisons delivery driver drove into a wall on January 11, while delivering their weekly shop. Stan alleges the van clipped the brick pillar "damaging it beyond repair" and damaged the electricity boxes - leaving the fountains without power and exposing live and dangerous cables.
Now the fountains have dried up and filled with algae, he says. They claim the damage will cost £25,000 to put right - more than 30 times the amount the supermarket has apparently offered in compensation. Stan, a former TV shopping channel demonstrator said: “I have tried everything to get some cooperation from Morrisons and their insurance company and they are just not interested.
“Morrisons caused the damage to our property and they are not interested in resolving the situation.”
According to Stan, the damage and permanent staining from the algae to the stonework means it will cost £18k to replace the fountains. 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.”
Stan says 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.
He said: “I have tried everything to get some cooperation from Morrisons and their insurance company and they are just not interested. Morrisons caused the damage to our property and they are not interested in resolving the situation.”
Morrison's insurance company told the couple they were “not liable for any damage to the fountains". “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.
“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 claim the supermarket has 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."
