Heartbreak for couple as caravan is torched

12:21pm Wednesday 8th October 2008

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THERE will be no more holidays for a disabled pensioner whose insurers refused to pay after his caravan was torched by yobs.

Seventy-three-year-old Derek Card and his wife Ann were left heartbroken after E&L threw out their claim because the caravan was not parked in their garden.

It had been left in a designated parking space next to the couple’s sheltered accommodation bungalow in Bakers Court when it was attacked by arsonists on September 1.

But the couple, who took the caravan to North Wales every other week, received a letter from E&L on Saturday stating they would not be getting their claim for £1,785 because it was not parked on their property – despite the fact it would not fit through the garden gate, let alone into the garden itself.

Derek said: “We feel rotten really, we’ve been upset all weekend. Our gardens just aren’t big enough so I couldn’t have put it in there anyway. I really didn’t see there would be a problem with leaving it in one of the spaces provided for us.

“We’ve had caravans all our married life, we got this one in June and absolutely loved it but we can’t afford another one now. I’m registered disabled, I can’t walk very far and Ann is my carer so we don’t have much money coming in.

“The burned out remains are still sat there, it’s terrible really.”

And this is not the first time the Card’s have fallen victim to vandals. Three years ago Derek’s brand new mobility car was badly scratched and had all its tyres let down.

He said: “It wasn’t a problem that time though. It was parked in exactly the same place as the caravan but we were with a different insurance company and they paid out straight away.”

Since being contacted by the Guardian E&L has reviewed the case and decided to accept Mr Card's insurance claim.

Jason Russell, business devolopment manager at E and L, said: "The claim came is to us from Mr Card and unfortunatley it didn't meet our security standards, but as a gesture of good will we have decided to pay out.

"We were completely in the right, we say what our security requirements are over the phone, but we are prepared as a good will gesture to pay it."