Chimney collapse, please help my mum!
Donation protected
This is an appeal to help my mother who has found herself in absolute dire straits due to circumstances beyond her control.
During the winter storms in January my mother, almost 70, got the fright of her life when her chimney breast collapsed into her bedroom at 2am in the morning with her in it. She was nearly killed. Firefighters had to help get her out. Living in a c16th century cottage, she was fortunate that the wood beams supporting the bedroom floor/downstairs ceiling held up as all manner of stone, earth and other rubble was dumped on it.
Naturally she turned to her house insurance, but was stunned when they decided they were not going to pay out citing wear and tear as the reason for the collapse.
Well, when your house is over 400 years old, I think wear and tear is a miserable excuse, but they have refused to pay out. They won’t even consider a claim for new carpet.
She has now been forced to consider equity release as her only means to pay for repairs. She’s had a builder inspect it and it’s emerged that the chimney breast collapsed, because an older chimney breast that nobody knew about, hidden in the thick cottage walls, had given way, taking the in-use chimney breast out with it. We had no way of knowing this structure was there, but still the insurance wouldn’t have a bar of it. You can see the hole where this unknown chimney is in the middle picture, to the left of that is the way into my mother’s bedroom – completely impassable.
So she’s going down the equity release route now. It’s a lengthy process. She’s had to kip on the sofa during the entire time as she cannot access her bedroom. All that rubble that fell down? It can’t be removed as currently it’s all that’s holding her chimney up. Acroprops support the beams in the downstairs area (final picture). The chimney stack itself is tilting inwards. You can see the state of it in the first picture. Subsequent storms were terrifying as we feared the chimney stack may fall through the roof, since that’s how it’s leaning, albeit slightly, but fortunately that hasn’t happened as yet.
All was moving along as she hoped until the equity company wanted to know what material the roof was made of. Apparently faux slate tiles of a certain age contain chrysotile, a form of asbestos. Should the roof tiles contain it, they wouldn’t be able to release any equity. You can guess what they found can’t you. Never rains but it pours.
In order to access the money she needs to repair her chimney and the gable end, she’s had to get a bank loan to pay for the roof to be completely replaced first. How perverse is that?
She secured the advance the roofers needed and told them that once she could apply for the equity again, she would look to access more in order to settle the remainder. The roof looks great, however the builders have become very shirty. They laid on extra workers to get the job done quickly and came out of lockdown in order to do it. The last thing she needed – more stress.
She’s already stressed out, this has gone on for months now. She shares her home with my brother, an epileptic with severe anxiety issues. She’s his carer. The whole affair has had him shutting himself away in his room in distress. She’s having to deal with much of it herself which she isn’t accustomed to, my late father would have dealt with this. I as her son have tried to do what I can, but being in lockdown means I can’t physically do much at all to help.
She’s worked her whole life to own her home and it’s now crumbling around her. She only recently retired from working at an undertaker’s as a cleaner. Prior to lockdown she would go to a number of older residents in town to clean for them. She’s a devout churchgoer, the coffee morning lady, the sort of person that will do anything for anyone, but karma just isn’t rewarding her.
The builder’s won’t start until the equity money has been released so she’s stuck with nothing happening still at this point, but to rub salt in the wounds further, the builders, due to COVID-19 and the lockdown, will not work on the house whilst my mother and brother are still in it. I have little room – I can offer my mother the sofa and my brother a tent in the garden, but that’s the best they can look forward to.
An awful event nobody saw coming has just been compounded further and further by circumstances beyond anyone’s control.
So, I’ve decided for the first time ever, to crowdfund to try and help her. I know other people have done it successfully, I'm willing to try anything right now. If I could just manage to get the roofers off her back, that would be something, maybe clear the bank loan as well if I’m lucky. I've set the target at £6K - I'd be elated if we could get that. The bank loan was another £4K so that's my push target. If we can do more than that...well that would be a huge bonus. The building work has been quoted at £25K.
She’s a pensioner, her income is limited & my brother doesn’t get much to help. She just doesn’t deserve this. If anyone has any ideas as to what action I could take regarding the insurance, I'm all ears!
But above all I’m asking, if you can, if you are willing, please help her.
During the winter storms in January my mother, almost 70, got the fright of her life when her chimney breast collapsed into her bedroom at 2am in the morning with her in it. She was nearly killed. Firefighters had to help get her out. Living in a c16th century cottage, she was fortunate that the wood beams supporting the bedroom floor/downstairs ceiling held up as all manner of stone, earth and other rubble was dumped on it.
Naturally she turned to her house insurance, but was stunned when they decided they were not going to pay out citing wear and tear as the reason for the collapse.
Well, when your house is over 400 years old, I think wear and tear is a miserable excuse, but they have refused to pay out. They won’t even consider a claim for new carpet.
She has now been forced to consider equity release as her only means to pay for repairs. She’s had a builder inspect it and it’s emerged that the chimney breast collapsed, because an older chimney breast that nobody knew about, hidden in the thick cottage walls, had given way, taking the in-use chimney breast out with it. We had no way of knowing this structure was there, but still the insurance wouldn’t have a bar of it. You can see the hole where this unknown chimney is in the middle picture, to the left of that is the way into my mother’s bedroom – completely impassable.
So she’s going down the equity release route now. It’s a lengthy process. She’s had to kip on the sofa during the entire time as she cannot access her bedroom. All that rubble that fell down? It can’t be removed as currently it’s all that’s holding her chimney up. Acroprops support the beams in the downstairs area (final picture). The chimney stack itself is tilting inwards. You can see the state of it in the first picture. Subsequent storms were terrifying as we feared the chimney stack may fall through the roof, since that’s how it’s leaning, albeit slightly, but fortunately that hasn’t happened as yet.
All was moving along as she hoped until the equity company wanted to know what material the roof was made of. Apparently faux slate tiles of a certain age contain chrysotile, a form of asbestos. Should the roof tiles contain it, they wouldn’t be able to release any equity. You can guess what they found can’t you. Never rains but it pours.
In order to access the money she needs to repair her chimney and the gable end, she’s had to get a bank loan to pay for the roof to be completely replaced first. How perverse is that?
She secured the advance the roofers needed and told them that once she could apply for the equity again, she would look to access more in order to settle the remainder. The roof looks great, however the builders have become very shirty. They laid on extra workers to get the job done quickly and came out of lockdown in order to do it. The last thing she needed – more stress.
She’s already stressed out, this has gone on for months now. She shares her home with my brother, an epileptic with severe anxiety issues. She’s his carer. The whole affair has had him shutting himself away in his room in distress. She’s having to deal with much of it herself which she isn’t accustomed to, my late father would have dealt with this. I as her son have tried to do what I can, but being in lockdown means I can’t physically do much at all to help.
She’s worked her whole life to own her home and it’s now crumbling around her. She only recently retired from working at an undertaker’s as a cleaner. Prior to lockdown she would go to a number of older residents in town to clean for them. She’s a devout churchgoer, the coffee morning lady, the sort of person that will do anything for anyone, but karma just isn’t rewarding her.
The builder’s won’t start until the equity money has been released so she’s stuck with nothing happening still at this point, but to rub salt in the wounds further, the builders, due to COVID-19 and the lockdown, will not work on the house whilst my mother and brother are still in it. I have little room – I can offer my mother the sofa and my brother a tent in the garden, but that’s the best they can look forward to.
An awful event nobody saw coming has just been compounded further and further by circumstances beyond anyone’s control.
So, I’ve decided for the first time ever, to crowdfund to try and help her. I know other people have done it successfully, I'm willing to try anything right now. If I could just manage to get the roofers off her back, that would be something, maybe clear the bank loan as well if I’m lucky. I've set the target at £6K - I'd be elated if we could get that. The bank loan was another £4K so that's my push target. If we can do more than that...well that would be a huge bonus. The building work has been quoted at £25K.
She’s a pensioner, her income is limited & my brother doesn’t get much to help. She just doesn’t deserve this. If anyone has any ideas as to what action I could take regarding the insurance, I'm all ears!
But above all I’m asking, if you can, if you are willing, please help her.
Organizer
Damien Willey
Organizer
