Raw Deal: Do a good deed and your reward is… a hefty bill and months of hassle

IF you do a good deed, you should be thanked. The last thing that should happen after you lend a hand is that you are punished for it.

Cheryl Myles’ neighbour in Monifieth was having work carried out by a sub-contractor to Angus District Council.

Part of the job was below floor level, so access was required. Instead of cutting a hatch in the neighbour’s floor, it was discovered there was an existing access in Cheryl’s kitchen – but underneath her fridge-freezer.

The workman couldn’t shift that on his own, so Cheryl’s dad, Brian, kindly stepped in to lend a hand. Between the two of them, they managed to get the fridge-freezer out, then back in again after the job was done.

However, the next day Cheryl noticed, to her horror, that her freezer door was open.

One of the adjustable legs of the unit had broken, making it unstable. It also sounded a lot noisier than it had previously.

To make matters worse, all the food inside had defrosted.

Cheryl got straight on to Angus Council, who said the sub-contractor must be to blame.

When Cheryl phoned them, however, they said they couldn’t take the blame as Brian had helped to move the unit.

Wait a minute! Brian had, out of the kindness of his heart, given his assistance. If he hadn’t, how would the workman have ever moved the large fridge-freezer?

Cheryl spoke to her housing officer, and says he agreed Angus Council had to carry the blame as the work was being done on another property.

The council’s insurers eventually agreed to look at the case, but said they needed receipt of purchase for the appliance, receipts for the food inside it and estimates for the cost of repairing the damage.

For a start, the unit was a gift from Cheryl’s gran, who has since passed away.

Who keeps receipts of all the things in their freezer and, in any case, why should Cheryl have to run around getting estimates for repair when she didn’t damage the unit?

She was able to show a bank statement with the cost of her last weekly shop and proof of some of the food that had been spoiled.

Righto, said Zurich Insurance, we’ll look into it. It might take a while, though.

It did. It dragged on for two months. Cheryl repeatedly contacted Zurich to say she was having to buy food for a family of five on a daily basis, because she couldn’t refrigerate or freeze anything. It was expensive, time-consuming and annoying because it wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t done a good deed. The answer was: thanks very much, this information will be passed on to the claims handler.

Frustrated because they still wouldn’t even put a timescale on how long it all might take, Cheryl contacted Raw Deal.

We made extremely displeased noises to Angus Council and their insurer and within 24 hours there was better news for Cheryl.

She contacted us to say: “I received an email from Zurich insurance they day after you said you’d investigate my claim.

“Zurich have offered £400, which is less than the purchase cost due to the depreciation of the fridge freezer. They are also giving me £50 for my lost food.

“I should’ve been compensated for having to wait for two months while being pushed from pillar to post and also being out of pocket with not being able to buy a weekly shop all this time.

“But the main thing is, without you guys I probably would still be waiting and not getting replies from them.

“So thank you very much, Raw Deal. My mum said I’d be able to rely on you.”