Drakes, Cork & Cask in Maidstone, Kent, was flooded on Christmas Eve but when Pleisure, which runs the Enterprise-owned pub, tried to claim it found its insurance company had gone into administration earlier in December.
Now four months on the pub remains closed while Pleisure waits for a payout from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme — which can only be processed once the administration process is completed.
Nick Griffin, managing director of Plesiure, said: “It’s unbelievable bad luck. Now we’re stuck with a £95,000 bill. There’s very little more we can do at the moment. The pub had to be gutted — it was basically part of the River Medway.”
Damage
Other pubs hit by this winter’s floods are now finally putting the pieces back together. One such, the Mill at Elstead, near Godalming, Surrey, has just reopened after suffering extensive damage when the River Wey burst its banks on Christmas Eve.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, licensees Georgia and Jeff Watts lost a lot of personal possessions when the Fuller’s managed house was burgled just 10 days later.
“It’s been heart-breaking,” said Georgia. “Thankfully we didn’t have flood insurance problems, and although we didn’t have any contents insurance, Fuller’s have been fantastic in compensating us for all our lost possessions. We are talking a substantial amount of money — more than £10,000.”
With the Mill having flooded before, Watts said a plan was being put together to protect part, but not all, of the pub with flood barriers.
Flood defences
“The idea is to sacrifice two rooms that have stone floors. This way, any flood defences will be easier to manage,” she explained.
The Licensed Trade Charity (LTC) has been offering help and financial support to flood-affected publicans. So far it has handled six claims, most recently awarding one licensee £1,000 to replace carpets, and helping another claim Working Tax Credits.
Contact details for the LTC’s Support & Care service can be found at www.supportandcare.org.