Hemsby: Call for insurers to recognise impact of climate change

A couple whose home was demolished after damage caused it to hang over a Norfolk cliff edge said insurers needed a "reality check".

Malcolm Debbage and Frances Bolton lost £120,000 when their property in Hemsby was reduced to rubble by a council that feared it would crumble onto the beach.

But the loss was not covered by their home insurance after Halifax claimed it was the effect of years of erosion.

However, the pair argued it was due to the impact of climate change.

They told Rip Off Britain that their 10m-long garden, which separated the house from the cliff edge, crumbled overnight when a trio of storms, nicknamed the "Beast from the East", hit in February 2018.

Mr Debbage said he was phoned by the Hemsby lifeboat crew who delivered the news that his home was about to disappear.

Safety concerns raised by Great Yarmouth Borough Council led to the swift destruction of the house. The couple were temporarily rehomed in a nearby holiday park, before being moved to nearby Caister-on-Sea. They later relocated to London.

The couple were one of 11 households in Hemsby to lose their homes during the devastating storm.

After they were told Halifax would not pay out for the loss of their home, as Halifax perceived it to be damage caused by coastal erosion rather than the storm, Mr Debbage and Ms Bolton took the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service - but they lost.

They told the BBC they have continued their legal pursuits against the council and Halifax in 2024, and wanted to give insurance companies a "reality check" and force them to recognise the effects of climate change.

The pair have been supported by the environmental scientist Angela Terry. She warned that other Hemsby residents could become "climate refugees", as her not-for-profit foundation, One Home, estimated the village could lose a further 100m to erosion by 2100.

"What we are seeing is super storms that come in and in 24 hours completely change the shape of the whole community," she told Rip Off Britain.

Ms Terry said insurers should recognise the impact of the changing climate and called on the government to introduce a compensation scheme for people who lose their homes as a result.

"We know climate change is here - it is transforming our coastlines and it is only going to get worse, and it will affect literally hundreds of thousands of properties."

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it was investing £5.7bn between 2021 and 2027 to "better protect communities from flooding and coastal erosion".

They added that a further £200m would "improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion" and help communities most at risk.

A Halifax spokesperson previously said it "sympathised" with Mr Debbage and Ms Bolton's situation, but its stance had been backed up by the opinion of an independent expert.

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