A STORMY meeting between the residents of Bridgland Road, Purfleet, made homeless by the recent storms, and OM Property Management took place at The Fleet Hotel on Tuesday night.
OM regional manager, Ian Scott flanked by colleague Sarah Belsham led the meeting and outlined what their plans were to get the residents back into their homes.
A number of residents are living in hotels in the district and expect to be out of their homes for up to six months.
Mr Scott told the residents that he was dealing with the loss adjusters on a daily basis.
He said several attempts had been made to put up scaffolding but they had been thwarted on a daily basis
Resident Robert Smith detailed his difficulties since October.
He said: “At each and every turn there seems to be a different person to speak to. There seems to be no joined up thinking or strategy.
“We pay you every month to protect us, not to expose us to this.”
Mr Scott informed the meeting that they were now onto their fourth loss adjuster but did not explain why.
Mr Scott also admitted that damage to items such as carpets would have to be claimed for by indivduals.
Mr Smith reacted with anger. He said: ‘Which means that our premiums go up through no fault of our own. We will be out of pocket.
Geoff Smith asked the OM staff. “The question is whether this is an accident or negligence? Was the roof put on properly?
“It is not storm damage. The storm has highlighted that the roof was not put on correctly in the first place.
At this point, resident Kenny Reid came in with a number of roof tiles which he claimed had fallen off the roof and hit his classic car.
Another resident pointed out that tiles had been coming off the roof on calm sunny days.
They said: “What is it going to take for Bellway, OM Property Management Group, Aviva etc to wake up and realise that this is a major incident. A fatality?’
Mr Scott, now looking about as comfortable as the middle order of the England cricket team, tried to appease the meeting.
He admitted that Bellway had been invited but had not responded. He also informed the meeting that the owners of the land were Aviva Investors.
Mr Scott added: “We could commission a report in which a surveyor would inspect the roof. But you would have to pay.”
Mr Smith said:'”You charge us £26,000 a year to look after us and you have the nerve to charge us for a report!”
Mr Scott promised the meeting that he would go down to Brigland Road, Purfleet as soon as possible.
