At last, we're home and dry IT HASN'T BEEN EASY, BUT A YEAR AFTER DEVASTATING FLOODS, RESIDENTS OF COCKERMOUTH HAVE REBUILT THEIR LIVES

• Published in: Mail on Sunday
• Main Author: Womack, Stephen
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: London (UK) Solo Syndication, a division of Associated Newspapers Ltd 07.11.2010
• Subjects: Bell, Catherine; Bell, William

[David] has nothing but praise for the contractors. 'They said we'd be back in by the end of March, and the house was ready the last day of the month,' he says. 'They worked around our needs and left us a bathroom, which helped make it easier living in the caravan.' 'I've noticed a difference in the way things have happened after the flooding here compared with previous floods,' she says. 'Insurers seem to have learnt lessons and the response has been quicker. But there are still big differences in the way each company works and particularly how loss adjusters treat claims.' [Catherine Bell] took the difficult decision to put the business before her home. 'We needed to get the shop open as soon as possible to get the trade back,' she says. Her insurer, NFU Mutual, arranged for the premises to be stripped and dried and for rebuilding work on two damaged internal walls. But Catherine and [William Bell] took charge of the refit themselves. 'I lined up all the tradesmen and got them to push on using the settlement from the insurer,' says Catherine.