From Manageable Accident to All-Out Disaster

You couldn’t make up this story about an insurance claim gone wrong; although one family will almost certainly wish it was purely a work of fiction. In British Columbia, a family’s dream home became a nightmare when a simple accident turned into a never-ending tragedy. A tree fell on a house owned by Paul and Sharon Gough, and they hired a recommended contractor – one specified by their insurance company – to sort out the resulting damage.

However, instead of being the end of their problems, this was just the beginning of a long and stressful story that left the couple living in a trailer in their backyard instead of in the dream home they previously had. Eight months passed without the contractor having sorted out the hole left in the roof by the fallen tree, and that was more than long enough for pests and rodents to get into the house. Rats, squirrels and birds infested the house, and a second contractor had to be called to deal with the house’s new, unwelcome residents.

Unfortunately, the pest control expert chose not to use traps, opting instead for poison. The roof was then finally fixed and seal, and the poison which had killed the invaders had also left them dead and decaying in the walls of the house. Now, more than a year since the initial fallen tree accident, the house is once again infested, but this time with flies. A third contractor who had been hired to sort out the mess has instead left holes in the walls of the house rather than helping to restore order. It’s a series of events that have left the couple, plus their son and three dogs, living in a trailer outside their home.

As for the insurance company – they say they only ever recommend contractors based on previous good experiences, so they must have had a completely different idea about what constitutes a good or bad experience judging by the companies they put forward.

The family are currently in a battle with the insurance company to resolve the resulting dispute, but continue to live in their trailer for the time being.