Homeowner out of pocket after police dispute over £7k fence damage

A homeowner has been left out of pocket after clashing with police over a damaged fence. George Bailey says a Madeley Heath crash earlier this year caused £7,500 damage to his National Trust-specification fence.

But he has had to pay the insurance excess and has seen his premiums rocket after accusing Staffordshire Police of failing to help him. The 63-year-old says Staffordshire Police have stopped fielding requests from insurance companies following crimes or incidents.

Now Staffordshire Police have informed George that the incident is a 'civil matter'.

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George said: “We had a car embedded into our fence, three ambulances, two paramedics, five police cars, and the air ambulance circling - and it is all our fault.”

George says he called 101 several times to try to obtain information regarding the incident - and would spend around an hour on the phone each time waiting for his calls to be answered.

George added: “I understand the issues uniformed officers have and they do an amazing job. But I would say civilian staff working for Staffordshire Police have let the force, themselves, and the public down due to their lack of empathy, efficiency, and common sense. It has cost me £200, it has wrecked my insurance premiums for any other insurance, because the insurance company can’t prove that there was a third party involved despite the fact that we had a car embedded in our fence.”

George managed to have a meeting with Staffordshire Police at Newcastle Police Station after StokeonTrentLive intervened in his case.

A police spokesman said: "The individual was advised that the incident is a civil, not a criminal, matter. Officers advised the individual to apply to the courts to urge the company which operates the vehicles to respond to their letter of complaint. Officers also contacted the managing director of the company on the individual’s behalf to encourage them to respond to their letter."

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