An insurance company has offered to pay €800,000 to a widowed mother of two towards repairing her water-damaged mid-Victorian home in Dublin 4 and putting the family up in the five-star Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge until repairs are complete.
Ann Marie Glennon Cully and her children, Zane and Zara, sued Axa Insurance over alleged delays in carrying out reinstatement works following damage to their home at St John’s Road, Sandymount, as a result of a water escape in autumn 2009.
They suffered severe hardship after water saturated ground floor rooms but remained in the house until another water escape forced them to leave in October 2011 for the Four Seasons Hotel, the family said. They went there because it was nearby and the only hotel that would take their pets – four dogs and a parrot.
A four-bedroom house in St John’s Wood, Sandymount, suggested by Axa as an alternative, was unsuitable as it was semi-detached, just one-third of the size of their family home and “not gated”, Ms Glennon Cully said. They remain in a one-bedroom apartment in the hotel but complained Axa had reduced from €7,500 to €5,000 the monthly payments it was prepared to pay for their accommodation until repairs were complete.
Axa disputed claims Ms Glennon Cully was virtually “destitute” and alleged she had another house in Brittas Bay and her children had a €1.4 million trust fund.
The Commercial Court was told the family is likely today to accept a €645,000 offer, on top of earlier payments totalling €159,000.
