A heated meeting has been held between distressed residents of Gibson Court and their managing agent, Peverel Retirement, following a recent fire which resulted in the tragic death of one resident.
Every property manager’s worst nightmare became stark reality on Friday 30th September 2011 when Gibson Court, located in Hinchley Wood, Surrey caught fire. The building was subsequently gutted by the ensuing flames, killing one elderly resident. All of the residents (whose average age is in their mid-80’s) lost all the belongings they had in their homes, except for the items they escaped with. Whilst the cause of the fire has not been formally determined, it is thought to have started when a television set in one of the flats caught fire whilst the tenant was asleep and thereafter spread rapidly through the building. The Police and Fire Service are currently investigating the incident, in co-operation with Peverel Retirement and it is understood that an inquest into the fatality will also take place.
Following the fire, the local Marks & Spencer’s shop donated underwear for the residents to use and local chemists have been assisting residents obtain urgent supplies of medication which was destroyed in the fire.
Fire in flats is a persistent worry for property managers, who should carry out regular fire risk assessments on the buildings they manage and implement the recommendations made. Due to confusion regarding the legal responsibility for carrying out the fire risk assessment, the Local Government Group recently produced a 191 page guide to fire safety
(which can be downloaded here). At the recent annual conference for managing agents’ trade body, ARMA, the association admitted that their fire safety training courses were oversubscribed and they were unable to train everybody.
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Gibson Court is a member of the Federation of Private Residents’ Associations. Robert Levene, FPRA’s Insurance Expert commented: “I am disturbed to hear from our member that apparently Peverel out of hours service let residents down with delays in notifying insurers, appointing loss adjusters and arranging alternative accommodation and we will be discussing this with Peverel at an early opportunity.”
The recent meeting, which was chaired by Peverel Retirement managing director, Keith Edgar was organised to discuss the Gibson Court fire with the residents and their children. The residents had put a number of questions to Peverel Retirement concerning the insurance of the building, the plans for rebuilding and repairing the property as well as the steps the managing agent was taking with respect to their current subsistence requirements, such as clothing and accommodation. The standing-room only meeting was also attended by local MP, Dominic Raab and a representative from Age Concern.
A Peverel Retirement spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are very much with our Residents and their families at this difficult time.” Peverel have set up a dedicated Gibson Court website (
www.gibsoncourt.co.uk) to keep residents and their families updated on the situation.
