Latest news with #Chiswick
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Multimillionaire couple sue insurers for £1m over fire that 'engulfed' their £2m house and £300k watch collection - after firm refused to pay out because they'd failed to declare building work
A multimillionaire couple are embroiled in a £1million legal battle with their insurer after the firm did not pay up for part of rebuilding costs as well as damage to a collection of Rolexes following a house fire. The £2million home of wedding makeup artist Biborka Bellhouse and her property investment boss husband Charles Bellhouse went up in flames on December 29, 2022, with 60 firefighters and eight fire engines having to bring the blaze under control. The four-bed detached house in Park Road, Chiswick, was seriously damaged in the blaze which broke out while they were in the process of having it extended and refurbished. Following the fire, which the couple say caused them 'psychological harm', they went on to claim £16,000 towards scaffolding to make the property safe and around £140,000 for alternative accommodation and furniture from their insurers, Zurich. Although the insurance firm agreed to pay the couple around £155,000 towards these costs, they refused to pay out over £1million for claims made for rebuilding the property, as well as a luxury watch collection. Mr Bellhouse, 46, and Mrs Bellhouse, 42, claimed around £600,000 to rebuild the house and up to £475,000 for contents, which included the property investment boss's Rolex Chronograph and Patek Philippe watches. The Rolex Chronograph and the Patek were individually insured for £40,000 and £187,000 respectively, while three other Rolex watches were insured for £75,000. Now the couple are suing Zurich Insurance Plc, by taking them to the High Court in a bid to force them to pay out so they can reconstruct their destroyed home. But, the insurance firm has insisted the family had breached the terms of their cover and thus invalidated their policy as they failed to inform them about the construction of their extension. In documents submitted to the court, Mek Mesfin, representing the multi-millionaire couple, explained the fire broke out causing 'substantial damage' to their home. Neither the couple or their children were home when the incident occurred. 'Following the fire, a claim was made under the policy,' said the barrister, who went to claim Zurich has 'wrongfully and in breach of the terms of the policy' refused to accept liability beyond scaffolding and rehousing payments. '[The insurance firm] has refused to pay the claimants any sum in respect of the losses which the claimants have suffered as a consequence of the fire.' According to the barrister, only one of the valuable watches was in the home at the time of the fire, however boxes and authenticity certificates may have perished in the flames, potentially impacting the value of the other luxury accessories. 'The authentication materials, including the boxes and/or certification, for the watches were in the property during the fire. Due to the unsafe condition of the property, the claimants do not know, but assume, whether they have been damaged or destroyed,' he said. Mr Mesfin insisted his clients are entitled to indemnity and/or damages from the insurance firm if the items suffered a loss in value as a result of damage to authentication materials in the fire. The couple are also claiming 'medical expenses' of around £8,000 from Zurich, stating that they have suffered 'psychological harm' and needed therapy due to Zurich's failure to pay up. They also want around £20,000 for additional scaffolding costs and around £600,000 to rebuild the property, although they say the project may cost more. However, lawyers for Zurich say it is not obliged to pay out anything else on the policy and has 'avoided liability' due to a 'misrepresentation'. They say that when the couple took out the insurance, they had no plans to carry out any major works to their home within the next 12 months. The company says it would not have insured the house had it known the extension and renovation was planned and as such the policy is invalid. At a pre-trial hearing in the case, Judge David Hodge explained: 'Zurich asserts that in May 2022, the claimants made a deliberate or reckless, or careless, qualifying misrepresentation by misrepresenting their intention to carry out contract works to their home in the following 12 months. 'The claimants expressly the property was not likely to undergo any contract works within the next 12 months 'The claimants did then, in fact, carry out the contract works; and these caused loss and damage, both to the contract works themselves, and to the property, on 29 December 2022, when a fire occurred during the course of the contract works. 'Without the misrepresentation, Zurich would not have entered into the contract of insurance with the claimants at all. Zurich have now avoided the policy.' However, he said the couple deny making a 'qualifying misrepresentation' and insist there is 'no factual basis' for the allegations made against them. They are suing for a declaration that Zurich is obliged under the insurance policy to compensate them in respect of the claim, together with an indemnity, damages, interest and costs. In its defence, Zurich barrister Daniel Crowley says that as well as denying they are liable to pay out anything else, the insurer is counterclaiming in a bid to force the family to pay back the £169,507 it has already paid out to them. The couple and the insurers have already clashed in two preliminary hearings. The case will now return to court for a full trial unless it is settled beforehand.
Telegraph
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Gullible Europe has signed the death warrant for its own car industry
The auto industry gathers for its annual summit on Tuesday, hosted by trade group the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). But for some, the industry isn't waving, but drowning. 'I don't see a way back,' reckons Nick Molden, chief executive of Emissions Analytics and an honorary senior research fellow at Imperial College. 'It' s now about the funeral and the wake'. The Government has made its mind up, he thinks – it's not going to protect the UK auto industry from cheap Chinese auto imports, or abandon the all-electric dogma, and so the industry must deal with it. Around the country, the names of car dealerships are changing, as the Chinese wave begins to crash on to our shores. Chery's Omoda only opened here in September last year, but will have 130 dealerships by the end of 2025, including the flagship Hogarth Roundabout site in Chiswick, formerly a Tesla showroom. Jaecoo, another Chery brand, only launched in January, and claims to have contracts for 80 showrooms by the end of the year, with plans to eventually have 130 in total. Get used to names like GMW (Great Wall Motors) which has 46, and more. The state has decreed what technology the consumer must use, and punishes producers for making anything else. It so happens to be a technology in which China has unbeatable cost advantages. The SMMT thinks the UK can compete in this new field. Mike Hawes, chief executive of trade body, is optimistic. He tells me that billions of pounds of inward investment is evidence of confidence that the UK can compete. 'The sector has fundamental strengths including a highly skilled and productive workforce, engineering excellence and world-class R&D capabilities,' he says. For now, investment looks healthy. Nissan will manufacture a new Leaf EV in Sunderland, the UK's biggest plant, as well as the electric SUV Qashqai. Toyota is moving production of the GR Corolla from Japan to its Burnaston plant in Derbyshire, where it can take advantage of the UK's lower tariffs – 10pc vs 25pc. Tata has announced a £4bn gigafactory in Somerset. Jaguar Land Rover remains committed to the UK. Our boutique, low volume brands like Aston Martin and Bentley are genuine survivors who don't compete in the cut-throat budget and midrange markets. But underneath the surface, you can detect much anxiety. Energy costs make the UK uncompetitive, Nissan told MPs recently. Two weeks ago, Hawes accompanied the SMMT's monthly sales bulletin on new car purchases with a side note. The current market situation was 'unsustainable', he wrote. The 20.9pc BEV share is some way behind the proportion that Whitehall has mandated in its zero emission vehicle mandate, despite 'significant' discounting. I'd dearly love Hawes to be right. But we have all underestimated the long game that China is playing. It has convinced the West to dispose of its advantage in internal combustion engines for what one automotive critic calls 'glorified golf carts' that only China can make cheaply. Labour will hide behind free trade and consumer welfare arguments as domestic industries suffer. 'The damage has been done – it devalued the car companies we had', says Emissions Analytics' Molden. 'Governments have forced on the marketplace a technology where only non-European countries can succeed in a competitive market.' China's advantages are deep and broad. It enjoys much lower energy costs – thanks to coal and gas – a stranglehold on key materials and the refining of them, and its firms enjoy very long subsidy programmes. All these advantages were known when EU and Whitehall bureaucrats set the CO2 emission targets, hoping European industry would spring to life in response. But it can't. To this day, the EU and Whitehall officials stubbornly refuse to help and permit technologies like synthetic e-fuels and plug-in hybrids after 2030 to dilute their all electric dogma. Those would at least have allowed us to retain our competitive advantages in IP and engineering. Now China is coming after those lifeboats too. For the first time, last month, Chinese cars topped the best-seller hybrid charts in the UK – the BYD Seal U and Jaecoo 7 taking two spots on the plug-in hybrid vehicle charts. So what happens next? 'We'll end up in the end game with a European version of British Leyland,' thinks Molden, referring to Tony Benn's monster merger of Triumph, Rover, Mini, and Austin Morris in 1968. Think of it as an Airbus for cars. That process has already begun. In May, the chief executives of Renault and Stellantis, John Elkann and Luca de Meo, held a joint emergency press conference. 'We can't make smaller cars in acceptable profitability conditions,' de Meo said. The Airbus for cars will be positioned as a European champion 'and will start off in a blaze of glory. But it will eventually realise it doesn't have a competitive advantage', Molden predicts. 'An Airbus EV would torch auto engineering and R&D jobs,' agrees pundit Hilton Holloway. 'Instead of four or five platforms, there'll be one.' More realistically, autogeddon will see local jobs in Europe manufacturing lines retained, but the real profits will be returned to China. And another piece on the geopolitical chessboard will have been captured, without a shot being fired. The great delusion of the globalisation era was that the West could retain global influence without manufacturing anything itself. What a way to find out this was false.
BBC News
19-06-2025
- BBC News
Murder investigation launched after fatal assault in Chiswick
A murder investigation has been launched after a 75-year-old man was fatally attacked in west Metropolitan Police were called on 12 October by the London Ambulance Service to an unconscious man at a residential address in Carlton Road, Chiswick. The man was pronounced dead at the scene and later identified as John Murray. A post-mortem examination found the initial cause of death was a head injury but a pathology test later found the injury had been caused by an assault. Police said Mr Murray had moved to Chiswick after was a father and grandfather, and a well-liked neighbour who always offered to help others in the community. He was often seen riding his motorbike in the communal gardens, which is where neighbours last saw him on 12 October, the day he a statement, Mr Murray's family said: "As a family, we are devastated and in complete shock to learn that our dad and grandad was murdered. "We are struggling to comprehend why someone would harm a 75-year-old defenceless man in his own home."Det Ch Insp Brian Howie from the Met's Specialist Crime Command, which is leading the investigation, said: "As part of our investigation, we need the public's help to piece together what exactly took place."Every piece of information, no matter how small, could be crucial. "If you were in the Chiswick area, especially near Carlton Road on Saturday, 12 October, you may be able to assist our investigation."
BBC News
12-06-2025
- BBC News
West London couple used Apple AirTag to retrieve stolen Jaguar
A west London couple said they tracked down and reclaimed their stolen Jaguar after police were "too stretched" to Forbes Pirie and husband Mark Simpson discovered the theft from outside their home in Brook Green, Hammersmith, on the morning of Tuesday, 3 reported the theft to police, explaining that an Apple AirTag had been left in the car. But after receiving what they described as a "vague" response, they used the tracker to locate the vehicle in Chiswick - and retrieved it Metropolitan Police confirmed the couple had informed officers of their intention to recover the car and were advised to contact police again if assistance was needed at the scene. Ms Forbes Pirie said: "I went to use the car that morning, walking up and down the street and I was unable to find it, with my husband saying he hadn't moved it."I thought it was weird, we both thought it was unlikely it was stolen because it had two immobilisers and so I was quite shocked and my stomach dropped." 'Bit of an adventure' As well as having an immobiliser fitted, which means the Jaguar E-Pace would not start without the correct PIN code, it also had an AirTag couple dialled 999 to report the theft. Ms Forbes Pirie said the police were "vague" and told them they might send a patrol car and would inform them if they found anything. Ms Forbes Pirie said they told the police they had the tracker and could could trace the car's location - explaining that it was only a nine minute drive away, in Chiswick."I wanted to act quite quickly as my fear was that we would find the AirTag and not the car when it was discarded on to the street without the car, so I told them that we were planning to head to the location," she said."It felt like a bit of an adventure, it was exciting, a little bit of a fun thing to do, to see if we could find our car."I didn't really think car thieves would hurt us, more that they would try to get away." She said they were "relieved" to find the car where the AirTag had led them - in a parking space on a street in the immobiliser code did not work, so they had to contact the software company to retrieve the vehicle. After showing proof of ownership of the £46,000 car, the company came to the location and unlocked the vehicle for of the thieves, Ms Forbes Pirie said: "I think they wanted just to take the car somewhere quiet. The thieves appeared to be quite sophisticated. "They had managed to bypass the immobiliser that came with the car, but not the one that we had fitted. "We were told they did quite a good job and got quite close."I think I thought the police would act quicker considering they had a location for it, but I know they also very stretched." Met figures show there were 33,530 offences of "theft or unauthorised taking" of a motor vehicle in the capital in 2024, a 1.6% increase on the year before. There were only 326 "positive outcomes", which can include a charge or caution, from those cases, representing a success rate of lower than 1%. A Met Police spokesperson said the couple confirmed with police that they had found the vehicle and that it was being recovered by a truck back to the victim's home address."This investigation is ongoing and officers met the victim on Tuesday, 10 June as part of their inquiries," the spokesperson added.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Major pub chain forced to hike the cost of a pint by 15p after Labour's tax grab landed it with extra £8million staff costs
A major pub chain has been forced to increase the price of a pint by 15p after Rachel Reeves ' tax raid left it with an added £8million in staff costs. Fuller's says the rise in national insurance contributions (NICs) from last October's budget as well as the higher minimum wage from April has left the firm badly hit. The Chiswick-based company - which has 5,500 staff members - warned back in November last year the financial measures would cause the price of its pints to rise. It comes as pub and hospitality companies have been among the worst affected amid soaring staff bills. Fuller, Smith & Turner chief executive Simon Emeny said the chain had tried to be 'sensitive' with price increases, to 'make sure that going to the pub remains an affordable treat'. He added the group would keep its pricing 'under review' over the rest of the year. Fuller's is the latest to raise the cost of a pint as pub chains attempt to offset soaring staff bills. The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) recently said the average price of a pint of beer would surge past £5 for the first time because of cost hikes hitting the sector. Pub and hospitality companies have been among the worst affected amid soaring staff bills A spokesman for the BBPA added the average cost of a pint in the UK is expected to rise by about 21p as a result. But Fuller's boss Mr Emeny said the firm could not offset the cost impact with price increases alone. The group, which has about 5,500 staff, is doubling down on investment in its bars and staff training, to drive sales higher, which it hopes will counter the extra costs. 'Six months down the line and I don't think price increases are the only answer. It has to come through higher sales,' he said. Reeves announced last year the employers' rate of NI would increase by 1.2 percentage points, to 15 per cent from April. In addition, the level at which employers become liable to pay NI on salaries would reduce from £9,100 to £5,000 per year. And the minimum wage for over 21s, known officially as the National Living Wage, has now risen from £11.44 to £12.21. Mr Fuller said his firm's consumer spending outlook would be sensitive to the interest rate outlook, and whether the Government moved to increase personal taxes. The comments came as Fuller's posted a 32 per cent jump in underlying pre-tax profits to £27 million for the year to March 29. Like-for-like sales rose 5.2 per cent, and the group said growth had continued into the first 10 weeks of the new financial year, albeit at a more muted rate of 4.2 per cent. It also announced its chairman of 18 years, Michael Turner, a member of one of the three founding families, would retire at the group's annual general meeting in July, after a 47-year career with the group. He will be replaced by Mr Emeny, who will become executive chairman, the first person to take the role who is not a member of the founding families. Fred Turner will be promoted from retail director to chief operating officer. A number of other founding family members remain on the board, including non-executive directors Sir James Fuller and Richard Fuller. On his final set of full-year figures for the group, the outgoing chairman said it had been an 'excellent' past year. Mr Turner added: 'This strong performance has been achieved despite the business operating in a challenging and, at times volatile, economic environment. 'The geopolitical situation has caused uncertainty in global markets and the decisions made by the Chancellor in her October budget hit the sector hard and reduced confidence in hospitality stocks.' Mr Turner, An outspoken critic of the move to raise national insurance contributions (NICs) from April, said: 'The changes to national insurance contributions took everyone by surprise and I fear it could be terminal for a number of smaller operators in our market.'
