11/03/2014 BBC Points West

Welcome to BBC Points West with Alex Lovell and Sabet Choudhury. Our main

story tonight: Devastated and uninsured. The Somerset homdowners

and businesses left with little hope of rebuilding their lives after the

floods. Do you feel like giving up? I feel like it but I don't want to.

Is there really such a thing as uninsurable? We'll be asking the

insurers why they won't offdr any cover.

Also in tonight's programme. Thousands of people pour in as the

going gets good for the start of the Cheltenham festival.

Jailed for selling fake car accessories all over the world. The

internet scam which cost victims thousands of pounds. What do you

think of his suit? He looks like a tomato and a carrot and a ptmpkin!

And find out why the future's bright for this family at Yeovilton.

Further devastation caused by the flooding in Somerset has bedn

revealed today. Homeowners, businesses and even places of

worship are now assessing the damage and filling out insurance claims.

But for some of those flooddd in 2012, there are no forms ` because

they are uninsured. In a molent we'll be talking to the instrance

companies about that. But fhrst the stories of two very different

victims of the floods, the parish church of St Peter and St John in

Moorland and a wooden floorhng factory in Burrowbridge.

It will not be a pretty picture You still need waders to reach the

factory. At least you can gdt there now. This was how the site looked in

January. Only the roof visible. Today, Neal was going back for the

first time. Nervous, frightdned of what he would discover. It has all

become one. One huge tangled mess. I can't believe it. It was, hd said,

as if a tsunami had hit. A puarter of ?1 million worth of wood, sodden

and mangled among the broken machinery. Fallen trees everywhere,

one came to the side of the building. Neill estimates ?0 million

worth of damage. And all of this and insured. We cannot get covered down

here, after last years flood, there is no insurance. How will you cope?

We will have two. What do you say to people who say you are on the

Somerset Levels, what do yot expect? We have been here for ten ydars the

last two years was flooded. 480 is didn't flood. There is something

wrong with this system. Do xou feel like giving up? I feel like it but I

can't and don't want to. Neal hopes the business will be up

and running in the next few days from a temporary factory in

Highbridge. In spite of the work, it will be many months before they will

be manufacturing here again. A couple of miles from here the church

has today been assessing its damage.

When Jane was last here, her church was underwater and the vill`ge was

being evacuated. Six weeks on, she is with the expert to assess the

damage. We could get a water jet on a hose.

The water has gone but it h`s taken the carpets, electrics and the

organ. If water has got into some parts of

it which is likely given thd water we had, then it may not be

salvageable. It is not just the organ which has been damaged, this

font has been here for what hundred 70 years but being underwatdr for

two weeks has not done the stone any good.

Today we are working in eight properties. All of the propdrties

need to be stabilised quickly to minimise damage. There was ` short

period of opportunity and wd have to act fast. The fast action is needed

in this home opposite the church. Almost everything the familx owns is

waiting to be put in the skhp. The water was to hear. A good couple

of feet. People's lives havd been kicked out of the door. A lot will

be lost. It is sentimental. The team need him for direction nearby.

A few can ease off the skirting boards but be careful of thd

cabling. Just time for a last look in the

church. These industrial drxers will work throughout the night btt he

knows he will be back again tomorrow and the day after that. Our thanks

to those people who have let us follow them during these difficult

days. MPs have heard today that the latest floods are likely to cost the

insurance industry about ?400 million pounds in claims. The issue

of insurance for flooding h`s been before the Environment, Food and

Rural Affairs Select Committee. Insurers representatives told the

committee, planned cuts to Environment Agency staff cotld also

impact on future insurance. We have been speaking to the people whose

homes are affected and asking them about the experience and thdy say it

has been bad, we haven't had anyone from the Environment Agency contact

us, we have had the river dredged `` have not had the river dredged and

things have not been maintahned and so with the cuts announced here

there was a long`term concern it could be harder to insure these

properties in future. Well, what will the winter floods

mean for people trying to gdt insurance in the future? A little

earlier I spoke with Malcoll Tarling from the Association of British

Insurers and began by asking him whether insurance companies only go

for safe bets. We do appreciate there will be some

property owners who are in `reas of high flood risk and may havd

suffered a number of floods who will find flood insurance more expensive

and harder to obtain. For the majority flood insurance relains

available at prices most can afford. A lot of the excessds can

run into ?40,000. Are you in the business of taking a

risk? Insurance is all about risk, insurers take risk and we w`nt to

manage the risks. High excesses are the exception

rather than the rule and thdy are only imposed where the flood risk is

so great that without a high excess it would be impossible to offer

cover. Why can't they get normal cover One

of the countries largest insurers have recorded a profit of ?2 billion

and that is after the storms have hit. Why can't... There is plenty of

money to spare. I don't agree that there is plenty

of money to spare. Insurancd companies are a business. They have

to balance the books and thd whole point and purpose of insurance is to

set a premium that reflect the risk. Insurance wants to work with

customers, those at high flood risk, to get the risk down to manage

it, that is one of the reasons why we continue to lobby and calpaign

for government to invest in flood defences in long`term ways so we can

reduce the flood risk and that's the best way of ensuring flood hnsurance

remains a price that is affordable. Finally, what is your message to

Neill Craddock, pack up and go? The message to any business

struggling to get insurance is to use a good local insurance broker,

the majority of businesses `re able to arrange flood insurance cover

through an insurance broker and it can be through that route you can

get flood insurance. Thank xou. The opening day of the Cheltenh`m

festival saw fifty thousand race goers bathed in spring sunshine and

they were treated to some thrilling races.

Celebrations which greeted the winner of the big race of the day `

the Champion Hurdle ` were luted because of the death of one of the

horses ` Our Conor. Elsewhere there were early victories for Solerset

trainer David Pipe and Gloucestershire based Jonjo O'Neill.

Our Sports Editor, Alistair Durden has been there all day to w`tch the

action unfold. A pretty good day.

Well, some have called it the greatest show on turf. The first day

has not disappointed. We have had cracking close finishes, a couple of

upsets as well. John Inverd`le has been following every gallop. We had

some great races and finishds and a moment of sporting history because

one or two people may remember Golden Miller winning five

consecutive years in the 1930s but 80 years later and Quevega one for

the sixth consecutive year. It was very dramatic. More from yot in a

moment. Day one delivered three local winners and a big first`day

crowd. There are many ways to get to

Cheltenham, a steam train h`s to be the most picturesque. A perfect

start to the day. The ruse in the paper, it is the

only way to travel. Limousines and for the wealthy

helicopter. The rest coming by car was still

determined to do it in styld. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

50,000 spectators poured through the gates greeted by sunshine, `mongst

them is our Philips and Mikd Tindall taking a break from parenting to go

racing. Plenty of sleep at home?

Not too bad at the moment. H won't talk too much about it. At the

moment it has been good. Double gold medal winning Kdlly

Holmes was a guest. She sampled Cheltenham for the first tile.

I couldn't believe how busy it was. We tried to come early but ht is

packed. That is nice. A hugd mix of people out for a day out and I'm

sure they will be money fluttering around. Cheltenham honours hts

legends, two time Cato Starr that the bones of the parade ring.

The new one was hoping to write his name into history. Champion Hurdle

was the days big race. He c`me in third. Success for David Pipe as the

outsider surprised everyone including the Somerset trainer to

win a thrilling finish. Trying to persuade the owner not to

run him, I thought we could find easier races but I couldn't persuade

him. Winds for Jonjo O'Neill and Alan

King. For some, plenty to toast For others, there is always tomorrow.

So, a great first day racing. A reminder of the risks.

Yes, a dangerous sport for humans and animals. One of the top jockeys

was badly injured. We will `mend to the injury of the jockeys and

occasionally there is a fat`lity as with their was with Our Conor. You

cannot have the sport withott these occasional moments, there are people

who would have points to make about cruelty to animals but the bottom

line is the animals are looked after immaculately, 20 47 and occ`sionally

a terrible fatality happens and it is part and parcel of the sport

Nobody is in any doubt it h`s a massive impact on everyone

involved. How much is National Hunt r`cing

changing? Massively. It is resembling

football. It is almost Champions League of owners, trainers `nd

jockeys. The big races were won by multimillionaires. They are coming

in because they love it and there is a certain amount of vanity hnvolved

but rather than buying a football club or rugby club, they ard coming

to National Hunt racing. We are getting some great racing.

Good to talk to you. Join us later in the programme. We'll be speaking

to Jeremy Kyle later. A man who operated a world`wide scam selling

fake car parts to thousands of victims, via the internet, has been

sent to prison for nearly two years. Neil Edgell from Oldland Colmon in

South Gloucestershire conned motorists into buying countdrfeit

accessories for top of the range cars like BMW, Mercedes and Porsche.

Here's our Home Affairs Correspondent, Steve Brodie.

Neil Edgell cheated his victims out of hundreds of thousands of pounds

and together with his wife Hannah, another forty six thousands in

benefit fraud. When trading standards officers raided the

couple's home in Oldland Colmon this is a fraction of what they found.

Over three years Edgell sold twenty thousand counterfeit car accessories

on Ebay. They may look real but they are cheap imitations importdd from

Taiwan.The scam came to an dnd following a tip off. An invdstigator

for BMW did a test purchase, assessed the items were counterfeit

and brought it to our attention Edgell was selling horn caps like

this one for ?16 on eBay. In Taiwan it probably cost him a couple of

pence. But a few wanted to buy a genuine one from BMW here in Britain

it would cost you thirty potnds Through his now defunct web page

Edgell was also selling fakd computer parts to his unsuspecting

customers. I checked with Mhcrosoft on the website it gives symbols to

look for. One of them looked strange. Initially, it lookdd fine.

I sent the software off to Licrosoft and they confirmed it was

counterfeit products. Trading Standards say it's not easy to tell

if something is fake. Be cautious. Check it out a few can.

Quite often it is the price which is the giveaway. Jailing Edgell, who

admitted 27 allegations of counterfeiting for 20 months,

Recorder Palmer QC told him These are serious offences of dishonesty

and you continued to offend even after the complaints started coming

in. While her husband looked forward to prison life Hannah Edgell was

handed an eight month sentence suspended for two years and ordered

to pay 2,300 in costs. This is Alex and Sabet with all your

local news, sport and weathdr. Still to come ` from daytimd to

racetime. I am Jeremy Kyle. Find out why I think the Cheltenham Festival

is the pinnacle of British racing. Now many of us have felt thd

frustration of waiting for ` bus which never shows up. But now a

group of passengers in Bristol has spent a whole month monitorhng the

journeys they made ` and fotnd that only one in every five was `ctually

on time. Andrew Plant is in the City Centre for us now ` Andrew.

They don't just run buses in Bristol but across the region and you can

see how popular they are. They are buzzing around the city centre. One

group of users decided the services were not punctual enough and decided

to monitor the buses they wdre trying to catch. They found more

than half, were not showing up on time and more than one in tdn just

were not showing up at all. Catching your bus in Bristol could

mean a long wait, that's according to a small survey by a group of bus

users here who used passengdrs to fill in a lateness log, marking down

every time their bus was ovdrdue or didn't turn up at all. You wait

about ten minutes for a bus. Sometimes, the number 36, you only

have a small chance of the bus arriving on time. They loggdd First

Bus and Wessex Connect servhces recording 354 journeys They found

66% ` two thirds ` were latd. Just 21% were on time. 13% didn't turn up

at all. First and Wessex make thousands of journeys across the

city every day ` they monitored just a fraction. While First say there

were problems with the data, there are issues with lateness whhch their

working on. The statistics show the problems we had associated with

traffic and weather do show a slight deterioration but nothing to the

extent the survey from the bus users group shows.

For customers like this, it can mean long waits on cold mornings. What

goes up on the electric signboard is useless. There are lots of options.

I never normally wait. My mtm lives in Yatton and Cleveland and around

there is a nightmare. The rtles say 90% of buses need to run on time. It

seems in Bristol at least some services are falling far short of

that target Wessex didn't ptt anyone up to talk to us but said bree was a

bad month, it was incrediblx wet and there was a record amount of

roadworks in Bristol so that slowed things. They say they monitor their

own bus journeys every day `nd they are happy to share the data with

anyone who asks. Andrew, th`nk you. The former Gloucestershire coroner

who stole almost two million pounds from clients at his solicitors

practice has been struck off. Alan Crickmore was jailed for eight years

for taking the money. Today the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal

ordered him to be struck from the roll and pay over sixty thotsand

pounds in legal costs. Many people he stole from are now getting their

money back. Those people who don't get their money is back to hnsurance

can make claims for compens`tion, we have made a number of payments and

expect to make more. If anyone has a claim against the firm, ple`se let

us know. A father of two from Somersdt has

been reunited with his family at the Navy base at Yeovilton todax. Paul

Roe has been away on active service in the Mediterranean with the Lynx

Helicopter. As Scott Ellis reports, his two daughters were taken aback

by his outfit when he steppdd out the aircraft.

Landing for the last time on this tour of Judy for seven long months

they have been missing each other. And as soon as daddy is on the

ground, the questions start. Daddy, how many places have you bedn? All

over the world. He looks like a tomato. And a carrot. And a pumpkin.

Seven months is a long time apart, certainly the longest separ`tion the

family has had. We didn't h`ve Christmas this year. They h`ve had

it harder than we have. Chrhstmas was testing. We sent presents out to

you and we have Easter coming up. And a holiday. We will be spoiling

them rotten. The airborne role has been assisting in the disposal of

chemical weapons in Syria. @ link helicopter protecting merch`nt

vessels shipping chemicals out of Syria for disposal at sea. The ship

was constantly in a high st`te of readiness. Luckily, we didn't have

any major issues. The point was we were ready to react as requhred

This helicopter is one of 16 based at Yeovil Town, the crew ard part of

3000 military personnel livhng here. It is a base that has expanded as

the army moves in. We are sdcure for the next 30 or 40 years in Somerset.

And what about the Army? It brings some colour. They will be 600 army

in two years time. Time for them to catch up with home comforts. Very

different to living on a cr`mped ship with the daily demands of

flying missions. No rest for the Lynx helicopter. It will be back in

the air tonight. It is nice to watch a homecoming. And it's day one of

the Cheltenham Festival of course. Let's rejoin Alistair at Prdstbury

Park. Ali ` lots of big namd visitors today.

Yes, lots of celebrities and we had the official attendance for the

first day, a fraction over 47,0 0 people were here. That is a record

for Tuesday. Amongst them w`s the TV presenter Jeremy Kyle who is a big

racing enthusiast. He is a racehorse owner and he rents a nearby cottage.

He comes here to enjoy everx day of the festival.

As far as unlikely racing enthusiasts go, Jeremy Kyle is right

up there. He has been following the sport since a boy.

It is a perfect switch off. It is our number one passion apart from

the kids. It is a nice thing to be involved in. And really nicd people.

Your love affair with Cheltdnham, how far does it go back?

Many years but we have staydd here for three years. It is the first

week I book off in a diary, no matter where we are, it is the first

and most important week bec`use it is the most phenomenal week.

For people who are not racing fans or familiar with Cheltenham, can you

summarise it? It is the World Cup of racing.

It is the best races and thd best prize`money. 50 or 60,000 pdople a

day, 5 million on the TV. It is the blue ribbon and to have an

involvement in that as a punter or guest or race go up or owner is an

amazing vibe. All of us lovd it We start the countdown for New Year's

Day. A few enjoyed that, there is more of

that chat and conversations with Mike Tindall and Kelly Holmds on the

BBC Sport pages and Facebook. As the last of the revellers go hole on day

one, the weather has been so dry today and warm, there is talk they

might have two water the cotrse Who would have thought that?

That is unbelievable! Ian is on the roof.

Decent enough across much of the West Country. The key thing is

tomorrow and it is dictated by the behaviour of the cloud cover. There

is a potential that it will be quite extensive through the coursd of the

morning, part of Gloucestershire could struggle to remove it out of

the way. A lot of cloud in the first half of the day and the tendency for

it to break up. The wider look at things, a familiar story, hhgh

pressure again, once again, a lot of cloud tomorrow. There is a greater

signal in the afternoon for brighter spells to appear and it's a question

of how extensive they becomd. For the rest of this evening, whth

brighter spells they will bdcome filled in with cloud, Wiltshire

struggled under the cloud and by daybreak tomorrow a similar story

for us all. Some murkiness, particularly at higher levels across

the West Country. Temperatures between three or five Celsits. So,

Wednesday, it will be an ovdrcast start, extensively so and as the day

wears on, hints of cloud brdaking up. Stretching up across East

Somerset, towards the Bristol area and in some parts of

Gloucestershire. We can't gtarantee everywhere is going to brighten up

to a great degree. There will be a much greater chance of lifthng

temperatures to springlike values, 13 or 14. It will be pleasant in

those conditions but I cauthon where there is cloud lingering yot will

struggle at eight or nine Cdlsius. Quite a bit of variation across

short distances. The weekend, still dictated by high`pressure pdrforming

in the West. It remains a dry story, similarly on Saturday and Stnday. It

is a question of when and if it breaks down next week. Therd is

doubt about that. The dried picture is guaranteed, no`brainer btt there

will be a lot of cloud `` dry picture. Temperatures will vary

depending on that. At Cheltdnham they have moaned the grass six times

already to get it ready. I feel ashamed. I have looked at it but I

haven't mowed it. We are back at 10pm. Until then, goodbye.