8:00am Wednesday 31st August 2011
A COLCHESTER woman who has been battling for justice since her home was flooded six years ago has finally won a five-figure payout.
Leaseholder Angel Kalyan, 55, started pursuing local authorities when her ground-floor flat, in Mersea Road, was flooded in June 2005.
Although she was given legal aid for a solicitor for 12 months, most of the time she has campaigned alone, writing thousands of letters, reading up on the relevant laws and even tracking down former tenants, who revealed the flats had suffered from flooding since 1975.
Now, following an official complaint, an ombudsman investigation and a series of court appearances, Colchester and Essex county councils have each agreed to give her £10,000 for the damage.
Ms Kalyan said the overall bill for the authorities, including their costs and payments for one year of legal aid, was in the region of £85,000 Ms Kalyan said: “I’m so glad it’s over.
“I’ve had to write about 2,000 letters, I’ve had to deal with Essex County Council, Colchester Council, the insurers and Colchester Borough Homes – and all of them wouldn’t talk to me.
“It has been a steep learning curve. I found myself sitting there at 3am looking through civil procedure rules to find out the processes I needed to go through.
“There were times when I just wanted to step off the planet, but I kept going.
“I set out with a goal in mind and I have achieved it.”
Ms Kalyan moved into the Colchester Borough Home flat in 1998 and bought the leasehold in 2004 – the year before the worst flooding incident.
She complained, but while Colchester Council insisted it was an Essex County Council highways issue with the drainage system, the county council claimed it was an issue with the block of flats.
Eventually, she contacted the local government ombudsman and was awarded £1,750 from her landlord in January 2009.
But having spent more than £40,000 on the case, she launched civil proceedings.
Finally, at Colchester County Court last month, the two defendants agreed to pay £20,000 in damages between them.
A Colchester Council spokesman said the payout was for repairs and did not represent an acceptance of liability by either authority.
She added the costs were being covered by the insurers.
An Essex County Council spokesman said the authority did not discuss individual cases.
Ms Kalyan said that as both parties still refused to accept liability, she would continue her battle.
She added: “The fact is I’m still £25,000 down for what it’s cost me over these six years.
“That’s all on credit cards and I’m still paying interest on it.
“In my view, so much money has been wasted over these six years on this issue, because of incompetence.”
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