After the arson on July 4, 2023, the Abhwani family’s house in Bösel is uninhabitable. But she hasn’t been able to reach her insurance company for months. No one has contacted them, says the GVO.
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BÖsel/Bad Zwischenahn – Almost 15 months ago, in the early morning of July 4th, 2023, Sultan and Sara Abhwani had to flee their house on Willohstrasse in Bösel with their four daughters. The neighboring semi-detached house was ablaze. Abhwani’s roof was also damaged, fire water ran through the entire building and pooled in the basement. The house has been uninhabitable since then. Months later, police reported that the fire was due to arson. Two relatives of the tenants next door are urgently suspected. The Abhwanis thought that they were innocent victims of the fire and well insured.
Disappointment built up
But over the past few months, disappointment has built up with their household contents and building insurer, Mutual Insurance Oldenburg (GVO). Neither the family nor their lawyer Frank Ammerich from Oldenburg can access the GVO, they say. The GMO sees it differently and is surprised. Everything went correctly on their side. Major loss adjuster Henning Brouer reports that he received a missed call from Sara Abhwani and a WhatsApp at the beginning of May and then contacted us by email. His latest statement was: Lawyer Ammerich wanted to inquire when the reconstruction of the fire house would finally begin. Because that was the obstacle why the family couldn’t start renovation work on their own house: As long as there was a fire ruin contaminated with asbestos next to the home, no one should work or even live there. The asbestos and fire removal work for the reconstruction is now underway, but progressing slowly. The construction company is struggling with a lack of staff, reports the owner of the fire house.
So something went wrong between the customer and the insurance company. At first everything went well. The GVO covered the costs for a rental apartment within sight of the home. Brouer emphasizes that according to the contract, GVO only had to pay for the costs for 200 days, but they paid for a total of twelve months. This was also discussed with her customers at an on-site meeting at the beginning of the year. Abhwani say they were surprised when they suddenly had to cover the rental costs in July. In order to save money, they now want to move out and set up in their own living room as long as the upper floor is not renovated.
The family received 5,000 euros as emergency aid, which they used to buy mattresses, bedding, clothing, food and a new refrigerator for six people. Because they could take almost nothing with them from the house. Some of it was damaged by the water used to extinguish the fire, the smoke took care of the rest. There was also a deduction of 2,400 euros from the GVO household contents insurance. There were discrepancies in the use of a cleaning company that took over the GMO. The GVO reports that she was an experienced service provider in such cases, but she only cleaned some of the clothing, and then the family no longer wanted it. Abhwanis say they recovered mostly damaged pieces. As an example, Sultan Abhwani shows a winter jacket whose inner lining has apparently merged with the outer material. Three quarters of the cleaned clothing can no longer be used.
Arson: The fire in a semi-detached house on July 4th on Willohstrasse in Bösel was deliberately set. This is reported by the Cloppenburg/Vechta police station. Photos: Bösel fire department
Do it yourself
Finally, the reports on the damage to the building and household contents were ready. It was agreed that Abhwanis would receive money to renew the ceiling of the attic themselves and to replace wallpaper and laminate. But the Abhwanis do not agree to both sums, 17,000 euros for the building and 2,400 euros for the household contents. They report that they wanted to negotiate with the GMO, but were unable to reach them. And lawyer Ammerich also says: “We can’t get them on the phone.” He was not contacted by Ammerich, neither by phone, email or letter, says damage adjuster Brouer. And letters are ultimately the form of communication used by lawyers, adds Ingo Heckhuis, from the GVO legal department.
Sultan and Sara Abhwani and their four daughters had to leave their semi-detached house on Willohstrasse in Bösel on the night of the fire, July 4, 2023. They have not been able to live there since then. Photo: Eva Dahlmann-Aulike
“I want my house back to smell good and to be comfortable,” says Sara Abhwani. She feels abandoned by the GMO. Abhwanis could contact us at any time, says Brouer: “We want things to continue and our customers to be able to go back to their homes. We want to find an agreement as quickly as possible.”
