Moment herd of escaped water buffalo stampede through couple’s garden and take dip in their swimming pool – causing £25,000 in damage to their Essex home
- Eight buffalo fell through the pool cover and into the water at the couple’s home
- NFU Mutual has paid the family’s £25K damage claim in full after nearly a year
CCTV captured the moment a herd of escaped water buffalo stampeded through a couple’s garden and took a dip in the pool at their Essex home.
Eight buffalo fell through the cover and into the £70,000 pool at Andy and Lynette Smith’s residence in Colchester. The animals then stampeded through the flower beds in the couple’s garden and wrecked their fencing.
The animals, which had escaped from a nearby rare breeds farm, caused £25,000 worth of damage to the Smiths’ property during the 15-minute incident last July.
NFU Mutual, which insures the farmer, told the BBC that couple’s compensation claim has been ‘settled and paid’ despite a delay of nearly a year.
It is understood that no buffalo were injured during the incident and that the farmer managed to safely get them out of the water.
CCTV captured the moment a herd of escaped water buffalo stampeded through a couple’s garden and took a dip in the pool at their Essex home
Eight buffalo fell through the cover and into the £70,000 pool at Andy and Lynette Smith’s residence in Colchester. The animals then stampeded through the flower beds in the couple’s garden and wrecked their fencing
The herd stampeded the property last July after an electric fence at the farm failed, allowing the animals to breach the separation between their field and the garden.
CCTV footage revealed that the buffalo wandered into the garden early in the morning. One of the animals then stepped onto the pool cover and fell through, prompting the other buffalo to run across the lawn.
In the 15 minutes that followed, seven other buffalo fell into the pool, leaving the water murky and dark in colour.
Mr Smith claims his wife called 999 as the incident unfolded but says they were told ‘the fire brigade don’t accept hoax calls’ and that it ‘took some persuading’ to get first responders to come to the scene.
‘When they arrived, one of the buffaloes, spooked by their hi-vis jackets, headed straight at them,’ he told The Guardian.
He explained that the ‘top-heavy’ buffaloes fell into the pool after they ‘lost their grip’ on the ‘slippery tiles’. He claims that once they landed in to the water, they were unable to get out.
The couple claims the animals’ swim left the pool ‘unusable’ and leaking 75 gallons of water per day.
He added: ‘The previous afternoon, we had had hosted a pool party for our young grandchildren and their friends. If the invasion had happened hours earlier, it could have been very serious.’
The couple also allege that it took nearly a year for NFU to accept liability for the incident and agree to a settlement.
One buffalo stepped onto the pool cover and fell through, prompting the other buffalo to run across the lawn. In the 15 minutes that followed, seven other buffalo fell into the pool
The animals, which had escaped from a nearby rare breeds farm, caused £25,000 worth of damage to the Smiths’ property during the 15-minute incident last July. No buffalo were injured during the incident and that the farmer managed to safely get them out of the water
Mr Smith told the news outlet that 15 weeks passed before an assessor turned up at his home and then it took another six months for the firm to offer a settlement, which he claimed was ‘£8,000 short of the two quotes they themselves obtained.’
‘We accept that they deal with claims far more serious than a damaged pool, but their failure to communicate has caused us countless sleepless nights,’ he said, adding that the pool was intended to be the couple’s ‘retirement luxury’.
‘Buffaloes are top-heavy and the porcelain tiles round the pool were slippery so they lost their grip and once they were in they couldn’t get out again,’ said Smith.
NFU has reportedly agreed to pay the couple’s full £25,000 repair bill and has apologised for the delay in payment and the initial wait for an inspection.
A firm spokesperson told the Guardian: ‘We have a duty to all of our members to ensure we validate the cost of claims and in this instance, we needed to gain further assurance around the costs involved in repairing the damage.’
MailOnline has approached NFU Mutual for comment.
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