Tell us a bit about what happened.
Last January, a parishioner was walking past the church one morning and asked me if the bell had gone to be restored. This prompted me to go and check the bell tower and find that the bell was missing. Once we’d spoken with the police, we then rang the insurance team at Kingdom Bank straight away to let them know. They were so helpful, and began the claims process with us. Meanwhile, we posted on social media that the bell was missing, and it was shared across the country. Eventually, the owner of a scrapyard got in touch to say they had taken in a bell which they had been told was from a disused church. Thankfully, we were able to get the bell back and begin the process of reinstating it.
Sounds like a very unusual and challenging situation! How complicated was it to get the bell back in place?
It’s been really quite complicated, with new issues arising along the way. Once we had the bell back, we then realised that all the copper had been taken from the cupola as well, so this needed replacing.
Understandably, not all elements of the work we decided to do as part of restoring the bell were covered by insurance due to some of them not being strictly necessary. For instance, replacing the bell rope, sandblasting and cleaning the bell, as well as installing an alarm system to prevent it being taken again, have all been additional costs.
Being a Grade II listed building, we’ve had to use specialist scaffolding and have the diocesan architect involved, which have added to the expense and complexity.
How were the Kingdom Bank insurance team able to help?
The insurance team has been fantastic – I can’t fault the service they’ve provided! From the very first conversation we had, through all the calls updating them on the latest issue for which we required the input, nothing has been too much trouble. They liaised with the insurer, who agreed to provide payment based on quotes for work so that we would have the funds we needed to cover the expenses as they arose, which was so helpful.
Factoring in all the different elements I mentioned, it will have cost £22,000 to reinstate the bell. There’s no way we could have afforded to do this without the insurance cover that Kingdom Bank arranged. We’re so grateful for their support and for making the process as smooth as possible!
