ajt
Well-Known Member
I received this by E-Mail today and thought it worth sharing, would you take this woman as crew?
The link is not working but I am sure someone will find it for us!
Girlfriend loses City banker his claim for £250,000 ruined yacht
By SAM GREENHILL Last updated at 09:01am on 25th November 2006
Down in the dumps: Paul Compton's £250,000 insurance claim was turned down
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/11...nST_259x450.jpg
When Paul Compton's girlfriend smashed his £250,000 yacht into rocks after he popped below deck, he forgave her.
Even though the boat sank, and they nearly died, stockbroker Mr Compton was 'not angry' and knew he had comprehensive insurance covering the brand new luxury boat.
Or so he thought. Unfortunately, it has emerged that his insurance company, Admiral, do not quite see it that way.
The loss of his 'pride and joy' is, they have decreed, entirely his own fault - and if he wasn't angry before, Mr Compton has half a million pounds' worth of reasons to be so now.
The 43-year-old said: 'Put it this way, I don't think I would take out another policy with Admiral.
'It's fair to say they have not paid to date. I must admit I thought insurance companies would protect you against accidents, not run away when you have one.
'But it's not over yet. I'm taking legal action against them.'
It was the decision to leave his girlfriend Hannah Gutteridge at the wheel that has apparently scuppered his insurance claim.
It was the May Day weekend this year when the City broker and Miss Gutteridge, an attractive public relations worker from West Kington, Wiltshire, took his 47ft yacht for a jaunt along the South coast.
After anchoring overnight at Lulworth Cove in Dorset, they were on their way back to Lymington, Hampshire, when disaster struck.
In increasingly stormy seas, Mr Compton, who was teaching 33-year-old Miss Gutteridge to sail despite only limited experience of his own, nipped below deck to check navigational equipment, leaving her at the helm.
Moments later there was a sickening crunch and he emerged on deck to discover she had smashed it into rocks at treacherous Anvil Point, near Swanage in Dorset.
With the fibreglass vessel holed beneath the waterline, the pair just had time to issue a 'mayday' distress call before abandoning ship as icy water poured in.
They clung to rocks until they were rescued by a lifeboat and a coastguard helicopter.
Afterwards, Miss Gutteridge, who had previously only sailed a 15ft dinghy, admitted: 'I'm not massively experienced. Paul was teaching me to sail. I'd never sailed such a big boat before.
'I was steering at the time. Paul had gone down below to check the satellite navigation system and I was at the wheel.
'All of a sudden I just heard a loud crunching noise and realised we'd hit something. It was very, very scary. The boat just filled up with water and I honestly thought I was going to die.
'We found a rock and jumped on it. We just watched the boat sinking under the waves and prayed someone would come.'
However it seems her words have been read with keen interest by those assessing Mr Compton's insurance claim for £250,000 - an amount which, as a higher rate taxpayer, he would have to earn almost half a million pounds to replace.
A City associate of Mr Compton said: 'Poor old Paul, he's lost his claim. The insurance company said he failed in his duty of care, by leaving his inexperienced girlfriend at the helm.
'He's not a happy man, of course he's not - it's half a million down the drain, effectively, given income tax.
'But Paul earns a lot of money so nobody's feeling too sorry for him. He's not a bad bloke, really, but the whole thing is quite funny for everyone else.'
Mr Compton, a Cambridge engineering graduate, works for City stockbroking firm Collins Stewart and lives in a million-pound house in Richmond, South-West London. He drives an Aston Martin DB9 with 007 on the number plate.
Mr Compton's father, Donald, said: 'We knew the insurance company were going to be difficult, given the circumstances.
'If there is someone incompetent at the helm, well it's like driving a car isn't it - if you leave a learner driver on their own and they crash, then you are going to be in trouble.'
He added: 'I am sure it won't put Paul off sailing in the future. He earns his money and he likes to spend it. He is a wonderful son who has always been very generous to me and his mum. We are very proud of him.'
Indeed, Mr Compton Jnr has confirmed to the Mail that, despite the little difficulty with the insurance payout, he has gone ahead anyway and bought another almost identical yacht.
And despite Miss Gutteridge's fears that she could never sail again, the couple have been out on it several times together, without incident.
When the drama was reported, back in May, Mr Compton's ex-wife Charlotte Lucas announced her surprise to hear his girlfriend had been at the wheel - because she was under the strong impression that she and he were getting back together.
But yesterday Miss Gutteridge and Mr Compton insisted they were still very much a couple.
A spokesman for Admiral Boat Insurance - which has no connection to Admiral Car Insurance - said: 'We cannot make any comment.'
The link is not working but I am sure someone will find it for us!
Girlfriend loses City banker his claim for £250,000 ruined yacht
By SAM GREENHILL Last updated at 09:01am on 25th November 2006
Down in the dumps: Paul Compton's £250,000 insurance claim was turned down
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/11...nST_259x450.jpg
When Paul Compton's girlfriend smashed his £250,000 yacht into rocks after he popped below deck, he forgave her.
Even though the boat sank, and they nearly died, stockbroker Mr Compton was 'not angry' and knew he had comprehensive insurance covering the brand new luxury boat.
Or so he thought. Unfortunately, it has emerged that his insurance company, Admiral, do not quite see it that way.
The loss of his 'pride and joy' is, they have decreed, entirely his own fault - and if he wasn't angry before, Mr Compton has half a million pounds' worth of reasons to be so now.
The 43-year-old said: 'Put it this way, I don't think I would take out another policy with Admiral.
'It's fair to say they have not paid to date. I must admit I thought insurance companies would protect you against accidents, not run away when you have one.
'But it's not over yet. I'm taking legal action against them.'
It was the decision to leave his girlfriend Hannah Gutteridge at the wheel that has apparently scuppered his insurance claim.
It was the May Day weekend this year when the City broker and Miss Gutteridge, an attractive public relations worker from West Kington, Wiltshire, took his 47ft yacht for a jaunt along the South coast.
After anchoring overnight at Lulworth Cove in Dorset, they were on their way back to Lymington, Hampshire, when disaster struck.
In increasingly stormy seas, Mr Compton, who was teaching 33-year-old Miss Gutteridge to sail despite only limited experience of his own, nipped below deck to check navigational equipment, leaving her at the helm.
Moments later there was a sickening crunch and he emerged on deck to discover she had smashed it into rocks at treacherous Anvil Point, near Swanage in Dorset.
With the fibreglass vessel holed beneath the waterline, the pair just had time to issue a 'mayday' distress call before abandoning ship as icy water poured in.
They clung to rocks until they were rescued by a lifeboat and a coastguard helicopter.
Afterwards, Miss Gutteridge, who had previously only sailed a 15ft dinghy, admitted: 'I'm not massively experienced. Paul was teaching me to sail. I'd never sailed such a big boat before.
'I was steering at the time. Paul had gone down below to check the satellite navigation system and I was at the wheel.
'All of a sudden I just heard a loud crunching noise and realised we'd hit something. It was very, very scary. The boat just filled up with water and I honestly thought I was going to die.
'We found a rock and jumped on it. We just watched the boat sinking under the waves and prayed someone would come.'
However it seems her words have been read with keen interest by those assessing Mr Compton's insurance claim for £250,000 - an amount which, as a higher rate taxpayer, he would have to earn almost half a million pounds to replace.
A City associate of Mr Compton said: 'Poor old Paul, he's lost his claim. The insurance company said he failed in his duty of care, by leaving his inexperienced girlfriend at the helm.
'He's not a happy man, of course he's not - it's half a million down the drain, effectively, given income tax.
'But Paul earns a lot of money so nobody's feeling too sorry for him. He's not a bad bloke, really, but the whole thing is quite funny for everyone else.'
Mr Compton, a Cambridge engineering graduate, works for City stockbroking firm Collins Stewart and lives in a million-pound house in Richmond, South-West London. He drives an Aston Martin DB9 with 007 on the number plate.
Mr Compton's father, Donald, said: 'We knew the insurance company were going to be difficult, given the circumstances.
'If there is someone incompetent at the helm, well it's like driving a car isn't it - if you leave a learner driver on their own and they crash, then you are going to be in trouble.'
He added: 'I am sure it won't put Paul off sailing in the future. He earns his money and he likes to spend it. He is a wonderful son who has always been very generous to me and his mum. We are very proud of him.'
Indeed, Mr Compton Jnr has confirmed to the Mail that, despite the little difficulty with the insurance payout, he has gone ahead anyway and bought another almost identical yacht.
And despite Miss Gutteridge's fears that she could never sail again, the couple have been out on it several times together, without incident.
When the drama was reported, back in May, Mr Compton's ex-wife Charlotte Lucas announced her surprise to hear his girlfriend had been at the wheel - because she was under the strong impression that she and he were getting back together.
But yesterday Miss Gutteridge and Mr Compton insisted they were still very much a couple.
A spokesman for Admiral Boat Insurance - which has no connection to Admiral Car Insurance - said: 'We cannot make any comment.'
