The moment a herd of water buffalo escaped through a couple’s garden and plunged into the pool at their Essex home was captured on CCTV.
Eight buffalo fell through the cover and into a £70,000 pool at Andy and Lynette Smith’s residence in Colchester. The animals then stampeded through flower beds in the couple’s garden and broke their fence.
The 15-minute incident last July caused £25,000 worth of damage to Smith’s property.
NFU Mutual, which insures the farmer, told the BBC that the couple’s compensation claim had been ‘settled and paid’ despite a delay of almost a year.
It is understood that no buffalo were injured during the incident and the farmer was able to get them out of the water safely.
CCTV captured the moment a herd of water buffalo escaped through a couple’s garden and plunged into the pool at their Essex home.
Eight buffalo fell through the cover and into a £70,000 pool at Andy and Lynette Smith’s residence in Colchester. The animals then stampeded through flower beds in the couple’s garden and broke their fence
The herd stampeded the property last July after the farm’s electric fence failed, allowing the animals to breach the separation between their fields and gardens.
The CCTV footage shows that the buffalo roamed the garden early in the morning. One of the animals then steps on the pool cover, prompting the other buffalo to run across the lawn.
In the next 15 minutes, seven more buffaloes fell into the pond, turning the water murky and black.
Mr Smith claimed his wife called 999 as the incident unfolded but said they were told ‘the fire brigade do not take hoax calls’ and ‘had to do some persuasion’ to get first responders to the scene.
‘When they arrived, a buffalo, spooked by their hi-vis jackets, charged straight at them,’ he told The Guardian.
He explained that the ‘super-heavy’ buffaloes fell into the pool after ‘losing their grip’ on the ‘slippery tiles’. He claimed that once they got into the water they couldn’t get out.
The couple claimed the animals left the swimming pool ‘unusable’ and leaked 75 gallons of water per day.
She added: ‘Earlier in the afternoon, we hosted a pool party for our young grandchildren and their friends. If the attack had happened a few hours earlier, it could have been very serious.’
The couple also complained that it took nearly a year for the NFU to accept responsibility for the incident and agree a settlement.
One buffalo stepped on the pool cover, prompting the other buffalo to run across the lawn. After 15 minutes, seven more buffaloes fell into the pond
The 15-minute incident last July caused £25,000 worth of damage to Smith’s property. No buffalo were injured during the incident and the farmer was able to get them out of the water safely
Mr Smith told the news outlet that 15 weeks passed before an appraiser came to his home and then it took the firm another six months to offer a settlement, which he claimed was ‘£8,000 less than the two quotes they got themselves.’
‘We recognize that they deal with a much more serious claim 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’.
‘The buffalo were very heavy and the porcelain tiles around the pool were slippery so they lost their grip and once they got in they couldn’t get out,’ said Smith.
The NFU has reportedly agreed to pay the couple’s full £25,000 repair bill and has apologized for the delay in payment and the initial wait for an inspection.
A firm spokesman told the Guardian: ‘We have a responsibility to all our members to ensure the value of claims is verified and, in this case, we need more assurance about the costs involved in repairing the damage.’
MailOnline has contacted NFU Mutual for comment.
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