ABOUT 200 customers who left documents for safe-keeping with a Bank of Ireland branch in Ballsbridge, Dublin have been discovering the unexpected damage caused by last October’s floods.
The bank on Pembroke Road had stored the documents in a basement safe but the basement was submerged in 4½ ft of water in last October’s floods.
Local resident Maryalicia Post was one of the customers who had left a box of documents with the bank for safe keeping. A journalist and travel writer, she had brought her most treasured documents to the bank in case of fire or flooding in her own home but they were badly damaged in the recent flood.
The documents include the deeds to her home, which date back to 1840. “Some of the deeds are quite beautiful with the old handwriting and red seals. I had thought of having them framed,” she said. Ms Post had hoped to pass them on to her children and grandchildren.
Her US marriage licence, detailing her 1962 marriage to John Post, was also in the box. She was disappointed to find that her late husband’s war records were also extensively damaged. Mr Post served as a US marine in the second World War and the box contained his discharge papers. His last posting was on Iwo Jima.
She received a letter from the bank in December, telling her there had been a flood and advising her that the bank could no longer offer a safe-keeping service because of this. It asked her to collect her documents. She said there was no suggestion that her documents had been damaged or she would have collected them immediately. When Ms Post collected the box last Friday she found the documents were mouldy and damp.
Ms Post said it was very unfortunate that the damage was not discovered earlier as some of the documents might have been rescued. She is now looking for advice on how to treat and protect the papers.
A spokeswoman for Bank of Ireland said it greatly regretted the flood damage and the distress caused to customers. She said it had taken some time to dry out the basement and safely retrieve the envelopes and this had to be done before customers were contacted.
She said that when customers lodged their items, they received a receipt stating that the bank was accepting the items, contents unseen, on the express condition that they would not be in any way liable or incur any responsibility in the event of their damage or destruction.
Ms Post said: “Obviously you put things in safe-keeping because they are the very things you want to keep safe. But in fact they would have been safer at home.”
