A SHAKEN Greenock widow says her 'nerves are shattered' after coming within inches of serious injury when the ceiling suddenly collapsed in her bedroom.

Catherine Reay had a lucky escape following the dramatic incident at her Rose Street home of 40 years at the end of July.

But now the OAP in her mid-70s has been told that her insurance will NOT pay out to cover the substantial damage, leaving her facing a £4,000 repair bill.

Greenock Telegraph:

The cause of the collapsed ceiling has been attributed to general wear and tear and a lack of maintenance, according to Bank of Scotland's assessors.

This leaves Mrs Reay facing a potential £4,000 bill and an eight-week wait for repairs.

She told the Telegraph: "The morning before my daughter Maria had noticed a wee crack in the ceiling.

"I went into my bed on the Saturday night and it was fine, then I came home on Sunday afternoon after a day out at Lady Alice Bowling Club and went into my room to put my coat away and noticed the crack had got bigger.

"It was about over a foot long.

"We called my cousin and he came up and told me not to go back into the room. That's when we started getting the stuff out.

"Within about 10 minutes the whole thing came down."

Greenock Telegraph:

Catherine said she only just managed to rescue her late husband's ashes from the room before the ceiling came crashing down.

She feels that she has been left high and dry by her insurers and has lodged a complaint over her case.

Catherine said: "It's as though they [insurers] just don't give a damn, they've left us in the lurch.

"I have been paying all that money and they even took emergency cover.

Greenock Telegraph:

"They told us they could put me in a hotel but I would've had to pay every penny back.

"In all the years I've been with them it's only twice I've tried to claim and I've had bother.

"Everyone should double-check the terms of their home insurance policy because I would hate to see this happen to anyone else."

The pensioner suffers from respiratory problems and has been moving between couches at her own home and her daughter's address while she waits for the ceiling to be replaced.

Maria, who helped remove the rubble and strip what was left of the ceiling and walls, said: "I was such in a state the next day, I was walking around with tears tripping me from the shock of it."

Greenock Telegraph:

Catherine added: "My nerves are shattered and I'm not sleeping. I'm listening out for every wee noise in case something else comes down."

It's understood the initial insurance claim was raised citing water damage as the cause of the collapsed ceiling but assessors found no evidence that water had been a contributing factor and so they turned down the claim.

Instead Catherine has been offered a £75 compensation payment and help to cover the cost of any damaged contents in the room.

The bank have also apologised over their handling of the case.

A Bank of Scotland spokesperson said: "We aim to always be there for our customers when they need us the most and we empathise with the difficult situation that Mrs Reay is in.

"As there was no evidence of a water leak, we were unable to accept the claim for buildings damage, however, we will cover the cost of any contents damaged because of the collapsed ceiling.

"We also recognise we could have handled the overall claim better for the customer, and for that we are sorry.”