Insurer BF&M has defended its right not to pay out for vehicles parked at the airport during Hurricane Fabian, claiming motorists who left cars there did not take "reasonable care".

CEO Glenn Titterton has hit back at a motorist who is threatening legal action after his Ford Escort, parked at the airport on the Thursday before the hurricane struck, was written off, with the insurer refusing to pay out.

"First let me make it quite clear that there is no policy singling out the long term car park at the airport for special treatment, although, because of the number of vehicles, this tends to have a higher profile than other cases," said Mr. Titterton.

"Enshrined in insurance law is what is referred to as a 'duty of care'. An insurer will not want to insure an item that the insured will not take care of. This is a simple common sense rule that comes into play in many different circumstances.

"In hurricanes, low-lying areas are of particular concern because of storm surge and flooding.

"It is common knowledge that items left in such areas are very likely to be damaged by storm surge or flooding and a person who leaves, for example, a car in such an area cannot be said to be exercising the care that would be expected of a reasonable man. One such low-lying area just happens to be the long-term car park at the airport.

"Unfortunately there are always a small number of cases, whether they be boats, cars, houses or commercial buildings, where the insured has not taken reasonable care. In these cases individual insurers have to make difficult decisions and sometimes, unfortunately, this decision is not to pay for damage that could have been prevented had reasonable care been exercised."

Furious Shane Brown, a 32-year-old recruitment manager, contacted The Royal Gazette when he was told he wouldn't be paid out by BF&M despite offering them written proof that other motorists who had left vehicles there had been.

Another man who left his vehicle there on a Thursday was given an ex-gratia payment while a man who parked there on Wednesday was paid out in full.

Mr. Titterton was unwilling to comment on specific cases.