A family whose home was partially destroyed in an explosion last October have still not been able to move back in - and they blame poor service from their house insurer.

Catherine Thompson, 46, said: "It was on Sunday, October 28; my father came over to do some work.

"My daughter Amy went to work and I was out with my son Ethan.

"My finance, Wayne Sullivan, was left helping my dad; they were going to instal a radiator.

"They didn't know, but the blowtorch that my dad had set to one side was leaking and when he did a second cut to the pipe with an angle grinder the spark ignited the leaking gas and boom."

The explosion took out the entire living room, ceiling and the roof of their bungalow in Clearway, Addington.

Mrs Thompson said: "My father was not injured; my mum had superficial burns, but my fiance got the full impact, suffering, second degree burns to his face, neck, head, hands and feet and was rushed to East Grinstead burns unit."

Fortunately he has since made a full recovery.

Mrs Thompson described returning home to a scene of chaos, with the road filled with police, fire and ambulance vehicles, and one half of her home missing.

It was then her difficulties with her insurer began.

She could not get Admiral Insurance to commission out-of-hours tradesmen to secure her home.

In the end the council boarded it up temporarily.

She said: "Our home was left wide open to the elements until Monday when it was boarded across, but the roof wasn't covered for days. So everything inside got wet."

Unable to persuade her insurers to act, Mrs Thompson paid £5,000 to private contractors to secure the property.

She said: "Four months on and I still have had no help from Admiral. No alternative accommodation was offered and only a non-prejudicial offer of £1,000 was given to me to buy clothes as we only had what we stood up in. Even that didn't appear in my account until two and a half weeks later.

"We've been interviewed by two loss adjusters, forensics and had a three-hour recorded interview by a fraud investigator.

"It's been hell. I've been signed off work with stress."

Mrs Thompson said has reported her case to the financial ombudsman. In the meantime she and her children are living in cramped conditions at her finace's house in Larkfield, with only a fraction of their belongings.

She said: "It's disgusting that they treat people this way. I'm a single parent of two kids and it's hard."

Admiral Insurance said: "We appreciate that Ms Thompson, her fiancé and family have suffered a very traumatic incident at home and are keen to bring this matter to a conclusion as quickly as possible.

"When Ms Thompson contacted us following the explosion, we advised Ms Thompson to proceed with any necessary temporary repairs with the local authority to secure the property, such as the boarding of windows and erecting of scaffolding, and that we would cover these costs.

"Ms Thompson informed us that alternative accommodation would not be required because she and her two teenage children would be staying with her partner while her home was repaired.

"We provided £1,000 to Ms Thompson for general clothing and supplies, but were unable to make this payment until November 9 when the correct bank details were confirmed.

"However, we recognise that the delay in this payment does not reflect the excellent customer service that we strive for and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

"A loss assessor was instructed by Ms Thompson and a preliminary visit was made by our loss adjuster on November 5.

"At this time, there were some circumstances surrounding the claim that we have been seeking to clarify. This clarification is on-going and we are yet to receive the documentation from Ms Thompson or the loss asessor working on her behalf.

"While we are very sorry that the claim is taking longer than we would like, unfortunately we cannot progress this claim until the required documentation has been received."