Defence minister Quentin Davies insured antiques on expenses

Quentin Davies in his office at Portculis House

Quentin Davies, who employs his French wife, Chantal, as his parliamentary assistant, nominated the listed building in Lincolnshire as his second home, while his main home was a small flat near Westminster.

Mr Davies, a former Tory frontbencher who defected to Labour when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007, spent close to the maximum under the additional costs allowance (ACA) in each year from 2004 to 2008.

Among the items he claimed for were buildings insurance for his historic home and contents insurance to cover antiques and other valuable items.

Mr Davies, the MP for Grantham and Stamford and a defence minister, told The Sunday Telegraph last night: “I believe that all my expense claims have at all times been entirely legitimate. I have absolutely nothing to hide.

“I choose to live in a house in Lincolnshire, the upkeep and maintenance of which certainly costs considerably more than the total allowance available under the ACA, and always has and will. I make no complaint about that – it is simply a personal choice.”

“Window frame works”, at a total cost of £10,033.33, appeared in a claim submitted by Mr Davies for January to March 2005, which was funded by the Commons fees office.

He said last night: “The windows were in a bad state and in some cases the sashes had begun to rot. The job clearly needed to be done and soon. We had secured quotes before contracting for it.”

Later that year, Mr Davies claimed contents insurance as well as buildings insurance.

He said: “You will notice that I have not claimed insurance each year (though I obviously insure every year).” He said he believed he had claimed for insurance for only four out of his 22 years as an MP.

In May 2008, the minister wrote to the fees office to say he had “inadvertently miscalculated” the amount of mortgage interest he paid when making a claim under the ACA for the period November 2007 to March 2008.

He asked officials to “destroy” his previous claim form, which included a mortgage claim for £9,100.38, and to replace it with a new form which included a lower mortgage interest claim — this time for £3,675.

However, instead of offering to repay the extra money, Mr Davies added new claims for utility bills, council tax and insurance, making a total of £9,057. This, he noted in his letter, was precisely the sum which had already been paid to him as “the balance remaining available to me in the ACA”.

The extra items included £1,079.81 for insurance, £172 for a fire extinguisher package, £423.13 for the annual maintenance of a burglar alarm system and £115 for having an Aga serviced.

Mr Davies said yesterday the mortgage error was an “honest mistake” and added: “I immediately corrected it as soon as I realised what had happened. There was no point in sending a cheque to the fees office and receiving payment a few days later for the same amount, since I had other legitimate expenses to claim for.”