DAVE Norton was saddened but not surprised when he heard that Elders Insurance had failed to back the insurance claim made by The Rock couple George and Mandy Goward after flood waters ripped through their home.Instead of feeling shocked by the apparent ruthlessness of the rural insurer, he was struck by an innate sense of déjá vu.Last July, Mr Norton and his partner Rose O'Sullivan were in a similar position to that of the Gowards after a fire burnt their Lockhart home to the ground.But although there was nothing suspicious surrounding the circumstances of the fire and their policy covered fire damage, Mr Norton and Ms O'Sullivan's claim was rejected on a technicality.That being that Mr Norton had a criminal conviction on his record from 20 years earlier (for unlawful possession of a motor vehicle) and failed to disclose it when he applied for the policy."It was rejected because of what was in the fine print," Mr Norton said."I was a bit of a knockabout when I was a kid and I'm not proud of that ... when does a man stop paying for his past?"I think it's putrid what Elders have done to rural communities."For that reason, Mr Norton - a company director for a large trucking firm - plans to get his revenge by launching his own public awareness campaign.After his claim was rejected last year Mr Norton branded the perimeter fence surrounding his burnt down property with spray-painted slogans to the effect that an Elders insurance policy wasn't worth the paper it was written on.Now he plans to replicate that on a much larger scale by painting a 13-metre container and parking his truck outside "every Elders in the Riverina" in an effort to embarrass the company into revisiting its policy.The Daily Advertiser yesterday contacted Elders national claims manager Brenton Crabb but he said he "wouldn't comment on an individual case".