House Insurance Claim Problems

pommy02

I was wondering if anybody could give me advice as I am a bit stuck. I returned home from working away for a week to find that my house had been burgled. My fitted kitchen was stolen which is the worst thing and also some other items and damage. The problem is that when i tried to unlock the door it was already unlocked. I did definately not leave it unlocked and noone had a key. My insurance company now after 5 months of talking to them have said they wont pay out because there was no damage. Any advice will be greatly received.

dacouch

Is it a upvc multi lock door by any chance?

pommy02

no it is a wooden door and it was an era lock

dacouch

Which Insurer is it and how long were you away for?

Any other signs of a break in

pommy02

PaymentShield or RS&A. Monday morning till friday night. No other signs at all. Had police round, they obviously suspected me but also noone on the street saw anything.

dacouch

Is there a history of break ins around your area especially recently

pommy02

not that i know of. The police said that it sounded like someone that was known to them but no prints or anything were found. Can a 5 lever mortise lock be picked without leaving damage?

dacouch

A locksmith would have to answer that to be certain but from watching a lock smith work there would be no signs of damage execept maybe scratches on the internal mechanism. However 5 lever mortice deadlocks do take a degree of skill to pick.

Your policy contains a requirement that you use all the locks when you go out (Most companies do not have this warranty unless you select a discount for it or live in say london).

I would suggest you speak to a good local locksmith and explain the situation, he may be able to suggest ways of discovering if it has been picked eg him inspecting it. If you genuinly locked the door when you went out then your policy should pay out if you can prove this.

The wording on your policy in my opinion is quite onerous as you even have to lock all the doors and windows when you go to bed except for the windows of the rooms your sleeping in.

These security warranties are my pet hate as I find people take them and receive a discount of around £8 and then have a warranty similar to yours. They often do not realise the implications. I personally recommend customers avoid these types of warranties or take the discount to avoid this type of thing happening.

Like I said earlier you need to prove that the chances were you did lock the door, so try a local locksmith and keep and eye in the paper for other people who have been broken into without any force

Hope this helps

FlameCloud

If the insurers are relying on a breach of warranty to avoid the claim, I am assuming that they have proven this was the method of entry and exit?

Kittian_the_Blue

From the look of the policy wording, the engaging of locks is a condition precedent rather than a warranty, therefore the OP will have to prove that the locks were engaged. Without some expert evidence showing the locks being in place, the claim is likely to remain declined.