Home insurance criteria and questions...

martyp

Hi all,

I'm currently getting quotes for home insurance and there are several questions that I'm often unsure about and wondering what others on here think...

1) Living within 400 metres of a 'watercourse'
Where I live there is a canal about 200 metres away, the other side of a hill which is about 30 metres high. I am higher up than the canal and can see no way possible ever of it causing flood damage to my house. Yet technically, I think it's within 400 metres...

2) Area subject to land slides etc
There was a lot of mining where I live and I think a house nearby was demolished when the estate was built about 20 years ago because of ground movement or something. My house is absolutely fine, so are all the others in the road.

3) Live in a neighbourhood watch area
There are little neighbourhood watch stickers on lamposts on the estate, does that qualify? I can't find any information on local neighbourhood watch in my area...

4) Locks on doors
What are these 5 lever mortice deadlock etc. things they refer to?

martyp

Many thanks Dan Thomas, I think that pretty much explains everything. I take it that if I have a lock with a regular Yale type small key then it's nothing special?

mattymoo

Yale locks can also be opened by reaching through a broken glass pane in the door. They also provide an easy egress route if a thief has entered elsewhere, say via a broken window.

BTW - we all call them Yale locks but that is a brand, like Hoover to vacuum cleaner. The proper terms are rim lock or nightlatch.

As for the flooding issue - have a look at the Environment Agency flood maps. A lot of insurers use systems that are either far more sophisticated than the EA data or use the EA data to drive their systems. Either way, if the EA map shows you are clear of flooding, the insurers should be happy.

dacouch

1) Declare the canal, in most case they will not have a problem with it. Insurers tend to use the following tool from the Environmental Agency as a guide to whether your home is at risk from flooding (They do also use other tools but this is quite a goood guide). All you have to do is put your post code in

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/37793.aspx

2) The question will actually be along the lines of a) Does you home have a history of subsidence or has ever been underpinned. In addition they normally ask b) Are you aware of any history of subsidence or landslids in your neighboorhood. (This is widely understood that they are asking are you aware of any homes in your street and sometimes the surrounding streets.

Some Insurers will also ask if there is a history of mining in the area, if you are in a mining area you would normally know about it and when you bought the home the Coal Board would normally provide a report of mining in your area

3) Most Insurers will only give the Neighboor Hood Watch discount if the local area Neighboorhood Watch Scheme is registered with the police AND you are a member of it. If you select this discount and are not entitled to it Insurers sometimes refuse your claim or impose a larger excess for theft claims. The answer is to check with the Insurer you are using to see if you have to be a member etc.

4) A 5 lever mortice dead lock is a lock that you cannot open from the inside of the home without the key (Normally a Chubb Type Key) and has the relevent British Standard (You can find this on the lock where the mortice comes out of the lock if it conforms.

Bear in mind that if you answer that you have these type locks and / or key operated window locks that the Insurers normally apply a Warranty to your policy. This can mean sometime that if you get broken into without signs of a break in or you havn't used the locks they refuse the claim or impose a much higher excess for the theft claim. You will find the discount the Insurers offer for the discount is around £8 on the average policy, I personally recommend my clients do not go for this discount so their policy does not have the Warranty. (Certain postcodes eg London will have no option but to have these types of locks to obtain cover)

dacouch

P.S you can break into a Yale Lock with a simple key in 30 seconds and it normally does not leave signs of a forced entry. Its best to use a mortice deadlock if you want to secure your exit doors

lisyloo

Locks on doors

Be aware that if you accept a discount for anything then you must ALWAYS use that facility.
So if you declare window locks then you must have every window locked.
If you have an alarm, then you must ALWAYS have it on and (if specified) have it maintained and (if specified) maintain the contract to the monitoring company.

I have an alarm but I don't declare it on my house insurance, because I know that very occassionally I forget to put it on and s*ds law is that the day I claim will be the day I forget.

These discounts can be quite small, so make sure that if you take them that you ALWAYS use the facility.

Same with car insurance and garages.
If you say you keep it in the garage and it gets stolen from the road outside your house, you might find you are not covered or you have to pay an extra excess as you have not complied with the risks you declared.

martyp

Many thanks all, great advice. I checked the EA website and I'm definitely not at risk according to that, the canal water level would have to rise about 30 metres to go over the hill and flood my house!
Rim lock? I'm sure I've seen that as an alternative to 'other lock type', good to know that terminology as well.

mattymoo

There are a couple of rim locks that do meet the criteria of BS:3621 - the british standard for security locks. The manufacturers are Yale (PBS1 iirc), Chubb and Ingersol although the last one is very rare.

They are quite expensive - around £70-100 compared to around £35 for a BS mortice deadlock. The handle on the inside of the door is also secured with a key.

dacouch

If you buy a yale type lock and thats the only type of lock you rely on look for one that is an "Anti Bump Lock" as they are more secure

mattymoo

dacouch wrote: »

If you buy a yale type lock and thats the only type of lock you rely on look for one that is an "Anti Bump Lock" as they are more secure

Never heard that term before Dacouch. Is it known as something else as well? I only ask because before specialising in industrial liability surveys I was a composite surveyor for 15 years and dealt with security stuff most days.

martyp

Doh! This watercourse thing is a real set back for me. I've run quotes on price comparison websites stating that I'm within 200 metres of a 'watercourse (I measured the distance on Google Earth - it's about 130m away). About half of the insurers won't insure me. I know that with some there's a good chance of speaking to them and them understanding like with the EA concept but it reduces the benefit of using the comparison websites. I thought alternatively I could not state about proximity to the watercourse, get the quotes and then tell them over the phone? Would that be legally wrong by being untruthful to get the initial quote online? I wouldn't be lying about it when getting the policy...
It's purely the risk factor of the canal flooding my house isn't it. I would very very happily take full responsibility and happily void my policy if that could ever happen. Apart from a domestic incident or if it rains 40 days and 40 nights it's very much impossible that I'd make a flooding claim...