Patio Doors - Glass Shattered

londoner2009

We woke to find the outer pane in one of the Patio doors in our living room shattered - looked up some stuff on the internet and several websites say that this is a known problem with toughened glass and that they can shatter all by themselves at anytime.

Anyone have any idea of a likely replacement cost or recomend a company within North West London (Zone 5 on Underground Area).

http://i53.tinypic.com/10rvlg9.jpg

Anyone thing this will be a problemt o claim on house insurance without any real cause?

Home is covered for building but not contents, the door not on the otuside of the house but between the main house and the extension.

McKneff

You really should have contents insurance, flood, fire, etc, etc. Ask for a combined quote and you should get a reasonable deal.

I can never understand why people dont have it. Youre whole life could go up in flames and you would have nothing but the clothes you stand in.

londoner2009

Yeah the insurance excess is about £75 and one quote we had was for £500 to have the glass replaced. I don't know if this is excessive and what would be involved normally.

Hardly anyone goes past the area where the door is - all we use that area for is storing food.

There is plenty written online about glass just shattering by itself

Spontaneous glass breakage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_glass_breakage

http://mimosa.com.sg/site/glass/Spontaneous%20Breakages.htm

http://pentagonprotection.com/home/commercial/spontaneous-glass-failure.aspx

http://www.abcb.gov.au/index.cfm?objectID=CBA92AB3-DB0E-11DE-B1DD001143D4D594

phill99

It could easily have been a weak pint in the glass. The trauma could have happened years ago and its just decided to go now. Your buildings insurance is the best bet.

McKneff is right - you should have contents insurance. Premiums cost from about £100 for basic cover. Thats mothinh compared with the likely loss.

londoner2009

Yes we looked into the whole contents insurance thing yesterday .. the house is actually my father's house and he's handled the insurance for all these years and by the looks of it the insurance company has been ripping him off for years - almost £500 a year for buildings only insurance for a 3 bedroom house in London.

I went on the price comparison websites and managed to find many policies that covered both contents and building from £100 to £200 per year.

He's in his 70's and never told the rest of us what he pays so we had no idea how many he was getting ripped off. He's been with the same company for 20 to 30 years+

Is claiming for the door likely to put up the price of future quotes from other companies?

Any ideas of likely price range for the glass to be replaced?

We're looking at switching insurance companies but my father is worried that claiming for the door now will push up his premiums with other companies in the future.

McKneff

If he's paying £500 annually now, they are ripping him off.

If you can shop around for say £200 and because of the incident, it will be say £250, he will be £250 into pocket,
Explain that to him

ormus

phone around always. ive now got buildings and contents cover for about 250 quid.
when i threatened to leave RBS (after ten years) they price matched the cheapest quote i got.

cojoba

Hello, I take out buildings and contents insurance every year, as well as Home Emergency Cover, and I always read the small print.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I tried to make a claim (my first one in over 25 years) as my locks on my patio door have broken and the glass has just developed misting between the glass, and they advised that I am not covered at all. I asked why and they said misting is wear and tear, and broken locks comes under 'maintenance'.

I wanted to ask if anyone else has ever had the same problem and been told this, or if anyone has ever got a new patio door on their insurance?

I am very unhappy, and makes me question as to whether it is worth having insurance at all!

macman

Yes, of course it's wear and tear. How old is the door? The misting is not caused by damage, but by age-related failure of the seals, and the locks have presumably also failed due to wear after some years. This is not what insurance is supposed to be for-it''s to cover deliberate or accidental damage.
Using your logic, you would expect your insurers to pay for a new roof when it wears out after 50 years or so?

ormus

ps
just renewed my insurance for tomorrow. buildings and contents for 167 quid!
played 3 insurance companies off agin each other.
result.

ic

Since when did buildings cover only insure the exterior of the property?

Buildings insurance covers all parts of the building - including doors, walls, floors, ceilings and fixtures such as fitted kitchen and bathroom. Contents insures anything that can be taken away from the home - furniture, carpets, electronics, pictures, curtains, mirrors, clothes, etc. Claim on your insurance.