Will an unlocked door invalidate the insurance?

WLITC

I live in a shared how and one person seems to think its perfectly acceptable to leave the back door unlocked even while everyone is at work and annoyingly, is also the one that is most likely to use it and then leave it open.

Naively, she also thinks because we live in a rough area (its really not the best) that no one would be interested in breaking in and stealing things :mad:.

Anyway, in the hopes of talking some sense into her I wanted to confirm if leaving the door unlocked would invalidate the policy in the event of a claim?

Browntoa

it would, they will be looking for signs of forced entry to the property

opinions4u

The best place to look would be your policy terms and conditions - specifically the exclusions section.

Page 10 of this example specifically excludes "Theft not involving forcible and violent entry to, or exit from, your home".

adamc260

Just leave all her posessions by the back door whilst its unlocked... if she values them she'll soon learn to lock a door. How do some people function in the world lol =/

SAHD_Jim

Some insurance aimed at tenants in multiple occupancy can make allowances for such things, so it depends on your policy.

Best bet though is get your other housemates together and have an intervention with your rogue housemate, asking her if she is prepared to foot the bill if insurance doesn't pay out and she is responsible.

huckster

Q. Do you really trust this person 100% ?

Is there a chance that there is a motive behind her justifying leaving the door unlocked ? Only ask this as it sounds very odd behaviour.

In this situation, I think I would suggest that either she locks the door or looks for somewhere else to live.

scottishblondie

Lol everyone I know would equate a rough area with making absolutely sure that all doors and windows are locked!! Either she is a total numpty, or as huckster says perhaps there is some ulterior motive?

RuthnJasper

huckster wrote: »

Q. Do you really trust this person 100% ?

Is there a chance that there is a motive behind her justifying leaving the door unlocked ? Only ask this as it sounds very odd behaviour.

In this situation, I think I would suggest that either she locks the door or looks for somewhere else to live.

I agree with Huckster - I wouldn't want to live with a person who showed such little respect for her housemates or their property. It's not just thieving either. Some nutter could get in and hide upstairs if he knew the first person to return to the house alone would be female... (I remember one of my college tutors telling us that this had happened at her shared house when she was at Uni. It was enough of a sordid story to leave a firm impression in the mind).

Also, when my brother was in shared housing whilst at Uni., they used to get a nutter regularly visiting to hammer on the door shouting filth - same nutter would also steal the girls' undies from the washing-line and post them back through the letterbox when he'd "used" them . My brother is tall and muscular, so he moved into the downstairs bedroom nearest the door in case of serious trouble. There was a lot of this type of thing in the area where he lived as people (whether rightly or wrongly) tend to view Uni. students as mostly p1$$ed or st0ned party-ers and therefore potentially easy-pickings.

I very much doubt that the insurance company would be sympathetic to unlocked doors in an unattended house.

The girl should either move out or wise-up - for her own safety as much as anyone else's.

Good luck. x

PasturesNew

I used to lock my back door when it was a sunny day and I was on the patio and just popped inside to the loo which was beside the back door.

It only takes 10 seconds for a scroat to enter an unlocked door.

I think it was on these forums I read where somebody had taken their dog out for a walk early one morning, just round the block, wife/daughter still in bed .... and they were robbed in the 10 minutes it took them to get round the block and back.

Could you completely strip her room bare when she's next in the shower, to show how quickly it can be done?

RuthnJasper

PasturesNew wrote: »

I used to lock my back door when it was a sunny day and I was on the patio and just popped inside to the loo which was beside the back door.

It only takes 10 seconds for a scroat to enter an unlocked door.

I think it was on these forums I read where somebody had taken their dog out for a walk early one morning, just round the block, wife/daughter still in bed .... and they were robbed in the 10 minutes it took them to get round the block and back.

Could you completely strip her room bare when she's next in the shower, to show how quickly it can be done?

That sounds like a useful salutary lesson. One of my colleagues once had the back of his van emptied by some thieving g1ts in the time it took for him to pop back into his shed for a tool he'd forgotten! Ought to make it an Olympic sport - worthless scroats would get the gold every time. :mad:

alistair.long

This is something I can relate to, my sister had got married and left her jewlery in her room.
I always told them to keep the door locked as there always in a diffrent room and you cant hear people coming in.

Anyway a lot of gold got robbed, nobody knows who it was, but everyone assumes it was a relative, who else would have gone up in broad daylight.

So moral of the story lock your door or put a hidden camera in and expect your things to go missing.
Put a front door lock on the back door so that it is locked when you close it.

Who will you sue if your things go missing? most likly that person will run away from your lawsuit