House burglary and insurance.

bigmike20vt_2

Hi

This is a hypothetical question and one I will hopefully never have to experience...

But since having my debit card stolen and money taken from account due to "not taking care of concealing my pin number" it has made me a little paranoid.

When I have work done on the house am I alone in trusting workmen and leaving them too it? (hell one job I had took over a week, surely you are not expected to take time off work for that long?)

But it occurs to me (never would have done before) that any one of these guys could get my key and make a copy of it.

Also, even the double glazing fitters, or a locksmith who fits your locks in theory could copy your key.

So, IF I was ever robbed, but it appeared a key was used to gain entry, would my home insurance be void or would the burden of proof be on the insurance to show I had done something wreckless?

thanks for any thoughts

M.

huckster

You may well not be covered unless there are signs of forcible and/or violent entry/exist. Have a read of the cover exclusions under your policy as they do vary. Someone recently raised the Halifax Home Insurance exclusion and they won't cover theft unless there were signs of forcible/violent entry or exit.

This would not only include the situation you describe but where locks has been subject to bumping or picking. Unless you had proof or they were caught, you might have real difficult

Personally I would make sure I had removed all items of value to safety, before letting contractors in to do work. I would make sure also that I only employed contractors I could trust. e.g a local well know longstanding company.

InsideInsurance

Most will cover theft for a family home even without signs of forced or violent entry. If you are living with non-family members then this is normally excluded. Ultimately every insurer has their own wordings and you should check them.

In addition to the above it can, if possible also be worth only giving them limited access. So last time I had people in we gave them a key to the back door which has deadbolts on it which can only be unlocked from the inside and are normally always locked therefore even if they did copy the key they couldn't get in.

sashman

Hi this is a bugbear of mine. Most manufacturers of window handles have keys that fit their ranges. Obviously different manufacturers have different shapes but often one size fits all.

Insurance companies INSIST key locking but bog standard windows (with key locking) as relatively easy to break into.Good companies offer improved security using stronger components that the police recognise through their Secured by design scheme, meaning windows and doors will withstand 5 or 10 minutes concerted efforts with burglar tools, yet insurance companies don't recognise sbd as being more secure than standard keys.

Don't forget if they are in the house it's easier to left them out (not key locking) rather than smashing their way out

Sashman