Burglary and making a claim

meer53

Twoyearplan wrote: »

Did your premium go up meer53?

Not a huge amount from what i can remember, it was 2008. I was paying more than £155 a year then though.

I had 2 laptops stolen, (among other things !) i was given Currys vouchers to replace them, my camera and my TV. Everything else was replaced like for like. I got a prepaid card for the jewellery they took.

They also took my brand new car, it was never recovered so i was paid out in full for that too with no problems. The Police sent round a security company to see me and they fitted sash jammers to all my doors, external lights front and back, free of charge for me.

HHarry

We had the same experience as Meer. £9k claim, but no Assessor came out.
Claim met in full. Where we chose to take cash there was a percentage reduction in the value (depending on item). My Ipad 1 was replaced with a 2 as that was the nearest equivalent.

Had to renew 2 months later, increase was £70 and that was with the same insurer.

dacouch

SteveJW wrote: »

Be very careful, for this amount it is likely that the insurers will appoint an assessor. Although they appear to be your friend their sole purpose is to reduce the amount the insurers will pay out
They will add up the value of everthing moveable in the house, including clothes, shoes, cutlery, bedding etc. One quick rule of thumb is if you turned your house upside down everthing that would fall out is moveable
Then they will calculate if you are underinsured, ie your contents are insured for £40,000 and they value the contents at £80,000, you are underinsured by 50%
The amount they will pay out is reduced by 50% so a £6,000 claim is reduced to £3,000

Good Luck

You mean Loss Adjuster.

A Loss Assessor is normally someone you appoint yourself to handle your claim, the (fairly significant) costs paid by you

Spikey1

SteveJW wrote: »

Be very careful, for this amount it is likely that the insurers will appoint an assessor. Although they appear to be your friend their sole purpose is to reduce the amount the insurers will pay out Good Luck

Suggest you take no notice of this ill-informed comment from SteveJW. As pointed out by another poster he displays his lack of knowledge by confusing Assessors with Adjusters....that's a good indicator of his credibility. As for Adjusters sole purpose being to reduce the amount the insurers pay out.......do you really think that an Adjuster or an Insurer doing this would be allowed to operate in the UK ? This is nothing but an urban myth.


Incidentally, most Adjusters are paid on a fee-scale...the higher the settlement ..the more they get paid. The reason for this is that, generally speaking, the higher the claim value...the more time it takes the Adjuster to sort it all out.


Ironically, the Insurers appoint Adjusters because customers might feel even more nervous if it was the Insurer themselves who were settling the claim. ......so they can't win here can they ?


The Adjuster's job is to act impartially and to make sure that the customer is treated fairly and receives everything they are entitled to under the policy cover.

*Scarlett

If you have had a theft claim within 12 months you could find it difficult to change insurers if you want to shop around. Even if you don't claim you would probably need to declare this as a loss as insurers may ask about incidents even if it did not result in a claim and burglary would be one that they want to know about.

You could claim on the contents as £6k is not worth losing with a £250 excess. If you can repair the patio doors for less than the £500 excess then it's not worth claiming on the buildings.

It is probably inevitable that your premium will increase due to this incident.

Be prepared that the insurer could ask that you have approved locks on windows and doors as well after this incident.

Bettie

So sorry you were burgled.
I too was burgled -last year. I would say definitely claim. Your doors may still be useable but the security of them may be compromised. I had a slight gap where force had been applied but my doors still locked. The window and door man from the insurer came and recommended new doors as although the old ones were probably repairable he wasn't happy as the frame was slightly twisted and the new ones are so much better than the old ones - looks as well as security. I paid them a £300 excess, that was the only excess I paid. On the contents - for jewellery I claimed and was paid four times more than I valued things. ( claimed about £1000 and after chatting on phone about my items they paid me roughly£4000- I was gobsmacked at the value they put on some old rings and watches) They also gave me a new Ipad same as the old one, a new laptop, maybe not quite as good but the cash offer wouldn't have bought me one of that quality so I accepted their offer, a similar cheap camera. I claimed for cleaning a cheap white rug as fingerprint dust was all over it and they gave me cash for a new rug. I claimed for a pillow case which was stolen to put the booty in and they gave me cash for a new duvet set. I had left £60 on the side before I went out, they gave me it back without question.
My insurance company was fantastic and the policy house and contents cost £99.

It's the first time I have claimed ( hopefully last)
I am still finding things missing months on.

TSx

They will have reduced the payment because you haven't adequately insured your contents. Some insurers will avoid your policy (which I think is unfair), but it is not unfair of them to reduce your claim to reflect the fact you've not correctly declared the risk you pose. If you disagree with the application of under insurance then there is a well defined complaints procedure with an independent (and free) arbitration services available via the financial ombudsman.

I'd say it's definitely worth claiming for £6k of contents!

SuperHan

Wammer wrote: »

Are you sure this is the case? When we were burgled we had to pay the excess on the buildings insurance for repairing the windows and paid the excess for the items stolen on the contents insurance.

Hmmm...

With my insurer this would be the case. I only know as I live in an apartment building, so I have contents insurance, but the building insurance is part of the service charge.

If I was burgled, I wouldn't be able to claim on the buildings insurance (as it doesn't cover theft etc, just structural claims so to speak), but my contents insurer would cover the cost of replacing locks and fixing doors...

xMonsoonx

Wammer wrote: »

Are you sure this is the case? When we were burgled we had to pay the excess on the buildings insurance for repairing the windows and paid the excess for the items stolen on the contents insurance.

What SuperHan is suggesting is completely false, contents insurance will only ever cover your contents - unless you are a tenant, but they will then need your tenancy agreement to see if you are legally liable or if it is the landlords responsibility to repair the buildings damage.

Back to the original poster, I'm not sure why you do not want to submit a claim, but either you replace the items yourself or you claim, the premium next year will not equal the settlement you receive based on the value of the items you have quoted.

SuperHan

xMonsoonx wrote: »

What SuperHan is suggesting is completely false, contents insurance will only ever cover your contents - unless you are a tenant, but they will then need your tenancy agreement to see if you are legally liable or if it is the landlords responsibility to repair the buildings damage.

NOT what my insurer said when I asked about this specifically.

I am not a tenant, I am a leaseholder, and in my circumstances, my insurer has said they will pay for repairs to doors for forced entry (granted, I didn't ask about windows, but on the 4th floor, it is highly unlikely anyone will gain entry that way).

I appreciate that it may be different for the OP given that he does have buildings insurance (I don't, the management company has this on my behalf), but it's not fair to say that what I'm saying is "completely false", it is true in some circumstances.