Burgled and left terrifed

Mike_Shaw_2

Hi All,

We were burgled on Saturday morning between 5am and 5:30am and there were no signs of any forced entry. My 4 year daughter was walking to our room from her bedroom only to shout 'Daddy' 'Mummy' the front door is open! We called the police straight away.

My wife left the keys on a cabinet beside the front door. The police officer told us a burglar could have took the keys using a method called fishing. The lock smith who came to change the locks said they could have also picked the lock.

Our neighbor saw a male carrying a large TV at 5am near his house (he lives two doors down from us) and promptly called the police, the police did not turn up. My neighbor then saw my car being taken by another male 30 minutes later.

We have Zurich Home Insurance policy but we are being told left right and center that we wont be paid out for our stolen items because there were no signs of forced entry. I have read over the documentation but can't see anything however I am worried that maybe I don't have a certain sheet that may say this.

We have lost everything almost 16k worth of contents and my insurance covered us up to 20k. I was deliberately leaving items off the list because I did not want it to be to high in case they did not pay out but I thought if they were stolen then I should. We lie awake every night scared if they come back and also scared the insurance won't pay out.

We did not have an alarm and the Burglars even went upstairs to the spare room, while we were sleeping. The police checked for fingerprints on my daughters bedroom handle as they may have gone in but luckily nothing found.

I have since had an alarm fitted, new locks, cctv as we feel they may come back. I found my car a day later smashed to pieces.

The police also said when they had the call at 5am they did a car search and found nothing, meaning they basically drove around my area. The police officer that saw us when we first called the police said they should at least walked to the house of my neighbor who made the call and if they would have they would have seen my front door wide open.

Do you think we will be insured as I didn't want to ask the insurance company over the phone I heard that they try to make things as difficult as possible.

Thank you.

Quentin

Check your policies wordings.

Though from what you say informing car and house insurers does look inevitable.

rs65

Mike_Shaw wrote: »

but we are being told left right and center that we wont be paid out for our stolen items because there were no signs of forced entry.

Who is telling you this?

Notify insurers if you haven't done so already.

wiogs

I am aware of two friends who were burgled by this method.

One had three cars stolen, two of them written off as they were smashed up.

Insurance paid out without any problems.

Daniel54

Mike_Shaw wrote: »

Hi All,

Do you think we will be insured as I didn't want to ask the insurance company over the phone I heard that they try to make things as difficult as possible.

Thank you.

A quick look through the Home policy documents on Zurich's website confirms that ,on both the policies there,theft is covered and proof of forcible entry is not required unless you have let or sublet the property,which is not the case in your circumstances

The policies also require that the police have been informed ( which they have) and that you inform the insurer as soon as possible of any possible loss to the policy ,which I would recommend you do as a matter of urgency.

Mike_Shaw_2

rs65 wrote: »

Who is telling you this?

Notify insurers if you haven't done so already.

We have two neighbors who came to have a nosey while the police were taking notes. One worked for Halifax and the other said they used to work in Insurance. We told insurance company straight away..we said we don't know how they get it because we don't. It's as simple as that.

Quentin

If you told your insurers about all this last Saturday, then by now they should have been in touch (esp. regarding your car!)


Get onto both insurers and ask what is happening.

Mike_Shaw_2

Sorry yes, the car was found by me a day later around a mile away, I called the police and it was taken for fingerprints and now is being checked by the insurance company. From what she told me over the phone it could be a Cat D or C.

As for the home insurance, they basically asked us to send them a list of stolen contents by email. We had togather all the receipts and scan them, find pictures of items which we did not have receipts for and also wait for the lock smith to post out his receipt as he did not bring his invoice book with him on the day. I called them yesterday and said roughly how long do these things take and his answer was ... there is no answer it all depends on case by case . We will be in touch.

We have given the crime number to both insurance companies. The police did not take a list of items that were stolen because he had to leave us due to somebody hanging themselves, he said a form would come in the post for us to fill out which we received today.

David_InsDef

Mike, your original post says that you've understated the claim - I don't think this is a good idea. You should be up front with the insurer about everything that's been stolen and just let them deal with it. There's a danger they may not pay out if they establish that you've knowlingly misrepresented the extent of the loss.

Regards

David

Faith177

Mike_Shaw wrote: »

Hi All,

We were burgled on Saturday morning between 5am and 5:30am and there were no signs of any forced entry. My 4 year daughter was walking to our room from her bedroom only to shout 'Daddy' 'Mummy' the front door is open! We called the police straight away.

My wife left the keys on a cabinet beside the front door. The police officer told us a burglar could have took the keys using a method called fishing. The lock smith who came to change the locks said they could have also picked the lock.

Our neighbor saw a male carrying a large TV at 5am near his house (he lives two doors down from us) and promptly called the police, the police did not turn up. My neighbor then saw my car being taken by another male 30 minutes later.

We have Zurich Home Insurance policy but we are being told left right and center that we wont be paid out for our stolen items because there were no signs of forced entry. I have read over the documentation but can't see anything however I am worried that maybe I don't have a certain sheet that may say this.

We have lost everything almost 16k worth of contents and my insurance covered us up to 20k. I was deliberately leaving items off the list because I did not want it to be to high in case they did not pay out but I thought if they were stolen then I should. We lie awake every night scared if they come back and also scared the insurance won't pay out.

We did not have an alarm and the Burglars even went upstairs to the spare room, while we were sleeping. The police checked for fingerprints on my daughters bedroom handle as they may have gone in but luckily nothing found.

I have since had an alarm fitted, new locks, cctv as we feel they may come back. I found my car a day later smashed to pieces.

The police also said when they had the call at 5am they did a car search and found nothing, meaning they basically drove around my area. The police officer that saw us when we first called the police said they should at least walked to the house of my neighbor who made the call and if they would have they would have seen my front door wide open.

Do you think we will be insured as I didn't want to ask the insurance company over the phone I heard that they try to make things as difficult as possible.

Thank you.

Sorry to add to your worries OP but

Bit in bold = they could feel that you have purposly underinsured yourself (which it seems you might have) this means even if you were succesful in claim they may apply an average to your claim so you won't get the full 16K anyway

Mike_Shaw_2

Hi,

It was just basically a £25 coat they took and a £5 USB so I thought leave it off, but I did add it onto the final list before I sent it. I just thought these little items are going to make the claim bigger and bigger and I have never claimed for anything in my life, I was just so scared of them seeing a final sum and saying no way after the stories I have heard.