Burgled and left terrifed

Faith177

Mike_Shaw wrote: »

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.

What did they actually take OP?

If they were able to take 16K worth of stuff but you were only insured for 20K in total on your policy then it seems that you may have been underinsured from when you took the policy out and this might need to be explained to the insurer

Mike_Shaw_2

Faith177 wrote: »

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

Oh no but my policy has been running for 3 years and I never amended it from day 1.

I purchased 2 Mac laptops in 2013 that combined cost around 3.5k. My wife moved in April with her items around 4k, which altogether added up to about 8k off items.

Would it not have been my fault if more than 20k of items were stolen, if I am under 20k why would they think that.

Horseunderwater

Stop paying attention to hearsay/ rumours. Do the paperwork as needed, then wait & see. sometimes they may come back, but you've now taken action with new locks/Alarm etc. & never leave any keys near letterbox.

Quentin

Mike_Shaw wrote: »

Oh no but my policy has been running for 3 years and I never amended it from day 1.....
.

As people are trying to explain, you needed to insure the total value (to replace) all your contents.


Otherwise you are underinsured.


Read up on google the consequences of being underinsured when it comes to a claim

Faith177

Mike_Shaw wrote: »

Oh no but my policy has been running for 3 years and I never amended it from day 1.

I purchased 2 Mac laptops in 2013 that combined cost around 3.5k. My wife moved in April with her items around 4k, which altogether added up to about 8k off items.

Would it not have been my fault if more than 20k of items were stolen, if I am under 20k why would they think that.

It's difficult to explain but basically when taking out contents cover you are meant to take out cover for everything in your home not just the expensive items.

So for example if the insurers feel that the contents of your home is more £40K than £20K they would say you had underinsurered yourself by half the value of your contents. This means that with the claim they may only decided to pay half the claim amount so in your case of it being £16K they could possibly only pay out £8K. On the other hand they may look to increase your cover and any extra additional premium may be taken off the claim amount.

agrinnall

You may struggle with your laptops, many policies require you to list any electronic items above a certain value, and it sounds like you haven't done that.

FlameCloud

OP, the first thing you need to do is ask your insurer to put into writing the specific reasons why they have declined the claim. Don't forget though that they will also issue a policy schedule that would contain any warranties/endorsements (modifications to the base cover in the policy wording) that will normally contain any additional restrictions on policy cover.

On a positive note though, even if there is a generic 'Entry must be forcible and violent' warranty I cannot see that this would stand in the circumstances described. If they have managed to hook the keys through the letter box and use them to enter the premises this would constitute both forcible and violent entry into the premises.

Going onto a negative point, I think you will likely have an issue with the sum insured. The SI for contents will need to be sufficient enough to replace the entirety of the contents in your property - curtains, carpets, cloths, furniture, non fixed washing machines etc. You cannot simply pick and choose what you have cover for - aside from - contents policies at this level are all or nothing. If they have stolen £16,000 against an SI of £20,000 then I suspect they may raise it as an issue.

Mike_Shaw_2

I understand,

there are carpets, sofa, washing machine, dryer, etc etc which probably adds up to 6k.

RobCR_2

So sorry to hear about this and all the best with dealing with the insurance policy. Good to know you've taken the measures to prevent this happening again.

RuthnJasper

FlameCloud wrote: »

OP, the first thing you need to do is ask your insurer to put into writing the specific reasons why they have declined the claim. Don't forget though that they will also issue a policy schedule that would contain any warranties/endorsements (modifications to the base cover in the policy wording) that will normally contain any additional restrictions on policy cover.

On a positive note though, even if there is a generic 'Entry must be forcible and violent' warranty I cannot see that this would stand in the circumstances described. If they have managed to hook the keys through the letter box and use them to enter the premises this would constitute both forcible and violent entry into the premises.

Going onto a negative point, I think you will likely have an issue with the sum insured. The SI for contents will need to be sufficient enough to replace the entirety of the contents in your property - curtains, carpets, cloths, furniture, non fixed washing machines etc. You cannot simply pick and choose what you have cover for - aside from - contents policies at this level are all or nothing. If they have stolen £16,000 against an SI of £20,000 then I suspect they may raise it as an issue.

They haven't declined the claim - they are processing it and the OP is awaiting their response.

So sorry for this horrible situation, Mike_Shaw. I hope you get it sorted.

You've done the best thing with your new security set-ups and your wife and child weren't harmed. I know it's awful, but it won't always be this dreadful. Best wishes to you. x