New house just broken into between exchange and completion!

Mojisola

bpk101 wrote: »

According to the estate agents (who were terrible throughout and no someone i trust!) the only damage was to the locks, which they've now replaced. I've seen photos of the replacement locks which my solicitor emailed me just now and they look far from adequate!

Your house insurance will probably specify the standard of lock required so make sure the new ones don't invalidate your insurance.

bpk101

Mojisola wrote: »

Your house insurance will probably specify the standard of lock required so make sure the new ones don't invalidate your insurance.

We have taken out an unoccupied insurance cover as the house will be empty for 12 weeks while we renovate. However... i will need to check with the insurers re: the new locks installed and whether our policy will be affected by this.

Are we at risk contacting our insures 2 days from completion? Can this affect the sale or our mortgage in any way?

AlexMac

If it was me, I'd only involve my insurers if I was intending to claim- and arguably, the cost in terms of increased premiums for a couple of years could mean a trivial claim for new locks isn't worth it. And in any case, you say it now has new locks. But, as someone above says, move on.

Inspect if you like, but more importantly, when you take possession, make sure all entry points - doors or windows - are properly secureable.

I always change the main deadlock (usually a simple DIY job) and often change the barrel of the Yale type slam-lock (even easier) when I buy a house- who knows who might have keys! But don't take anything for granted. We were burgled within 2 weeks of buying, because although all our (timber) windows had decent looking locks, these were only secured by half-inch wood screws; which popped under pressure from a crowbar to a 1st floor window! (they even brought their own ladder or found one in another local garden- and got in at about 7pm one winter evening)

We now have added deadlocks on all external doors (your insurer will expect this at least one of these to be 5 or 7 lever and 'insurance rated'), but more important, extra strong window cztches on 1.5 or 2inch screws. Cost me less than £100 for a 4-bed house.

No problems for the past 3 years touch wood. Your local Police may also offer Crime Prevention visits as our Neighbourhood Watch cop contacts do; ring 111 or search by postcode at http://www.ourwatch.org.uk/your_local_area

So sort it out!

cloo

All insurances responsibility goes to you at exchange, so this falls on you. A bummer, but it can be dealt with. At least it's not as bad as what happened to my brother's brother-in-law; they had burst pipes between exchange and completion, which totally wrecked the house so they couldn't move in for months!

eddddy

bpk101 wrote: »

We have taken out an unoccupied insurance cover as the house will be empty for 12 weeks while we renovate. However... i will need to check with the insurers re: the new locks installed and whether our policy will be affected by this.

Are we at risk contacting our insures 2 days from completion? Can this affect the sale or our mortgage in any way?

It may be better not to contact your insurers (unless their policy says you must).

This may be recorded as an 'incident' (even if there is no claim), which might impact future insurance premiums.

Hoploz

OP you need to go and check the house over! It sounds as though for one reason you are relying in other people for information. If it were me I'd have been straight down there, however inconvenient. And I would be fitting extra locks regardless of what has been out on at the moment, in case it happens again. Who is doing the renovation work before you move in? Are you going to be giving keys out to strangers? ..... more lock changing!

bpk101

I went to the property within a couple of hours of getting the phone call about the incident.

No damage other than the front doors lock replacement. Alarmingly though 2 x windows in the house were open when i arrived there with the estate agents ... who is responsible for securing the house between exchange and completion?! Needless to say the agent with me got a bit of an ear-bashing :mad:

Well...on leaving the property i met our new neighbour and she filled us all in on what happened. Mid December a young woman arrived at the house, called out a locksmith claiming she'd lost her keys and had the locks changed on the front door. She then advertised the house for let online ... taking £1500 cash deposits off two unsuspecting gentleman in the process! The alarm was only raised when our neighbour spotted the advert, realised it was a scam and called the police. The police arrived, caught the young woman at the property and arrested her. The neighbour is at the police station today picking the perpetrator out of a line up!

This story was all verified by the police.

We won't bother the insurance company over this... but we do need to secure the property on completion tomorrow.

We won't be moving any belongings in for at least 3 months whilst building work is going on so the house will remain empty... but what can we do as a very secure but temporary measure given (as Hoploz pointed out) we will need to hand keys over to architects and builders for a while. We don't want to invest in any expensive long-term solution now that we'll need to replace again in 3 months.

The house is a 2up/2down Victorian mid-terrace. Double bay window and front door at front. Patio doors, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom windows at rear.

Thanks

jjlandlord

Buy one of two of these "Premises under 24h CCTV monitoring" notices and place them prominently at the front of the property.

[Deleted User]

Get the neighbour a very large bunch of flowers and nice bottle of wine. She has saved you a whole heap of trouble.

movilogo

If contact exchange means buyer is now obliged to buy the property, what is the responsibility of seller in the meantime?

Surely it can't be right that seller has no obligation to keep the property in good state of repair? I was under impression that until completion is done, seller is still owner of the house!!