Home Policy clauses

Supernova

Just reading the Direct Line policy booklet and wondered about a couple of things.

Not covered for theft of money from the home or anything from a car unless 'force and violence' is used. So, I wondered how easy it is to pick locks these days or leave no evidence of a break-in? 5 lever and car types.

Also not covered for robbery whilst items being carried or worn. So if you are pickpocketted you're not covered. Best to say you accidentally left them or dropped them I guess.


Are DL basically OK for Buildings and Contents? Used them for Car before and they were OK apart from the measly 2-week car hire after a total loss.

Ta

mattymoo

Nobody ever picks locks these days. It is virtually impossible with British Standard 5 lever locks anyway due to internal shrouds built into the lock lever mechanism.

Items carried or worn normally need to be covered under an extension, sometimes called Personal Possessions cover. This will cover things like Ipods, sunglasses, watches and cameras etc away from the home.

Supernova

Thanks mattymoo. How about car boot locks?

Oh, and how secure are Yale locks regarded?

You're right about the Personal Possessions - that clause is in the Contents away from home section, hence the confusion.


Generally the clauses look the same as my existing insurer (NU through Deacon Insurance) and they won't budge from their premium of £250 dearer.

The devil is in the claiming though :eek:

mattymoo

Car boot locks are relatively easy to overcome using a device called a slide hammer. Other thieves just bend the metal around. Generally there is no finesse in theft.

Yale locks to BS:3621 are as good as a 5 lever mortice deadlock. If they do not meet that standard they should be supplemented with a deadlock. Yale and Chubb have some useful info on their websites.

A basic Yale lock (sometimes called a Rimlock) is easy to overcome if there is glass in the door.

FlameCloud

Supernova wrote: »

Just reading the Direct Line policy booklet and wondered about a couple of things.

Not covered for theft of money from the home or anything from a car unless 'force and violence' is used. So, I wondered how easy it is to pick locks these days or leave no evidence of a break-in? 5 lever and car types.

Also not covered for robbery whilst items being carried or worn. So if you are pickpocketted you're not covered. Best to say you accidentally left them or dropped them I guess.


Are DL basically OK for Buildings and Contents? Used them for Car before and they were OK apart from the measly 2-week car hire after a total loss.

Ta

The definition of 'force and violence' in insurance clauses simply means that the method of entry was not in the usual manner- i.e. not through an unlocked door.

I cant for the life of me remember the court case where this came out, but it was in the late 90's and involved somebody hiding in a shop after hours and using a fishing hook to pull open a door. The judge ruled this was force and violence as they had gotten round the door another way.

Supernova

The reason I asked is that there was a chap on the net who said DL had refused a claim because no 'force or violence' was used to slide a window lock and nick his stuff.

I can't find the link now but I guess it's hard to tell the facts.

olly300

Supernova wrote: »

The reason I asked is that there was a chap on the net who said DL had refused a claim because no 'force or violence' was used to slide a window lock and nick his stuff.

I can't find the link now but I guess it's hard to tell the facts.

Supernova you being a moneysaver would know if something like this did happen you would know how to complain.

Supernova

Indeed.

The other thing I noticed today was that they define valuables as 'jewellery, watches, furs, items or sets or collections of
gold, silver or other precious metals, works of art, sets of stamps,
coins or medals all belonging to you or any member of your family.'

I just happened to ask about CD collections (or books, or DVDs) and they said that over £1500 worth would have to be individually specified for an extra premium.

If you bought online you might well miss that and be underinsured.

Just wondered why they aren't upfront about something that everyone has.

mattymoo

Good for you for checking. I was not aware of that (20 yrs in insurance) so will be checking with my provider sometime over the weekend.

With a large collection of books / DVD's / video and PC games this could prove costly.

I'm 90% certain this question has cropped up before and it was found to be incorrect advice (or out of kilter with rest of market) from DL. Will have a look for the thread.

Edit - Doh. Now I know why I remembered it. I also queried it here but poster never got back to us.
See thread - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=281652&highlight=dvd
Time to get off my behind and find out I suppose.

Supernova

DL have confirmed that a CD collection is precisely that and if it's worth over £2K as a whole it needs to be itemised.

To replace them they'd look for the cheapest so I reckon you could get most of mine for an average of £5 on Amazon - but then you'd have to pay postage on top at about £1 per item from the used and new marketplace thingy.

How does that sound?

gazza975526570

They would actually replace them through one of their recommended suppliers