patio door lock jammed in closed position-is this covered under home insurance

TELLIT01

My front door lock became hard to unlock or lock so I called a local locksmith.  They said to try WD40 and call them back if that didn't work.  I tried, it worked and I've had no problem since.  I was delighted with their attitude as it potentially saved me quite a lot of money.  We were fortunate in that we could lock the outer door on the porch and the house was still secure whilst waiting for the WD40 to work its magic.

Xyzretro

The door is around 10 years or more. Thanks a lot to all who responded and I found all responses very useful and feel much better informed now to take the right course of action.  Prior to posting my discussion on the forum one of the trades person I spoke to seemed very reasonable with his proposed approach and fee etc, I will talk to him again 

DullGreyGuy

35har1old said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Xyzretro said:

When I closed my patio door, the lock jammed in locked position and I now cannot open it. I understand from tradesman there is no guarantee of opening the door without the risk of damaging it and could end up needing a new patio. As far as I am concerned this is an accidental damage. If I approach my insurer at the outset and say, they refuse and I then take my chances and call in a double-glazing specialist and get it fixed using my own money. Will my insurer put my premium (because I have highlighted a potential insurance risk)  over and above the normal increase when my premium comes up for renewal?

You are required to declare all incidents irrespective of if you claimed for it or not. Were you to speak to the insurer then they would register a claim, decline it on the basis of it being mechanical breakdown or wear & tear and then close the claim. 

In that way you then cannot "forget" to mention it going forward as it will most likely make its way to CUE which most insurers subscribe to check claims details. 

The wording says if you make a claim you may need to provide photos that would suggest you can choose not to claim.
If you had to report every incident say a kettle blew a fuse.Light bulb blows.Burglar alatm goes of due to a spider crossing the sensor 
🙂🙂 I don't think so

Personally I agree that for Home insurance the question is less logical than it is for Motor etc but ultimately it is what's asked and you run a risk if you decide to "interpret" it and not declare all incidents. 

Lets take the parent company of this site, MoneySupermarket, it asks:

Have you made any home insurance claims or suffered any losses in the last 5 years?
You should include these incidents whether or not you made a claim, and whether or not you were paid for that claim. 

Clearly a spider setting off a motion camera doesn't result in a loss or incident but arguably a small spill of red wine on a carpet does even if you just move a rug to cover it etc. 

Submitting a claim and not providing photos wouldn't be considered you choosing not to claim but the claim being withdrawn for having not followed process or claim declined for not following process and so as noted above still declarable. 

Thankfully Aviva are more sensible and just ask about claims and not incidents. 

TELLIT01

Any competent locksmith should be able to drill out the barrel and then replace either the entire lock mechanism or the barrel without causing any damage to the door.

35har1old

Lorian said:

Might be worth a post in the right forum with some pics for an opinion on what's wrong and how hard to fix. 

As the door is jammed shut a picture is only going to show a handle in its normal closed position 

35har1old

DullGreyGuy said:

35har1old said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Xyzretro said:

When I closed my patio door, the lock jammed in locked position and I now cannot open it. I understand from tradesman there is no guarantee of opening the door without the risk of damaging it and could end up needing a new patio. As far as I am concerned this is an accidental damage. If I approach my insurer at the outset and say, they refuse and I then take my chances and call in a double-glazing specialist and get it fixed using my own money. Will my insurer put my premium (because I have highlighted a potential insurance risk)  over and above the normal increase when my premium comes up for renewal?

You are required to declare all incidents irrespective of if you claimed for it or not. Were you to speak to the insurer then they would register a claim, decline it on the basis of it being mechanical breakdown or wear & tear and then close the claim. 

In that way you then cannot "forget" to mention it going forward as it will most likely make its way to CUE which most insurers subscribe to check claims details. 

The wording says if you make a claim you may need to provide photos that would suggest you can choose not to claim.
If you had to report every incident say a kettle blew a fuse.Light bulb blows.Burglar alatm goes of due to a spider crossing the sensor 
🙂🙂 I don't think so

Personally I agree that for Home insurance the question is less logical than it is for Motor etc but ultimately it is what's asked and you run a risk if you decide to "interpret" it and not declare all incidents. 

Lets take the parent company of this site, MoneySupermarket, it asks:

Have you made any home insurance claims or suffered any losses in the last 5 years?
You should include these incidents whether or not you made a claim, and whether or not you were paid for that claim. 

Clearly a spider setting off a motion camera doesn't result in a loss or incident but arguably a small spill of red wine on a carpet does even if you just move a rug to cover it etc. 

Submitting a claim and not providing photos wouldn't be considered you choosing not to claim but the claim being withdrawn for having not followed process or claim declined for not following process and so as noted above still declarable. 

Thankfully Aviva are more sensible and just ask about claims and not incidents. 

If the alarm was monitored it would be a incident