will insurance pay out ? advice please about a burglary

[goldenbolls]

my ex wife was burgled last night, burglers gained entry through back gate then broke pain of glass in the back door to enable them the put their hand through and turn the key which was left in back door, my wife was on a night out with a friend for around 5 hours. house was ransacked and they took her gold and jewellery.

is it my ex wifes fault for leaving the key in the back door ? the bank santander are her insurers and she has only 3 reciepts for 3 necklaces which were bought over years, apart from her gold there was 2 mobile phones taken and damage to front of washing machine and damage to flooring where washing machine was pulled out from under kitchen cupboard.

she is panicking now that insurance will not pay her for her gold some of which was bought recently and over the years by myself and others though as i say she has only 3 receipts. she is going to check photos also of her wearing gold bracelets ets and i also have some pictures on my computer stored.

thanks

[Jemisa]

Why on eart would they want to pull WM out? never heard that one before, did they have a tip off thats where things were kept? 'Strange'!!

jem

[boxtops]

Goldenbolls, it will be up to the individual insurance company as to whether it says in their small print that keys should not be kept in the lock - but regarding the jewellery, it is fair comment that the insurance policy may have a single item limit specified, so she wouldn't be able to claim more than that for any one item. Did she have the jewellery listed on her policy separately if it was worth more than that? no valuations for insurance purposes? Also, you might find that the phones are covered on phone insurance - we have separate policies on each of our phones which we pay on our monthly phone bill.

[Jemisa]

Boxtops, any news on your cat returning yet?

Jem

[boxtops]

No jem - thanks for asking, but we are still in wait and see mode - we have done all we can in terms of publicity, it was in the local paper this week too. (apologies GB for sidelining your thread.)

[Jemisa]

Awww!! Don't give up hope, on the news the other day a cat was reunited with its owner after 5 years (remarkable) & I thought of you.

(yes,sorry to intrude GB)

jem

[boxtops]

We're not giving up, but .. it's only his state of health which may be against him. He's fit and strong at the moment, but he does need his medication.

[boxtops]

Goldenbolls, here is a typical Santander policy, please don't assume that it is the latest version but it will give you an idea http://www.abbeyforin...om/library/lib_18.pdf

I can't see it mentioning keys in the lock but it does show £1000 as the single item ceiling (but bear in mind this may not be exact the same policy as your ex's).

Another caveat though is that if the total of the jewellery value is a lot, the insurance company can look at that as a proportion of the total contents sum insured, and if proportionately it's high, they can say that she is underinsured altogethe,r and only pay out a proportion of the total claim. This happened to my mum with another company, she hadn't reviewed her contents sum insured for years so they would only pay out a portion of the value of the stuff which was stolen.

I hope this helps - IMO always worth keeping evidence of the value of anything worth a few bob, but I realise that this is too late to help your ex this time.

[goldenbolls]

thanks boxtops.

[diadem01]

One other matter to consider. It may be advantageous to keep the key in the lock as it does prevent attempts to enter with a duplicate key or to use tools to pick the lock.

But if you do do this, be sure to half turn the key once the door is locked.

[looking4away]

My house was burgled last monday (firs day of half term). They got in through the side gate into my back garden and then tried to open the patio door by damaging the lock. When it didnt open, they smashed the glass pane on my kitchen door and put their hand in to turn key and gain access. They then ransacked the entire house and stole all my jewellery, kids play station, laptops, cameras etc - they carried my entire safe away :(
My insurer Red Star Equity rejected my claim in a letter sent to me yesterday. The reason states is an endorsement on the policy. This endorsement is stated on the documents as: "H2: mimum security clause". Red star have now explained that it means that all locks on external doors should conform to BS3621 and that all keys are removed from doors and hidden out of sight when property is unattended. I was shocked when I found out. I had no clue and would have never dreamed of locking the kitchen door and hiding the key -this is dangerous in case of fire and I have young kids - had I known I would have had cylinder locks fitted - ironically the burglars would have still gained entry in exactly the same way but the insurers would not have had this easy escape route.

[looking4away]

My house was burgled last monday (firs day of half term). They got in through the side gate into my back garden and then tried to open the patio door by damaging the lock. When it didnt open, they smashed the glass pane on my kitchen door and put their hand in to turn key and gain access. They then ransacked the entire house and stole all my jewellery, kids play station, laptops, cameras etc - they carried my entire safe away :(
My insurer Red Star Equity rejected my claim in a letter sent to me yesterday. The reason states is an endorsement on the policy. This endorsement is stated on the documents as: "H2: mimum security clause". Red star have now explained that it means that all locks on external doors should conform to BS3621 and that all keys are removed from doors and hidden out of sight when property is unattended. I was shocked when I found out. I had no clue and would have never dreamed of locking the kitchen door and hiding the key -this is dangerous in case of fire and I have young kids - had I known I would have had cylinder locks fitted - ironically the burglars would have still gained entry in exactly the same way but the insurers would not have had this easy escape route.

[vivandorron]

I am thinking that a word with the Government's Financial Ombudsman's free service might be worthwhile. Have a browse of the following link:-

http://www.direct.gov...rectories/DG_10011957

Ron.