[Sussex] Burglary

[swd40]

Any things to do check, except the obvious?

Police notified, car insurance told.

Would house insurance do the lock swaps on the doors?

Little scrotes have broken in via conservatory windows, taken all the car keys from within the kitchen, and taken one car off the drive, laptops and bags gone too.

One car only had one key so cant move that.

 

[grubbyhands]

Cut their bloody hands off.

 

[Eric the meek]

Cut their bloody hands off.

That's what they'd do in Newcastle.

 

[Jack Straw]

I'm afraid I can't answer your question, but having been a victim myself, you have my full sympathy. Yes, worse things happen, but burglary is a horrible, horrible situation to deal with, but in time, you'll get back to normal.

 

[ManOfSussex]

Would house insurance do the lock swaps on the doors?

Firstly sorry hear to your news.

I work for an insurance company, so in answer to your question above, yes, your home insurance should cover that. Check with your provider though and also how much they cover up to for replacement locks and what the excess is in the event of a claim.

 

[Insel affe]

Firstly sorry hear to your news.

I work for an insurance company, so in answer to your question above, yes, your home insurance should cover that. Check with your provider though and also how much they cover up to for replacement locks and what the excess is in the event of a claim.

Can I ask a question ?
Probably a myth, but I was told that....
If you ring up your insurance company about a claim you wish or are thinking to make and because of the amount of the excess you decide not to follow through with the claim. The insurance companies log that claim, which affects your next renewal, almost as if you had made the claim and policy could rise the following year, because it is looked on as a negative towards you, I am probably not putting this well, I am sure you know what I mean...

 

[Baldseagull]

Any things to do check, except the obvious?

Police notified, car insurance told.

Would house insurance do the lock swaps on the doors?

Little scrotes have broken in via conservatory windows, taken all the car keys from within the kitchen, and taken one car off the drive, laptops and bags gone too.

One car only had one key so cant move that.

Get the locks done and keep the receipt for the insurance company. Did they break glass or damage the windows? If UPVC or glass needs replacing, get that ordered soon as, can take a while to get done at the moment.

Get hold of an auto locksmiths for the car, for a replacement key, advise thieves have the original some makes and models it is easy to change, others you will want to have an immobiliser fitted. Check your home insurance policy, it might state items above a certain value have to be itemised on the policy, or have a total value of contents limit, you may be better stating it was a £900 Laptop than a £1200 Laptop, depending on the clauses in the policy.

A sad case of under insurance here https://www.financial-ombudsman.org...ctim-complains-insurer-voids-policy-insurance

 

[ManOfSussex]

Can I ask a question ?
Probably a myth, but I was told that....
If you ring up your insurance company about a claim you wish or are thinking to make and because of the amount of the excess you decide not to follow through with the claim. The insurance companies log that claim, which affects your next renewal, almost as if you had made the claim and policy could rise the following year, because it is looked on as a negative towards you, I am probably not putting this well, I am sure you know what I mean...

No worries, I know what you mean. What you refer to is an 'incident' rather than a 'claim' and can be logged accordingly by an insurer. It doesn't need to be disclosed as a claim in the future, so if you're ever asked - 'How many claims have you made in the last 3 years?' for example, you don't need to include 'incidents' it. An 'incident' will also only get logged if you go so far in potentially making a claim - if you ring up without dates and details just making a vague, general enquiry and it doesn't reach the claims department, it wont be logged. As insurance is all about risk, incidents are logged though.

 

[Insel affe]

No worries, I know what you mean. What you refer to is an 'incident' rather than a 'claim' and can be logged accordingly by an insurer. It doesn't need to be disclosed as a claim in the future, so if you're ever asked - 'How many claims have you made in the last 3 years?' for example, you don't need to include 'incidents' it. An 'incident' will also only get logged if you go so far in potentially making a claim - if you ring up without dates and details just making a vague, general enquiry and it doesn't reach the claims department, it wont be logged. As insurance is all about risk, incidents are logged though.

Thanks, appreciated.

An 'incident' will also only get logged if you go so far in potentially making a claim - incidents are logged though.

This is the bit
So you ring about a potential claim, you decide not to procced for one reason or another and it is logged.
Could that affect your policy next year ?

 

[ManOfSussex]

This is the bit
So you ring about a potential claim, you decide not to procced for one reason or another and it is logged.
Could that affect your policy next year ?

Not in all cases, but ultimately yes it can and I have seen it happen/heard about it happening for customers many a time. It can depend on other risk factors though but for example I've heard people say - 'We've been them for years no problem, we went to make a claim but didn't go through with and now renewal has jumped £x' so we're having to shop about etc, etc' plenty of times.

 

[Baldseagull]

Can I ask a question ?
Probably a myth, but I was told that....
If you ring up your insurance company about a claim you wish or are thinking to make and because of the amount of the excess you decide not to follow through with the claim. The insurance companies log that claim, which affects your next renewal, almost as if you had made the claim and policy could rise the following year, because it is looked on as a negative towards you, I am probably not putting this well, I am sure you know what I mean...

This has happened to me, my parked car was hit and the driver made off. Insurance claim was not pursued but because I called to see what could be done, they logged that I was involved in an accident, and I lost the no claims discount, this was 20 years back though.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Thanks, appreciated.



This is the bit
So you ring about a potential claim, you decide not to procced for one reason or another and it is logged.
Could that affect your policy next year ?

I build claims solutions (among other things) in my job.

The last project I worked on the insurer specifically wanted to distinguish between a real claim (which will adversely affect your individual renewal) and an incident, which only went to CUE (a central database of claims and incidents) but did not want it to be a factor that was put into the renewal price.

However....

If a particular risk becomes more prevalent then an underwriter and actuary will almost certainly reprice it upwards for everyone. Bad storm season? Storm peril likely to be repriced higher, even if there were a lot of incidents compared to claims. Spate of thefts in a particular area? Same thing. So the price could go up for everyone as a result of a large number of people reporting that "something" has occurred and that data making its way to an underwriter.

One thing that has changed recently, though, is that new and existing customers should get the same price for the same coverage, whereas new business used to be cheaper.

 

[Guinness Boy]

BTW apologies to [MENTION=4546]swd40[/MENTION] for taking this slightly off topic. Hope you're ok and they catch the scrotes and bang 'em up with a sex starved biker.

 

[maltaseagull]

Firstly sorry hear to your news.

I work for an insurance company, so in answer to your question above, yes, your home insurance should cover that. Check with your provider though and also how much they cover up to for replacement locks and what the excess is in the event of a claim.

You forgot to mention the huge increase in premiums and to have to fit very expensive upgraded locks in order to even get insurance as happened to me after a break in.

 

[swd40]

Firstly sorry hear to your news.

I work for an insurance company, so in answer to your question above, yes, your home insurance should cover that. Check with your provider though and also how much they cover up to for replacement locks and what the excess is in the event of a claim.

Thanks for the replies all.

Home Insurance have stated if there is no forced sign of access, they might not pay out.

For detail looks like one conservatory window has been forced opened fully, and they have gained entry that way, grabbed laptops and all the other car keys, and gone out the back door using the key they found.
Footprints on window wills either side.

Whilst I snored upstairs, Mrs and kids all shook up. Not just due to my snoring.

Still making the phone calls, any ideas if car insurance covers key replacements due to theft?

Let me at em.

 

[Shirty]

Can I ask a question ?
Probably a myth, but I was told that....
If you ring up your insurance company about a claim you wish or are thinking to make and because of the amount of the excess you decide not to follow through with the claim. The insurance companies log that claim, which affects your next renewal, almost as if you had made the claim and policy could rise the following year, because it is looked on as a negative towards you, I am probably not putting this well, I am sure you know what I mean...

I would say that you are legally obliged to tell your insurance company, whether you intend to claim or not. In the UK insurance operates under a "duty of fair presentation" nowadays, which means you have to tell your insurer about anything that would affect their decision to offer you insurance or the premium, terms or conditions of that insurance. Any incident that could result in a loss would be deemed material information.

Appreciate that in real life a lot of such incidents go unreported, particularly with regards to motor insurance, but theoretically you are breach of the terms of your policy if you don't disclose one.

And yes, it may well affect your premium at renewal.

 

[Insel affe]

Thanks for the replies all.

Home Insurance have stated if there is no forced sign of access, they might not pay out.

For detail looks like one conservatory window has been forced opened fully, and they have gained entry that way, grabbed laptops and all the other car keys, and gone out the back door using the key they found.
Footprints on window wills either side.

Whilst I snored upstairs, Mrs and kids all shook up. Not just due to my snoring.

Still making the phone calls, any ideas if car insurance covers key replacements due to theft?

Let me at em.

If the police, big if there...

They may dust for fingerprints and will take photos etc, highlighting where they gained entry etc.
Well they did when we were burgled in Camden, they broke in through a window left open but on a safety catch, they forced it open, the insurance company paid out.

I did know a customer once in London and he went to work one glorious sunny day in the middle of heat wave back in the early 2000s and a thunderstorm occurred.
He had left his loft conversion windows open (those on an angle) and the storm flooded his loft bedroom and down the open plan staircase to the 1st floor, he was moaning as I was fitting his new carpets that he was paying for the new carpets as the insurance would not pay out.

 

[Coalburner]

On the rare occasions that i have had to notify insurers of an "incident", I have always found it a good idea to tell them in writing that "This is NOT a claim, merely a notification" and keep a copy. Could be useful in case of dispute

 

[papachris]

Really sorry to hear that. It happened to us in Littlehampton a couple of years ago. Very similar MO. Your home insurance will likely have an excess plus future payments may increase. So take this into account when you claim. Car insurance were great in my case and gave me more than a fair value for my stolen BMW.
Unfortunately for me the worst thing was the feeling of someone being in our home while we were sleeping upstairs. I just couldn't get over it and never slept properly in that house again, selling up about 18 months later and moving abroad. Hope it doesn't affect you do bad. My thoughts are with you and your family :-(

 

[papachris]

One further thing. Don't be too hasty with settling the car insurance. I am sure they told you thst you must wait in case it turns up. In our case only about a week after I sent spate keys and v5 to the insurance company I started receiving parking tickets in the post. It was abandoned in Kensington. I found out the exact address from the council but it was too late. I wish I still had the keys I would have gone and got it back.