Will we be insured?

sanaxe1 · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:24

Right guys would like your opinion on if you think we will be insured or not.

A few weeks ago we were burgled by our next door neighbours :eek:

Who have since been caught and prosecuted. Sadly the police were unable to recover anything of significant value although they did recover my boxer shorts :confused:

The unrecovered items have a value of around £10,000. So we contacted our insurance and they say we might not be insured due to the back door keys being left in the back door.

I've looked through the policy and it says nothing specifically about leaving the keys in the door. It just says that your house needs to be secure. Now all the doors and windows were locked. The burglars had to climb over a 7ft spiked fence with anti vandal grease on top and the gate was locked. They then used a hooking device through the cat flap. Now i class this as being secure.

Bare in mind this was not some random burglary it was pre planned as they waited for us all to leave the house at the same time ( which is pretty rare ) and then came with tools ( for example taking the Tv's off wall mounts ). There was no way of knowing that the keys were in the door until they actually climbed over so as far as i see it leaving the keys in the door saved us from more cost/damage as its obvious they were determined to get in the house one way or another. Not to mention the fire brigade recommend you leave the keys in the door for fires.

Now do you think we have a leg to stand on?

kokuten · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:26

well.. if your insured for theft then yeah, as long as you have some way of proof of purchase of what was stolen, reciepts etc

Gilly · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:28

I shouldn't think there would be too much fuss getting that claimed :/

kokuten · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:33

just one problem... why did they steal your boxers? were they fresh? or worn? *sniff *sniff

Reaper 392 · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:33

sounds pretty secure to me. i expect you should be able to claim.

also, thats some nice neighbours you have :eek:

fidget · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:35

I would have thought you would be insured, but if not I'd be looking at suing the burglar (your neighbours) for any losses.

Cuchulain · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:38

fidget said:
I would have thought you would be insured, but if not I'd be looking at suing the burglar (your neighbours) for any losses.

If they can reach through the catflap to get the keys then there's a good chance the insurance company will weasle out of it, as for suing the neighbours .... chances are they've no assets to seize and will end up paying a pound a week towards a fine.

sanaxe1 · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:38

kokuten said:
just one problem... why did they steal your boxers? were they fresh? or worn? *sniff *sniff

They were fresh. I have mental images of them sat in a circle sniffing them and passing them round while they bask in their glorious heist.

Reaper 392 said:
sounds pretty secure to me. i expect you should be able to claim.

also, thats some nice neighbours you have

We have lived here for 20 years and never had a problem and then 3 months ago they moved in and this happens!

Vonhelmet · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:40

If the door was locked, then I don't see the big deal, and like you say - that it what the fire brigade say to do.

However, insurance companies of course don't want to pay out, so you may find yourself heading off to court to argue about what "secure" means.

fidget · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:41

Cuchulain said:
as for suing the neighbours .... chances are they've no assets to seize and will end up paying a pound a week towards a fine.

Depends if they own the house or anything else of value or not - i'd be tempted to give it a go, might even be a good way to make the scumbags move away

BennyC · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:42

I hope you don't have any difficulty claiming.

Did you tell them they were left in the door? was there not a window sill near by they could have been hooked from? wink wink nudge nudge.

They have to draw a line somewhere, as long as they weren't in the outside of the door lock then I wouldn't think it'd be a massive problem.

Narj · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:43

What total scumbags..... Set fire to their house!*

* Only do this if their house isn't directly attached to your own!

kokuten · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:45

PianoBasher said:
What total scumbags..... Set fire to their house!*

* Only do this if their house isn't directly attached to your own!

do it anyway, double insurance money!!

sanaxe1 · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:46

One good thing is that they have been totally humiliated as channel 4 came round with camera crews etc for the show Cops and filmed them being arrested and finding items such as my boxers. Apparently it will be on channel 4 in January. So it will be fun to see their faces!

alexakasloth · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:51

Please remember to bump this thread, that would be worth watching!

Cuchulain · 31 Aug 2011 at 13:52

sanaxe1 said:
One good thing is that they have been totally humiliated as channel 4 came round with camera crews etc for the show Cops and filmed them being arrested and finding items such as my boxers. Apparently it will be on channel 4 in January. So it will be fun to see their faces!

They burgled their own neighbour, something tells me that being on TV isn't something that'll bother them.

Tunney · 31 Aug 2011 at 14:00

sanaxe1 said:
One good thing is that they have been totally humiliated as channel 4 came round with camera crews etc for the show Cops and filmed them being arrested and finding items such as my boxers. Apparently it will be on channel 4 in January. So it will be fun to see their faces!

Give us a reminder nearer the time. Sounds like entertaining viewing.

Hope your insurance claim goes through!

flibbage0 · 31 Aug 2011 at 14:02

WTF, that is really strange for a next door neighbour to do that. :confused:

Did you get on with them before or were you enemies and just got on with things avoiding them?

Narj · 31 Aug 2011 at 14:05

flibbage0 said:
WTF, that is really strange for a next door neighbour to do that.

I wonder if the neighbours are do-as-you-likeys, or just plain chavscum.

sanaxe1 · 31 Aug 2011 at 14:05

flibbage0 said:
WTF, that is really strange for a next door neighbour to do that.

Did you get on with them before or were you enemies and just got on with things avoiding them?

We've never really spoke to them. I can only assume they must have walked by our house and seen all the stuff in the living through the window and thought they would look better in their house.