home insurance

thetourist

went looking for home insurance and discovered that none of the insurance companites will pay out on stolen items if all the doors AND WINDOWS had not been locked - i asked the girl on the phone if she locked all the windows and put the keys away in a secure location every time she left the house - and she assured me she did - ..... i must sound dopey or something :rolleyes: --- what's the deal - i really feel done paying out money to insure the contents when i know in my heart of hearts that there's no way the windows will be locked unless im away on holidays or somehthing --- has anyone found a company who are not taking the pis with this - of maybe i'm the one out of sync with reality !!!

am also a musician ( the odd gig or two ) - and they say they wont insure musical instruments because this is a business - any idea of any of the companies who do - or even specialist insurance if it's reasonable

ps mods - couldnt find an appropriate forum for this - please feel free to move it - thanks

mad m

This is a type of thing were you really have to shop around to get best price and best package for you and yours.It amazes me how they chop and change what is right/wrong in there companies policys and sometimes when the bad things happen and thank god it doesnt much but when it does they come up with that crap to prevent paying out.

They suit themselfs to be honest.My two cents anyway.

Oh one thing i found out was when your going away always turn off the water at stop cock,otherwise if you come back from holidays to find your house is gone Nemo they wont pay out unless you had stopcock turned off.

rooferPete

Hi ,

You need a good broker, tell him what you require and he will find the policy, the problem is you may not like the cost.

I opened a can of worms by refusing the alarm discount on the house insurance, in fairness I do see times when the alarm is not switched on, and I wouldn't dream of switching on the alarm when we are at home or using dead locks at night.

It is vital to read your policy, all risks means all risks written in the policy not how we the consumer would read it.

thetourist

or using dead locks at night

reminds me of another beef i have with this locks thing ---- imagine the family goes visiting - and we all arive back lateish and tired - well if we've done as the company says then every window and door will have been locked - now when we come home, the place is immediately a fire hazzard as the tendency would have been to do the bare minimum of unlocking before hitting the hay !!! --- so locking all the windows so regularly like this is greatly increasing the chance of sleeping in a room with locked windows and thus no fire escape --- not to mention other doors which may also have been locked.


oh and just imagine the scenario when you have visitors who you want to leave alone in the house while you go to work or whatever ---- " not much to do when your leaving -- all you have to do is turn off the heating, set the alarm and LOCK ALL THE WINDOWS AND DOORS !!!! " --- that'd be nice and social ---- sounds like a great big con job to me anyway

garyh3

Try 123.ie online !

Lex Luthor

I'm not too sure about window locks any more. We recently got an extension done and the windows that were fitted, albeit from the outside looked identical to the rest of the house, they were different in 2 ways.
The way the opened was different, something to do with them having to open more for fire access, and the handles did not come with locks fitted. I asked the builder and he said he couldn't get them with the key locks any more.
I've also just bought a new house and the windows on that also don't come with key locks. To open them you press a button on the handle and it releases the handle to turn to open, but no key locks.

try www.primafinance.ie

thetourist

garyh3 wrote:

Try 123.ie online !

thanks but no dice - they're the same as all the others - this was the company i was referring to where the girl told me that she always locked her windows when they were away ( and she wasnt just talking about going away for a few days) !!

thetourist

the handles did not come with locks fitted. I asked the builder and he said he couldn't get them with the key locks any more.

so what's the deal - do you have your contents insured ??? - because afaik you dont - even if you're paying for it !!

pollyantic

Are you sure they require the key locks to be locked and not just that the windows be closed properly?

redman

I am with Allianz Direct and they cover you if you don' t lock the in built window locks when you are out, they don't require you to have the alarm on if you are out (nipping into a neighbour or such ) if you have chosen the Alarm discount. Of course if you claimed a couple of times without the alarm being on they'll presumably view your claim differently .
Finally on the water stop cock they only require it to be shut off if you are away for 30 days, but no harm if your away on 2 weeks hols anyway!

best of all they gave me the best deal from shopping around the past few years

Redman

thetourist

Are you sure they require the key locks to be locked and not just that the windows be closed properly?

i know for a fact that 123.ie require you to have all the doors and windows LOCKED ( at least that's what the girl on the phone assured me of anyway ) - and i asked her did she mean closed and fastened !!

---

and to have the keys put away in a "secure place" - now what on earth is that - i'm assuming a safe !!! -- i cant remember whether or not there were other companies who told me the same thing but i think there were - i seem to remember reading fastened and locked on a couple of proposal forms - sorry cant be sure ( except about 123.ie )

meanwhile i have been told by an insurance co connected with work (siptu) that this is rubbish and on their form there is a section reguarding this - ( apparantly you dont necessarily need to have locks at all on your windows ) - so that's who im going with

thanks to all for your opinions and experiences


ps - has anyone any ideas about my original query reguarding musician insurance - the company i;m going with says that my instruments are only covered if i'm not being paid for playing ( which occasionally i am !! )

wicklow

You definitely need a broker. Unless ome knows what they are doing and looking for the online brokers eg 123.ie or direct companies like Quinn are useless. Why ? Well the fact that you have a claim that has been turned down is the main reason. A decent broker will be able to fight a claim on your behalf or perhaps package it a certain way. I have known of incidents where a broker has acted on clients behalf to get claim paid where the client has had no joy. You could try Slattery Jermyn, 35 Boyne House, Harolds Cross Bridge, Dublin 6 . Tel: 4532411 for the musical instruments as they insure a lot of rock bands including U2 ! They might have a special deal going on house insurance for musicians / bands or less exclusions. If oyu are part of any organisation check with them if they have any tie ups with brokers. Either way you are better to deal with a broker specialising in house insurance (general brokers).

It is not difficult to get the cover without alarm, doors locked etc. Hope this is of help.

SlitheryImp

Hi,

I've compiled a list of insurance companies and Brokers here: http://insurance.startpage.ie, You might find something better amongst them.

Also, if you know of any other insurance companies not in my list, please let me know via the submission form (link at bottom of page).