Burglary: insurance tips to better protect your belongings

Simple home insurance gaffes can cost you thousands if you’re living in a crime hotspot. Katy Ward explains what you can do about it.

I was burgled three times in five months.

It sounds ridiculous, but yes… this happened to me. I lost thousands of pounds worth of electronics and all my most private (and cringeworthy) belongings were ransacked by, what the police strongly hinted, was a group of teenagers living in the opposite block of flats.

The crime spree was emotionally and financially devastating, but it taught me some invaluable lessons about home insurance and the loopholes that could cost you hundreds –if not thousands – if you don’t properly acquaint yourself with the ins and outs of your policy.

Bad luck comes in threes

You’re probably wondering how I could be dumb enough to remain in a property that was burgled so often in such a short space of time. It’s a question I’d ask myself if you regaled me with the same tale of woe.

The first burglary took place two days after I moved into my new flat share. At the time, I simply put it down to bad luck.

The next raid came just a couple of days before Christmas. Obviously, I needed to move, but there was no point looking for somewhere new to live on 22 December when most Londoners had already fled the capital for the festive season.

And the third burglary? This was less than a week later while the windows and doors had been inexpertly patched up after the previous incident.

There’s no denying I was extremely naïve throughout this experience and ought to have been more security savvy, but what did it teach me?

Burglary hotspots UK: the towns and places with the most break-ins

Always do your own research on crime stats

When I looked around my new flat for the first time, I foolishly trusted the word of my soon-to-be-housemates. As they boasted about broadband speeds and upcoming bathroom renovations, they also insisted there weren’t any concerns about security.

I now suspect they lied. The police officer who investigated the first theft told me there’d been previous break-ins. He essentially suggested he knew who the thieves were, but didn’t have enough evidence to do anything about it.

My new flatmates, however, were less than forthcoming when it came to the address’ shady history. Perhaps these cash-poor tenants would have told me anything in their hunt for ­­­­­­­someone to compensate for the shortfall in rent. Or perhaps I’m jaded.

The next time I move into a new property, I’ll check all the relevant information personally so I don’t make myself vulnerable to anyone being a little economical with the truth.

Before you move into a new area, it’s sensible to make yourself familiar with the following sites:

• Police.uk: this resource provides crime data according to your postcode and ranks your area against the national average;
• Gov.uk: this site provides exam results, Ofsted reports and financial information on schools in your area;
• BBC house move checklist: a reminder of vital things to consider when moving house.

Don’t delay on home insurance

The day I moved into my new flat, I received a call from my estate agent inviting me to take out a policy with its preferred home insurance provider.

Smugly, I insisted that, as a financial journalist, I would run comparisons on money-saving websites. Embarrassingly, I never quite got round to it – an oversight that left me totally uninsured and seriously out of pocket the first time we were burgled.

Beware of other people’s carelessness

Living in a flat share with people I hardly knew, I was extremely vulnerable to their home security blunders.

The perpetrators of our second burglary probably couldn’t believe their good fortune when one of my former flatmates left a bathroom window open and the flat empty. 

The unlocked window was noted in the police report, which made it extremely difficult for another of my flatmates to claim on his insurance policy when his brand new laptop was pinched.

Note valuable items separately on your policy

When taking out contents cover, it’s essential to specifically name any high-value items on your policy.

Most policies will protect valuables such as jewellery and electronics, but there may be a limit on the amount you can claim for a particular item, which is known as a ‘single article limit’.

In my case, this sum was just £1,000. In my foolishness, I hadn’t let my insurer know that, a few weeks before, I’d forked out almost £2,000 for a MacBook I needed for work.

My carelessness meant the item wasn’t covered for its full value and the company was well within its rights to pay out only a portion of its value.

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