Burglary Insurance

by Perry Kubelsky.

Anyone who has suffered arriving home and finding that they have been burglarized knows what a smack in the face it is.

I'm writing – if I may, it is up to you if you publish – not about my burglary itself, pretty standard, they got in because my home security was just not up to scratch, but about the soul destroying hassle with the insurance provider.

Every man jack of us knows that insurance cover never fully replaces what you have lost, but until you have to make that claim you will not know the hoops you have to jump through, the interrogation and the long drawn out hassle. To say I felt like it was me that was the criminal is an understatement.

Alrighty, looking back from this distance and I can accept it would be unreasonable to expect an insurance provider to accept what you claim was stolen just on your say so. But at the time I was emotionally wrecked from the burglary and pretty much financially depleted. Things had to be replaced, it was not just high end items the scum stole, but items that need replacing quickly so as to carry on life.

They asked questions, I answered. Then they asked the same questions again. Do most people keep receipts for any length of time? I did not, I do now! Did I have a photograph of the refrigerator that was stolen (yes folks they stole the fridge!) Who the heck takes photographs of their refrigerator? I do now! As it happened I did have a snap showing my TV set in the background. Incidentally, I stated the TV was two years old, turns out it was near four years, time flies, it was not an intentional false claim.

Eventually I got paid out. Not anywhere close to my satisfaction, but I got paid out.

The point of all this? Insurance is necessary, I still have it – with a different provider. What is even more necessarily is to have in place the best security and burglary prevention you can. You don't want to be paid out on burglary insurance because, you don't want that burglary in the first place.

It is not unreasonable for insurance companies to dispute claims because it is a fact that burglary victims do inflate claims. But you can believe me when I tell you that it can be close to hell to go through making that claim.

Have burglary insurance, but do everything to make sure you don't need to claim on it!