Beware Barclays (Norwich Union) Insurance - Endorsements

[munchkin0110]

The reason for this posting is twofold - First to make Barclays (and other) Contents Insurance holders aware of certain endorsements which may be on their policy, some like me might be unaware of certain conditions and secondly to get advice on how to take my complaint further.

About 3 weeks ago I was burgled for the first time in my life. The burgler entered through my dining room window in the middle of the night (my husband, my 2 year old and myself were upstairs sleeping), shut my dog in the room and took only 3 items (fortunately!?). My dog didn't bark and we never heard a thing. We called the police and then I rang my insurance company to report the claim as you would.

My dining room window is quite difficult to access. It is quite high up as their are steps to my back door and it is small top opening window. Also I have an alarm box at the rear of the house, there is a street light right outside and I have a dog. I live in a quiet area where crime is low (the fingerprint lady said it was the first time in 3 years she had been to my area). I thought I would be a very low target.

Particularly in the summer, and as my dog sleeps in the dining room, I often have the window open. On this occasion the window had been open but had been pushed shut when the wondow cleaner came round, hence I neglected to lock the window.

Being an honest person I advised the insurance company of this and as a result of 'minimum security endorsements' being on my policy they won't pay out for the approx. £1,300.00 of items taken (one of which I still had £500 left to pay on). Now I don't have much money and work hard for what I have. I can't afford to replace any of these items and won't be able to for some time which is very inconvenient.

I do admit that I have been notified of these endorsements which are not in my policy booklet but are on the back of my policy schedule. I admit I hadn't read it properly or taken it in.

Basically, when you are asleep in bed you are only allowed to have windows open in the rooms which are occupied, so even if you have the window open in your spare bedroom for example this would invalidate your policy.

As I look around my street, in the day and at night I notice that many people leave their windows open. I wonder if they realise that their insurance may not pay out if they were burgled? So please take note, read your insurance endorsements and make sure you don't get caught out like me.

I was lucky that it didn't happen whilst I was out and had my house cleared completely.

I did complain to Barclays regarding this and received a letter basically saying they weren't budging. I had asked them to reconsider as I have been a loyal customer of Barlcays for over 20 years, first time burgled, small claim to them (not to me!) etc etc but they won't budge.

I have been advised by an insurance underwriter (nothing to do with any party in this case) to threaten to sue and then they will pay up. Before I try this I feel I need some advice and help. I'm not sure about how to take this further but I don't want to let it rest. I'm not sure if I have a leg to stand on with the endorsements being stated in my policy (the underwriter said this didn't matter). Can anyone help please?

Munchkin

PS Norwich Union also wouldn't pay out when my grandad's garage roof blew off - gave some flimsy excuse! So beware of Norwich Union!

[LemonTwist]

Sorry to hear about your burglary. Unfortunately it's true what you said about NU contents insurance policies; at night you are only allowed to have the windows open in the room(s) in which you and your family are sleeping.

About threatening to sue - on what basis would you do this? The endorsement was stated on the policy, so the only way you would win would be if you are able to prove that it is an unlawful policy condition. I personally think it is extremely unlikely that a judge would consider the endorsement to be unlawful.

[cazzaswfc]

Firstly can I sympathise with your situation, it can't be nice to find out there are certain clauses to your cover and potentially you will not get anything back.

Firstly I would do what the above stated and complain, for the majority of insurance companys it's often cheaper to settle the claim ( or part of it) as a "good will gesture" rather than you take your complaint to the FOS.

The second thing I want to add is please be aware that this endorsement that has affected yourself is NOT a clause on every policy with either Barclays or NUD ( and is also one that many insurance companys impose). This could have being added for a couple of reasons,

- you stated that you had certain security ( normally window locks/5 lever deadlocks) received discount on your policy ( unfortunatly this means you need to use them.)

- you live a high risk area (nice area normally) / wanting to insure a higher amount than the standard.

This is just a couple of reasons and not the only reasons.

Unfortunatly in this day and age it's also down to the Householder to show reasonable care to protect there belongings ( unfair I know)

Sorry I can't give any better advise other than to complain and see how it goes.