Too posh to burgle
Reading the news this morning, I was surprised to find an article claiming that homes valued over £600k were considered, by burglars, “too posh to burgle”. As a London property owner myself with an impressive portfolio of a dozen properties many valued close to a million pounds and a property owners insurance to boot, I found it hard to believe that my clients could rest assured that they were less likely to be the victim of a house burglary just because they are renting a half million pound property.
I deal in the high end rental sector and many of my clients are, what I would consider to be, “very affluent”. The rental sector is very different at the high end as many clients often take out only short-term leases while in the city on business or over here on a holiday. Because of the sector I am in, many of my properties are left unoccupied for long periods of time.
I have a very good property owner’s insurance policy with my local insurance broker, but we struggled at first to find a good deal as many insurers don’t like to touch unoccupied properties.
The fact that this report has been released doesn’t, however, mean that my tenants or I feel more secure. One convicted burglar was quoted in the article as saying: “There's no point in going for rich houses because they've only got the same stuff as ordinary houses but it's harder to find because there's more rooms plus they've got better security. You want a neighbourhood that is nice but not too nice – ideally a middle-class semi.”
I have to say I don’t agree. My clients are wealthy people and have a considerable amount to insure on their contents insurance. They do not have the same ‘stuff’ as an ‘ordinary house’. I do, however, accept that the security features we have installed, act as a deterrent.
I was asked the other day to recommend a good insurance broker to one of my friends, also a property owner. I had no hesitations in recommending my broker straight away. I think the only way you can really feel at ease, is to ensure you have comprehensive property owner’s insurance policy to protect you in the eventuality that something happens. A good insurance broker is the key to this.
