Burglars stole Louis Vuitton jewelry and bags from Sophie's house: why won't insurance cover?

When you rent or buy a house, you must take out insurance to cover you in the event of problems. If you already had insurance for your old home, do not forget to inform your insurer of your change of residence so that the transfer of insurance of your contents is done correctly because it is not always automatic and you could have bad surprises.

Six years ago, Sophie, a 45-year-old hairdresser, bought a house in Dilbeek on the outskirts of Brussels. She therefore had to establish an insurance contract that would cover fires, floods, thefts, etc. As is often the case, this was done through the bank from which she had obtained the mortgage.

"The BNP Paribas Fortis broker came to my house. He offered me insurance from AG Insurance against fire and theft. It cost 1,300 euros per year. I asked why it was so expensive and the broker told me that the insurance covered everything in the house," she explains. Sophie is surprised at this high price but she thinks that if it's to have good insurance, it's worth it. But she was going to pay too much. And for nothing. Explanations."They took all my jewelry, my designer shoes, my Louis Vuitton bags and my designer underwear"In mid-January, the day after returning from vacation, the hairdresser finds that she has been the victim of 'burglary. "They took all my jewellery, my designer shoes, my Louis Vuitton bags and my designer underwear. It was just after the holidays so they stole almost all the gifts I had received," Sophie told us. , claiming that there are 10,000 euros in total. She immediately calls AG insurance to find out what steps to take for reimbursement. And there is the cold shower. Her correspondent on the phone explains to her that she is not covered against theft as far as content is concerned. Confused, Sophie replies that she pays €1,300 per year for her insurance. Her interlocutor replies that he will study her file and contact her again. What he does a few days later. Encoding error and no transfer of insurance

Concerning the high price of her insurance, Sophie quickly obtains a reassuring explanation. There was an encoding error when establishing his insurance contract. This mistake transformed his new house into a set of five apartments and therefore made their coverage much more expensive. The insurance assures Sophie that the sums unduly collected during all these years will be reimbursed to her.

But for burglary, the outcome is not so positive. The house that was broken into is not the one that is insured for the contents, he is told at AG. "I don't understand, I get my insurance letters to the right address and it's not this house that's insured?" asks Sophie. We reached out to Sven Adams, spokesperson for AG Insurance for clarification. This is a procedural error on the part of the client, he says. "When she bought the house, she had to do some work on it first and didn't move in right away. So the insurance didn't include the contents because there was nothing in the house yet. The contents of the address where she lived were, however, well insured. When she finally moved into the new house, she did not tell her insurer who was therefore unable to transfer her contents insurance." , details the spokesperson for AG Insurance.

After this disappointment, Sophie tries to win her case directly with the bank BNP Paribas Fortis and its complaints office. This one asks him for the details of everything that has been stolen. The Dilbeek hairdresser then spent a fortnight collecting all the bills, asking for new ones when she couldn't find some. She even goes so far as to find photos on which the stolen objects appear. "It took me a long time," says the forty-year-old. But the bank invokes the same procedural point as the insurance company. "The bank told me that they would not reimburse the stolen items. They even told me You just had to read your insurance documents correctly." But Sophie does not give up. She hired a lawyer and decided to file a complaint against BNP Paribas. Many people are not properly insured. The case of the hairdresser is not an isolated case. Many people think they are properly insured against theft or damage caused by fire or flood, when they are not. For Wouter Robijns, spokesperson for Assuralia, the Professional Union of Insurance Companies, it is important that, when insurance is concluded, the insurer and the policyholder agree on the scope of it. "There's building insurance, contents insurance, tenant's liability to landlord, neighbour's liability insurance, and so on," he explains. he insurance you need To help citizens, a site dedicated to money matters, wikifin, was created at the end of January 2013 by the FSMA, the Financial Services and Markets Authority. "I encourage all people who want to take out insurance to go to this site to find out more about the type of insurance that can be taken out, which insurance best suits their request, etc.", recommends the carrier. word of BNP Paribas Fortis. It is also clearly indicated that when you take out home insurance, theft is not necessarily covered. Certain costs related to a claim, for example if you have to be relocated in the event of a fire, are also additional cover.

Assuralia has also created a website, abcassurance, which provides many tips for choosing insurance and offers checklists of the different reflexes to adopt in certain daily life situations such as in the event of a traffic accident, during a flood or during a burglary.

"It is especially necessary that the person who wants to take out insurance does not hesitate to ask questions to his insurer. It is better to ask the same question three times than to remain in the dark", concludes the spokesperson of AG Insurance.