I realise that different policies will have different exclusions but in general does anyone know if dog flaps invalidate house insurance for theft.

I have a labrador so it would have to be a large dog flap but I would love her to have access to our 200ft garden without having to leave her permanently outside when we're not there

I would think it would be up to the individual Insurance companies ..if a large lab can get out , it stands to reason that a smallish person can get IN.

Not sure what labs are like with strangers ..but I know my Mal would just leap about and be happy to see someone :D

Melody

we have a dog flap, have to admit never really thought about it, but then people take one look at Freya and think... "WOLF"!!! lol

so, if someone manages to climd over the fences, and then get past Freya... good luck to them.

jay

Rachael,

I doubt a dog flap would invalidate insurance. If it did, having windows in your house or glass in any external door would also invalidate insurance.

Most dog flaps have an insert that can be used to close them off from inside the house. They are no more and no less secure than ordinary windows.

The only thing that I would recommend is that the flap is placed where it cannot be seen from the street or by callers to the front of your house. In my last home I had large dog flaps to accomodate GSDs and I cringed when I realised they could easily be seen when driving down my street, even though they were on the side of my house and exited into a fenced dog run. (My house was on the bottom of a hill, hence they could still be seen.) I figured, however, that if anyone had the guts to face two large GSDs, they were the type that would get into the house via window, doors and so on.

Stacey

Quite some years ago, our neighbours across the road had burglars. They got in through their dog flap into the conservatory, then broke into their house. Their garden was surrounded by high walls and not overlooked. They had a greyhound and a whippet at the time. Whether the burglars were local kids who knew that these dogs were not at all aggressive I don't know. They had got into the back garden easliy by walking through the carport and then opened the door into the garden.

Daisy

We have a dogflap, but we also have a bull terrier with a penchant for flesh. I am not sure where we would stand with an insurance company. The house is alarmed, and i do know that you can get pet lenses for the sensors, which only pick up signals above a certain height.

Bit different to windows really, expect most insurance companies would have an issue with you leaving a person sized window open when the house was empty :)

Most people's experience of insurance companies is that if there's an angle they can take to avoid paying, they'll take it - maybe you could have your dog flap exiting into a covered run?

Insurance company apart, having come home to a burgled house myself it is definitely not a nice experience, and I would take all possible steps to avoid it again. Apart from anything else, our burglar let the dogs out and left them out in the road - luckily, they were good girls, and just sat by my car until a neighbour saw them and put them back in the garden.

M.

I would be very careful with insurance companies. They will go to any lengths to wriggle out of paying up. Mine say that all doors have to have 5 lever mortice locks on etc. All windows that are accessible upstairs as well) have to have window locks etc. and if you leave the windows open when you are out you invalidate your insurance. Therefore if you have ANY unlocked door/window (I am sure that they would count a cat/dog flap if it allowed access somehow) and that is used by a burglar then you are at risk of them not paying up. Smashing windows does not really count, as burglars usually just reach inside and unlock the door/window and if it's locked then they can't open it (have had both burglary/attempted burglary) :(

Daisy