
Why leaving a key under a doormat could ruin home insurance
Heath Alexander-Bew, Director at the Alan Boswell Group, has shared that an action taken with your house key could lead to trouble.
Why leaving a key under a doormat could invalidate your home insurance
Heath shared that if you are going away on holiday and leave your key under a doormat or plant pot, it could lead to problems.
He explained: "One in ten Brits admit to leaving a key under the doormat whilst away on holiday, which is one of the most common ways homeowners invalidate their home insurance.
"In many cases, in the event of a burglary or stolen possessions, there will need to be signs of 'forced entry' to make a valid, successful claim.
"By leaving a key to the property under a doormat or plant pot, homeowners make it easy for burglars to enter, potentially resulting in a declined insurance claim."
To get around this Heath suggests leaving a key with a trusted friend or family member.
Recommended reading:
He continues: "Alternatively, invest in security measures such as a wall-mounted key safe which can only be accessed by someone who has the code.
"Always ensure your home is completely locked and secured before going on holiday, and do not leave any spare keys around.
"Further advice suggests to never reveal on social media that your home will be empty."

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

South Wales Argus
14 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
5 airport scams as experts are warning travellers
Around 22 million Brits (38%) have either fallen for a scam or know someone who has, while 13.4 million (20%) say they'd be more likely to click a suspicious link on holiday, and £2.7 billion was stolen through fraud and cybercrime in the past year. The average loss per victim was £7,596.34, enough to cover your entire trip. So, what should we be watching out for? Fake messages 'Scammers are hijacking the names of trusted brands like sending fake emails or texts claiming there's an urgent problem with your hotel booking," says Siobhan Blagbrough, Financial Crime Manager at Ocean Finance. "You'll be asked to re-enter your card details on a fake website. Once you do, the scammers charge your card and vanish. Even clicking a button, like 'accept cookies', can download malware to your device.' Flight Change Texts Posting a photo of your boarding pass on social media might seem harmless, but scammers can use those details to send fake flight updates just before check-in. You're told your flight's cancelled and sent a link to reconfirm. But it leads to a spoof site that drains your card. 'Delayed Baggage' Compensation 'You arrive at your destination, but your luggage hasn't," explains Siobhan. "Then comes a message from what looks like the airport or airline offering you instant compensation, just click the link. These scams target genuine airline mishaps to trick people into handing over banking details. No airline will text you compensation links without formal contact. Always go through an official website or app." Free Wi-Fi trap in airports and hotels This is a sneaky one, particularly as many people try to avoid costly data bills on holiday, so are more likely to use free wifi hotspots in airports and hotels. 'Join the wrong 'free Wi-Fi' at a café abroad and you could be connecting to a scammer's hotspot," says Siobhan. "Every password you type, every site you visit, they can see it all. If you're logging into banking apps, emails or payment sites, they've got everything they need to take over your accounts. Stick to mobile data or a trusted VPN.' Airport phone charging This is another one that's so tempting, particularly if your battery is running low, but beware free charging, as it can be a trap. 'Plugging your phone into a public USB port could unknowingly be allowing data to be hacked or malware to be installed," says Siobhan. "Bring your own plug and cable, and always use a standard wall socket, not a USB-only port.' She adds: 'Fraud used to mean a stolen wallet or dodgy market stall. Now it's emails, texts, calls, and even the plug socket at the airport. These scams are slick, fast and emotionally manipulative. They'll catch you off guard while you're in holiday mode, and before you know it, your money's gone. 'The most common trick is to pile on the pressure, scammers love using urgency to force quick decisions. If you notice something off, slow down, take a step back, and double check.' 3 smart ways to protect your money on holiday Don't click - go direct: Whether it's a fake message or dodgy baggage compensation, never click links in emails or texts. Go straight to the official app or website and log in there. If in doubt, assume it's a scam until your proven otherwise. Use credit cards for extra protection: Credit cards offer legal protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. That means if you pay for something between £100 and £30,000 and something goes wrong - the company goes bust or you don't receive what you pay for – you could get your money back. Even if you only pay part of the cost by credit card, the whole transaction might still be covered. Avoid public Wi-Fi and USB ports: Avoid using public Wi-Fi for anything sensitive like banking. And never charge your phone through random USB ports. Bring your own charger and plug it into a proper socket. What to do if you think you've been scammed 'If you think you've been scammed, act fast,' urges Siobhan. 'Contact your bank straight away - if the payment hasn't gone through yet, they might be able to stop it. If it has, they can talk you through what to do next. 'Always report the scam to Action Fraud, and if it came via email, forward it to report@ so it can be shut down before someone else falls for it.'


Spectator
16 hours ago
- Spectator
The state will do anything but fix the migrant crisis
Migrant hotel protests are erupting across the country, as 'tinderbox' Britain catches fire. What began with a series of protests in Epping, Essex, over the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl by a recently arrived Ethiopian migrant, has now spread, as Brits air long-standing grievances about asylum seekers they have been forced to host in their own communities. A powerful tendency now exists in the British state towards displacement activity Demonstrations have so far been reported in Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth, Norwich, Leeds and Wolverhampton, Sutton-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, Altrincham and even at Canary Wharf in London. With years of unaddressed anger rapidly making themselves felt, the police, pulled in all directions, are struggling to keep up. 'Local commanders are once again being forced to choose between keeping the peace at home or plugging national gaps', admits the head of the Police Federation. Still, it seems there is one thing the government is more than happy to devote resources to: trawling the internet for anti-migrant sentiment. The Telegraph reports that an elite team of police officers convened by the Home Office is set to monitor social media to flag up early signs of unrest. Working out of the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) in Westminster the new National Internet Intelligence Investigations team will 'maximise social media intelligence' gathering in order to 'help local forces manage public safety threats and risks'. If this new division was just about intelligence-gathering that would be one thing. It's true that social media is in invaluable resource for following events on the ground at such gatherings, while local Facebook groups are often where grassroots protests are organised. Yet we know that when it comes to the British state and social media, censorship and punishment for online speech is never far behind. Ever since Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly linked the Southport unrest last year with social media, the idea has firmly taken root in Whitehall that the best way to stop unrest is to aggressively police the internet. Ofcom, the broadcast regulator, already takes this view, and the link has even been drawn in Department for Education guidance on how to talk to schoolchildren about the Southport disorder. In a recent report, the police inspectorate said that that forces must be 'better prepared and resourced to monitor, analyse, use and respond to online content', which it argues was a risk to public safety. This general zeal for social-media policing is why Big Brother Watch believes the new unit is very likely to infringe on free speech. The investigations team is 'Orwellian' and 'disturbing', says interim director Rebecca Vincent, creating the possibility that it 'will attempt to interfere with online content' as other government bodies are known to have done during Covid. As if there weren't enough threats to free speech already. This week age verification provisions in the latest stage of the Online Safety Act (OSA) kicked in, meaning that some footage of protests is now inaccessible on social media for many users. Not even parliamentary privilege is safe from the censorship regime. Katie Lam's searing April speech on the rape gangs, in which she quoted court transcripts and survivors, could not be watched on X without age verification. We are beginning to look like North Korea with rainbow flags: for the public's 'safety', footage exposing grievous failures of the British state now cannot be viewed in the UK. Little wonder, given the OSA explicitly earmarks content relating to 'child sexual abuse' and 'illegal immigration and people smuggling' as the 'kinds of illegal content and activity that platforms need to protect users from'. The Conservatives, who bequeathed us this blank cheque for digital authoritarianism, certainly need to take a long, hard look at themselves. The claims that the OSA is merely about restricting access to pornography has been exposed as a mere fig leaf. And still things could still get worse. As the Free Speech Union has noted, shortly after last year's riots, the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a pro-censorship lobby group with ties to Morgan McSweeney, 'hosted a closed-door meeting under the Chatham House rule to discuss the role of social media in civil unrest'. In attendance were officials from the Home Office, the Department of Science, Information and Technology, Ofcom and other organisations. The CCDH proposals that emerged included amending the OSA to 'grant Ofcom additional 'emergency response' powers to fight 'misinformation' that poses a 'threat' to 'national security' and 'the health or safety of the public''. This would give Secretary of State Peter Kyle the ability to directly flag unapproved content to be taken down at a time of 'crisis'. Should the unrest continue this could well be coming down the track. What all this illustrates is just how ill-equipped the people in charge are to deal with Britain's problems, as The Spectator's Madeline Grant noted earlier this week. A powerful tendency now exists in the British state towards displacement activity. Spin doctors 'manage' the news. Police surveil social media. The government shuffles asylum seekers from hotel to hotel, or to HMOs, or even to privately rented accommodation (which it uses your own taxes to outbid you for). For his part, the prime minister has been tweeting about the women's football. As the unrest grows, leading politicians continue doggedly insist that Britain remains a 'a successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith country'. In reality, there are answers to the asylum hotels crisis, it's just that the government simply lacks the will to act. Large numbers of illegal migrants need to be deported, while those that are here should be placed in a secure holding facility somewhere remote. What is surely obvious by now where they should not be: in hotels, in an Essex market town 500 yards from a school; on the Bournemouth beachfront; in the London's financial district; in a Leeds suburb right next to a shopping centre. As it is, however, it seems the regime will try anything and everything before addressing people's real concerns.


The Herald Scotland
17 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Why leaving a key under a doormat could ruin home insurance
This financial cover can be crucial, but there are some actions taken that could end up invalidating it. Heath Alexander-Bew, Director at the Alan Boswell Group, has shared that an action taken with your house key could lead to trouble. Why leaving a key under a doormat could invalidate your home insurance Heath shared that if you are going away on holiday and leave your key under a doormat or plant pot, it could lead to problems. He explained: "One in ten Brits admit to leaving a key under the doormat whilst away on holiday, which is one of the most common ways homeowners invalidate their home insurance. "In many cases, in the event of a burglary or stolen possessions, there will need to be signs of 'forced entry' to make a valid, successful claim. "By leaving a key to the property under a doormat or plant pot, homeowners make it easy for burglars to enter, potentially resulting in a declined insurance claim." To get around this Heath suggests leaving a key with a trusted friend or family member. Recommended reading: He continues: "Alternatively, invest in security measures such as a wall-mounted key safe which can only be accessed by someone who has the code. "Always ensure your home is completely locked and secured before going on holiday, and do not leave any spare keys around. "Further advice suggests to never reveal on social media that your home will be empty."