Insurance Requirements for Windows and Doors

Property & Home
1

I'm in the process of planning our windows and I am not sure on the general market requirements for security on windows and doors. Do they HAVE to have volets for insurance purposes? Is this only if they are on the ground floor or are easily accessible i.e. a reachable balcony?


If we have toughened glazing and RC1 standard frames then is this sufficient to not have volets?


Obviously paying for volets on all windows adds quite some cost to the windows. We already have sun blinds for solar protection so the only reason for volets would be security and I don't want to spend money on this if I don't have to.


I'd really like your experience of windows/doors installations and insurance requirements for such installations.


Some interesting facts I've come across I thought I'd share:


Did you know that the main point of attack during over 70% of burglaries is not the glazing but the hardware via which the window are regularly opened? Or that most burglaries over 80% are opportunistic thieves who will move on if they get some sort of resistence?


For interest here is what is meant by the RC Resistence Classes...RC1 has replaced the previous German term WK1..






























































Resistance Class: Security Door Plates DIN 18257 Lock Cylinder DIN 18252 Glazing DIN EN 356 Test Cert Perpetrator and method Manual Test Time DIN V ENV 1630:
DIN V EN V 1630:
RC1 ES 1 P2 BZ Composite glass recommended Not required Vandalism:
Kicking, pressing, jumping against. Little protection against levering		 -
RC2 ES 1 P2 BZ P4 A Required Opportunist:
Bodily force, simple tools e.g. screwdriver, shim, pliers		 3 - 15 mins
RC3 ES 2 P2 BZ P5 A Required Opportunist:
With add’l second screwdriver and crowbar		 5 - 20 mins
RC4 ES 3 P3 BZ P6 B Required Experienced perpetrator:
Add’l use of saw and tools such as axe and chisel, hammer, electric drill
 10 - 30 mins
RC5 Individual test Individual test P7 B Required Experienced perpetrator:
Add’l use of electric tools, such as drill, jigsaw or saber saw		 15 - 40 mins
RC6 Individual test Individual test P8 B Required
2

Tradition, old girl, tradition! Doh!!!!

3

One thing to bear in mind is that this area of security is changing all the time, as houses become more modern and have large glazed areas with double and triple glazing - anti effraction glass and hidden hardware frames it becomes less important to have shutters. Our glazing is large hence not wanting to put shutters on if we can avoid it as the cost is huge. Otherwise I shall stick with the mouldy rotten ones for the long term!

4

The windows have built in sun protection blinds (which also act as privacy blinds) so this keeps the over heating issue at bay. I've been to the insurer today and they have given me 10 pages of information to digest! Will share once I've chewed it over!

5

The security was the point our insurance agent was making. Albeit even I could get through the usually half rotten wood ones...

6

Am also that under the impression that if you don't close the shutters you have not secured the house therefore not insured. But why do you not want shutters, they keep the midday heat out in the summer and the warmth in in winter?

However, best thing as usual, go to the horses mouth and ask your insurers.

7

The only way to be sure is to ask your own insurer what their view is as they may not always be the same. I have heard that if you have double glazing you may not need shutters. Other say that shutters have to be there and be closed if you leave the house for more than 24 hours.

As with any question to your insurers, always ask in writing, ask for a reply in writing and keep it.

8

I am not sure this is the answer you want, but anyway.

We had four of our windows replaced when we first got here, an absolute necessity. We went to a well known local company, but ironically the subcontractor who got the work was our local menuisier Bruno who we have used since. My OH and I have the same thing against shutters for different reasons. She because of the Swiss obsession with them closed before the dark can get into the house (joke, joke) and myself because of my childhood in Germany where people who did not close them were in some way pariah, but then in the UK how my mother would close heavy curtains at night, sun too bright or to keep Santa out for all I know... So, both of us prefer not to have them.

We obviously needed permission for the replacements, going from old and very broken 'traditional' rubbish to modern, double glazed. So we asked the maire about the volets as well. He had a look in the clever law book and found that a house of our one's age had to retain them, particular colours and all that. Ironically, there was nothing to stop us changing to the mechanical roll down ones as long as we had them and the colour was right! The lawmakers had obviously not caught up with the present day on that one. So we had to leave the old ones there, where they hang pointlessly and gradually rotting.

One of our 'friends' is also our insurance agent. However, it was his house that had an attempted break in, which then became the main topic of conversation one evening when a dozen of us went to dinner at somebodies' house. The irony was that had the burglary been successful, although their alarm was on whilst they were away for three days, one shutter had been left open. Their claim would have failed according to his account, even though the attempted break in was the securely locked front door. He only got his pay out for the damage by noticing the shutter before the gendarmes arrived, then closing it. Had the cops noted an open one, the family would have had to bear the repair costs themselves.

With regard to burglaries, it used to be that the famous 'well hidden spare key' in flower pots, on a branch of a tree or shrub, etc. was the first thing organised housebreakers looked for, then open windows, dodgy doors, locks and so on. Beware dangerous dog signs are of no consequence since experienced thieves make noises to attract them or disturb them if they are in the house. If there is nothing... Resistance and efficient alarms that are obviously backed up by protected cameras, wireless links or other security devices put most attempts off except by experienced burglars who know the location v how quickly the police can arrive (random passing police not included of course, that is tough luck). So, having been a parish councillor in the UK for quite a few years does seem to have its uses, most of which apply here too it seems from the exhilarating evening we had hearing about a slightly crowbarred door.