Delivery driver let himself into my house

It isn't victim blaming, taking reasonable precautions for your personal safety is everyone's own responsibility. It is nothing like the concept of contributary negligence- you are not contributing to your lack of safety by leaving your door unlocked (and on the latch presumably as most people have Yale style locks) you are CAUSING your lack of safety.

This isn’t my personal opinion, I am just pointing out that, were OP to be burgled and try to claim, her insurance likely would not pay out.

This is my experience from a lifetime of handling insurance claims! It’s not (IMO) morally right, but it IS what happens…
You are jumping to (assumed) conclusions with your spin on my motives here!

Some people have an enclosed front porch and drivers think if the door opens that’s what they are dealing with.
do you have instructions on your app where to leave parcels?

Insurance policy ts'n'cs are one thing, and not at all relevant to the topic.

I'm afraid I find your attitude appalling. It is not the fault of the person who left their door unlocked if someone uninvited comes in - that's entirely, absolutely, 100%, unequivocally down to the person who enters.

What you are doing is victim blaming, and it's utterly wrong.

Try using the same principle of your position and argue that a woman who's been attacked might have brought it on herself by how she was dressed, or where she was.

See how well it goes down.

@Anyotherdude i know insurance policies are very specific but I find it hard to believe there are average people out there who never have an open window while they are home - according to this thread an unlocked let alone open window even while home would void a policy! Again, summer must be unbearable.

Cases like Cilla Black with jewellery etc worth millions would no doubt have climate controlled homes.

Wow. You don't lock your door? Wth is wrong with you? Could be anyone!

Insurance policies are very specific , @AzurePanda. Reading through the small print of householder policies as an Insurance specialist many years ago taught me to think of ALL potential consequences of overlooking clauses regarding home security - down to the types of locks expected to secure your doors and windows.

For a front door to NOT be locked, i.e. closed, but allowing entry without needing use of a key, it is likely that the OP’s insurance policy terms and clauses would render her policy terms as breached.

In Cilla Black’s case, which was an example only, it didn’t matter that the burglars came in threateningly through the front door: it was the fact that the terms of her policy had been breached, as the windows weren’t locked. And yes, an Insurance Company‘s Loss Adjuster/ Undewriter can be that petty and nullify the policy to avoid paying out - particularly if the sum of money is very high!

I’m just trying to make people understand this, as so many comments indicate that most people wouldn’t even consider that something as small as an unlocked window, which normally couldn’t be casually opened from the exterior, let alone an unlocked door, which can, might jeopardise any claim made against a policy, if the terms, that the policyholder has agreed to, in the small print, are not followed by the policy holder!

Recently the estate agent let herself into my house unannounced!

@Anyotherdude didn’t the Cilla Black burglars come armed with a crowbar?

If she had jewellery worth more than £1m in her home (highly portable and sellable) I’m not surprised her insurance required the house to be completely locked at all times, including windows.

If invalidating your insurance means you can literally never open a window, what would be the point of it?

I had this happen to me. Courier knocked, I was upstairs but immediately went to down to answer the door and found him stood in my hall putting the parcel on the floor. I was alone in the house and it definitely made me feel uncomfortable. But I'd forgotten to lock the door so I accept that I was partly to blame, and it has prompted me to be more careful in future. Since then I've seen two other delivery drivers try the handle on my front door as I've been on my way to answer it, but they've not been able to get in as it's been locked.

I definitely don't think it's OK to try to let yourself into a complete strangers home uninvited just because you're delivering something. But you should also lock your door.

Happens to me regularly and I have zero problem with it, I really don't see it as a big deal.
If you don't want it to happen then lock your door.
It's a you problem, not a him problem and definitely not something to try to complain and get him into trouble about.

Look up Cilla Black’s £1 million pound insurance blow - her Son mistakenly opened the door to the burglars, and because not all of her windows were LOCKED, the insurer refused to pay out! They would have a field day if the door was unlocked, too!

Those relying on burglars to avoid occupied houses
There are other crimes.
Offences against the person.

I'm not afraid of burglars, but I am fairly careful. I live at the end of a short lane on the outskirts of a small town.

On one occasion I came home on a hot day, opened the garage and wheeled my bike inside, and went upstairs for a cold drink and a rest. I heard a slight noise, and went down to the garage, where I had left the big door open. I found a stranger rummaging around and remonstrated with him forcefully.

If you're referring to no.6 it specifies when you leave a property not when you're in it.

Only when going to bed. The chances of someone walking in are tiny. In a big city maybe…

@PigletJohn nowhere does it say in that piece that the houses were occupied at the time of the burglary. Unlocked windows are clearly a great opportunity for a burglary when a house is unoccupied but I would really like to know how many “normal” burglaries take place when a house is clearly occupied, ie car out the front, voices, music etc.

All of you who keep your doors locked the whole time, do you do the same for your windows? Summer must be difficult.

Not even when you’re getting washed?

Then you’re happy to accept a level of risk I wouldn’t.

I’ve never locked the doors when I’ve been in the house (unless the doors are self locking). Same when I live in a quiet village or a roughish road in town.

Sorry it took me three posts.

https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/home-insurance/burglary-statistics#how

About one in ten I believe.

https://crimestoppers-uk.org/news-media/news/2022/aug/window-of-opportunity-for-burglars-as-brits-adopt-open-door-policy

How many burglaries really take place with someone walking into a clearly occupied kitchen in the middle of the day? Leaving aside houses known to have safes or lots of cash etc this scenario seems pretty unlikely and I’ve never heard of it happening.

Sure your insurance may be invalidated but I would have thought it was a pretty unusual event with intruders usually targeting empty properties for obvious reasons.

It is totally unreasonable to object, if you have not secured your house against unwarranted access! If you have a front or open door that anyone can access without your knowledge, you have invalidated your home insurance policy.
https://www.ageco.co.uk/useful-articles/home/10-actions-you-might-not-realise-will-invalidate-your-home-insurance/