I could cry - high value possessions not insured abroad (& a word of warning)

[holidayinsurancehell]

Our villa was broken into whilst on holiday which was horrible but also a complete logistical nightmare as it was our last day so we had to extend our stay for 5 days whilst we sorted emergency travel documents in a country that does not do speed! Our travel insurers are covering most of the additional travel expenses incurred thankfully plus and a fair amount to replace some if not all of the clothes & baggage lost (we were packed ready to go and they took our suitcases with EVERYTHNG in). We knew there would be excesses to pay and it was unlikely everything would be covered, but we certainly didn't expect our home insurers to turn us down flat for our high value personal possession claim. I could cry. My diamond eternity ring, my husband's laptop, a very expensive heirloom watch that ironically has sat in a safe for about 5 years until very recently when I thought sod it, I'm wearing this everyday🙄

We paid a sizeable additional premium to specifically cover these & when we changed providers about a year ago we obviously read the T&C's but just didn't register they are only covered in the UK - I just took 'away from home' to mean exactly that😭. Obviously we would have left them at home had we know but hindsight is a great thing. I'm gutted. There's literally no way we are ever going to be able to replace these items financially let alone the sentimental value.

Please people, before you go away, check your home insurance covers you or leave high value items behind.

(Name changed as all my friends & family now about our drama and I don't want my posting history linked!)

Doesn't your travel insurance cover these items?

If these items are not covered by your home insurance, shouldn’t they be covered (at least up to a certain monetary value) by your travel insurance instead?

You usually have to upgrade for very high value items so they wouldn’t be automatically covered.

Do try your travel insurance! Depending on your cover they might be included.

I have similar items covered as specified all risks so each item is listed with its value. I have just checked with our insurance company and they are covered abroad for up to 60 days.

How about your travel insurance? Mine caps at €5000 per item but I could’ve chosen higher coverage, or none. Check your policy.

Your diamond ring and expensive watch were in your suitcase?

I just checked my travel insurance policy and it's only £2,500 for lost or stolen baggage actually.

Sorry this has happened to you OP.

@FionnulaTheCooler we went to the beach for the final day so yes unfortunately were left pretty much everything bar towels, swimwear and thankfully a bag with wallets & phones.

@CharSiu we had upgraded and paid a fairly sizable additional premium each month to ensure they were covered & didn't go for the higher value travel insurance as assumed these were covered on our home insurance policy.

The size of claim on our travel insurance will be sizable and likely to hit the £5k cap as new flights alone cost us £1k, 4 nights x 2 hotel rooms, trains & buses to another city, £500 in emergency passports (ignoring the fact we all now need new passports!) the list goes on and that doesn't include eating out, emergency shopping for clothes and toiletries. We will revisit our travel insurance provider for high value items but I didn't get the impression they would be covered.

Actually just remembered my husband checked our travel policy and single item limit for valuables is £500 😩Personal baggage is £2500 (which sounds a lot but 5 full cases soon adds up!)

was there not a safe in the room to keep valuables in? I think if there was that would give the insurance company wiggle room to say you had not secured your valuables properly.

No safe @BrieAndChilli so it was just locked indoors. We have police report, crime reference etc and no reason to think the travel insurance won't pay for most of what we're claiming as it's all legit and fairly standard holiday clothing. shoes, toiletries etc except the stupidity of taking valuables and then leaving them in a rental villa whilst we swanned off to the beach!)

Absolute madness leaving anything like that in a villa unattended without a safe let alone some random foreign country.

Even if it's the beach I always take them in a waterproof bag and they're hidden with us at all times.

The heirloom watch must be devastating! Is it replaceable yourself or was it the sentimental value that mattered the most?

Thanks for the post I think this is a reminder to us all to check our policies and don’t take unnecessary valuables with us while travelling. Off on holiday next month so will be checking mine.
So sorry to hear about your jewellery plus all the hassle and distress from the robbery.

I don't really think it's helpful saying it's madness leaving something in a locked villa unattended. The same would be said if the OP had taken all their valuables with them and ended up getting mugged in person, or having their stuff swiped at the beach. She hasn't done anything careless here.

Oh you poor thing. Live and learn. I don't even take my night time retainer for my teeth on a UK short break, taking actual heirlooms abroad gives me the chills! I have a cheap watch for the purpose and never even take my perfume, I decant a small amount. Good luck getting home and getting it all sorted.

I am sorry this happened to you.

I might be stating the obvious, but the limits on travel insurance are generally per person. So eg if baggage limit is £2,500 that’s each - so £12,500 in total. Or at least that was the case when I’ve needed to claim in the past

Let's hope that no one knows who you are so you won't be robbed the next time you go to the beach. You honestly take ALL your valuables to the beach with you every time you leave your holiday accommodation? The laptop must be fun to carry around with you ...

@Notwhatuwanttohear it was valuable but it's more the sentimental value. a 21t birthday present handed down from my granny. If we aren't covered I wouldn't even begin to attempt to replace it.

@PosiePerkinPootleFlump thanks will check we assumed it was per claim. That could make a significant difference to what we can & can't replace things like expensive trainers & headphones - not exactly essential so wouldn't be replaced by us unless covered but feel really bad for the DC to lose out so much too.

@Notwhatuwanttohear so what happens when you're in the sea - you take your plastic bag in with you for a swim? I mean as it turns out this would have been far more sensible than leaving it behind but we assumed leaving valuables locked in the villa was safer than having them on the beach and always have done for many years without incident.

My heart goes out to you op, I just cannot imagine how you must have felt when you returned to the villa after a lovely day out at the beach and looking forward to the last night of festivities. We were scammed by someone who came to buy a small generator from us, he used a fake bank app to convince us that it was genuine and of course it wasn't, so it wasn't just the £650 that we had lost, but the sheer deception of the guy telling us lie after lie. The item didn't have any sentimental value to us, so feel very very sad for you. Take care op.

I feel for you. We had a holiday villa burgled and the stuff they took was astonishing, as well as the usual things like laptop, ipads etc they took loads of things like prescription sunglasses, towels, medical notes, a suitcase no doubt to take it away in etc. All really inconvenient to replace but not necessarily valuable. My mum who was with us had jewellery stolen and thankfully we were both covered under our home insurance policies (although had connected travel insurance the company made us claim through the home insurance part). It is definitely worth you reminding people to double check. What stunned me is that I had to pay the excess up front before they would process the claim!

Good luck with the claim. It's a horrible thing you have been through even without the financial aspects.

Oh how awful to have this happen!
I had a gold bangle, which had great sentimental value, stolen years ago in Turkey. Since then I only take costume jewellery on holiday.

We were en route home and had all our valuables in the hire car in Barcelona. We stopped for 1 hour to eat, the car was rifled through, and everything was taken; laptops, cameras, iPads, etc. Fortunately, I had all our documents on me, but it was a nightmare and as with you, our home insurance wouldn't pay, but the travel insurer did, eventually.
Horrible situation OP, I feel for you.

I'm so sorry we were burgled in Menorca but it was credit cards, that alone back then was an issue. It was while we were asleep, which really unnerved me.

Luckily I'd thought to split the cash between our wallets and one credit card each. They missed my handbag because the bedding had fallen on it.

But your suitcases and valuables that's just so awful.

Wait till you get home and start chasing up home insurance and holiday insurance.

I will add that since that burglary the good jewellery etc now stays at home. I only pack costume pieces