Your Home and Its Contents

Insurance
We strongly advise you to take out a home contents insurance policy to insure your personal possessions and decorations against damage or loss due to fire, water damage, burglary etc.

CHISEL's insurance
CHISEL's insurance policy covers the structure and fixtures of your home. This means we insure things like walls, ceilings, floors, wiring, kitchen units, bathroom fittings etc. against damage due to fire, flood and burglary.

Your responsibilities

WE DO NOT INSURE YOUR PERSONAL POSSESSIONS, CARPETS, FURNITURE AND DECORATIONS.

If, for example, your carpets or decorations are ruined because of a flood from an upstairs flat, we have no obligation to compensate you - unless there has been negligence by us or our employees. Similarly our insurance policy does NOT cover non-accidental damage caused during domestic disputes by members of your household or visitors.

Can you afford to replace carpets and bedding and renew your decorations after a flood, or replace items lost during a burglary? If not, can you afford not to be insured?

Insurance companies will give free quotations and if you shop around it need not be very expensive. Most insurance companies will accept payments by instalments. The National Housing Federation and allpay both offer special insurance policies for housing association tenants - contact the housing manager for details.

Senior citizens may be able to get a special insurance policy with cheaper rates through Age Concern. Ask the housing manager.

Security
We usually provide a Yale lock for your front door, but some tenants like to fit additional mortice locks at their own expense for extra security.

If you share a front door with neighbours, it is against fire regulations to fit a mortice lock as this could endanger life. You can ask for permission to fit a "snib" lock, which opens from the outside by using a key, but can be opened by a turnbolt from the inside and is therefore safer in a fire. You must also provide keys for your neighbours if you obtain permission for this kind of lock.

CHISEL does not keep spare sets of keys, so it is your responsibility to ensure that you have spare keys in case you lose yours or get locked out. Maybe you should consider leaving a set of keys with someone you trust.

If you do get locked out or lose your keys, it is your responsibility to arrange for someone to gain access and change the lock. In the event of difficulties, we will arrange for a locksmith to help you gain access but you will be charged the full cost.

You may wish to fit window locks yourself if we have not provided them.

Unfortunately many homes in the Southeast do get burgled. To reduce the chances of this, please make sure your home is securely locked when you go out or away. If you go away, remember to cancel newspapers and milk deliveries. You may consider letting a neighbour or even CHISEL know where to contact you in an emergency.

Please do not fit locks onto internal doors. Once a burglar is inside your home, it is very unlikely that such locks will deter them, and a lot of damage can be caused when internal doors are smashed.

Be careful about allowing unknown callers into your home. If you do not recognise a caller, ask to see proof of identity. CHISEL employees carry identification cards with them, as do employees of the Council, gas, electricity and water companies. Builders sent by CHISEL will have a works order with them and you will have been notified in advance of their visit.