Page 28 - Insurance Times November 2019

burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, Taxes are being legalised in other form of theft and is no
shoplifting, library theft, and fraud (obtaining money under difference than executing criminals being legal and taxes
false pretences). In some jurisdictions, theft is considered are not theft, but it is a penalised price we are paying for
to be synonymous with larceny, in others, theft has well-being in a civilised society.
replaced larceny. Someone who carries out an act of or
makes a career of theft is known as a thief. The act of theft Aggravated form of theft: Robbery and Dacoityis also falls
is also known by other terms such as stealing, thieving, and
within the ambit of burglary definition, since they are
filching. aggravated form of theft

You may have visitors and helps commonly visiting your
house. Although they may not intentionally steal anything, Limitations of Theft Insurance
but there is every bit of a possibility that some household Every insurance policy has some limitations and a theft
items may be lost - valuable and not valuable. In case of insurance policy will not offer compensation for the
not so valuable items, say daily-use utensils, the concern following items or you will need to buy it as an add-on
may not be much. But, what if you lose a valuable diamond cover.
ring and such a loss could be a theft during the normal
course of activity in your house. You may discover such a The limitations may vary from one insurance provider to
loss over time and not instantly. Such losses are not covered another, but does not cover:
under the insurance policy as it is not treated as burglary. Y Precious metals such as gold, silver, precious stones,
gems and cash
It means a person committing the crime had access to the
house or its valuables. For example: you may have dropped Y By Involvement of family members or items that were
the keys of your house near the door and come back home stolen by them
to discover your jewellery stolen. This is more a case of Y Stealing of share certificates is also not covered
negligence. (The insurer could say that you should have
Y Things that were robbed by any of the employees
kept the keys safely. The reason why insurers don't cover
theft is because it is difficult to administer and often can Y Things that were robbed by housemaids
be due to negligence or theft inside the house is assumed Y Theft during riots, war, strikes, natural calamities, and
to be negligence by the insurer and is hence not covered. terrorist activities
Y stocks whose value will vary as per the market
The reason why insurers do not service such claims is
conditions,
because of the difficulty of ascertaining the loss due to
negligence or actually the intentions of someone to actually Y Theft conducted on the premises that were left
steal and rob the owner. Some insurers do offer additional unattended
add on theft cover.)
Y Theft conducted on the premises that were not
properly locked
Y Premises where security is not maintained

Y Forged theft to claim benefits from a theft insurance
policy
Y Robbery and Dacoity also falls within the scope of
burglary, since, they are also aggravated form of theft.
Y In the case of theft, burglary usually involves a thief
entering a house while the victims are not present and
steal their property. This type of crime does not involve
violence.

To be continued in next issue

28 The Insurance Times, November 2019