Holidaymakers are being reminded that they could invalidate their home insurance if they post photos on social media while abroad. Insurers are increasingly rejecting claims made by customers whose houses have been burgled while on holiday if they have shared the fact that they are away from home on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. The Financial Ombudsman and local police forces have both issued warnings about posting on social media while away, alerting would-be burglars to the fact that your house is empty, but every summer some customers have their claims rejected by insurers. Insurers invoke a clause that exists in a majority of policies that requires customers to take “reasonable care” in keeping their property safe. Some insurers can adjudge customers to have failed to have taken such precautions by posting holiday photos and are therefore in breach of their policy. Get Safe Online, a government-backed organisation that gives guidance on how to stay safe while using the internet, said: “It’s great posting updates or pics about what a fantastic holiday you’re having, but that could also be telling everyone that your home is unoccupied. Think before you post or send.” Kevin Pratt, consumer affairs expert at MoneySupermarket, said the social media posts could impact your policy in the same way leaving your windows open might. “Thanks to people advertising their absence with holiday snaps posted on social media, this clause is now being invoked to challenge burglary claims,” he said. “So the message is simple – lock down your online security profile or simply hold off with your posts while you’re away. Don’t make life easy for criminals looking for soft targets.” Famous instances where celebrities have alerted burglars to an empty property thanks to their social media posts include John Terry falling victim to a £400,00 burglary last year after posting about being away on a skiing holiday with his family. Apparently so. According to research by Admiral insurers one in 20 of the burglaries reported to their claims team happened while the homeowner was holiday, while another survey by interiors firm Hillarys found this year that one in 12 Britons had been burgled after posting their location abroad on social media. In 2015, the Financial Ombudsman felt compelled to issue a five-point guide to sensible social media use when on holiday, including: Noel Summerfield, head of household at Admiral, said it does not have a specific clause that relates to social media posts and that sharing a photo in itself would not lead to a claim being rejected. “However, along with most insurers we have a ‘general condition’ which applies to the whole policy,” he said. “This states that the policyholder should maintain their property in a good state of repair and take care to prevent accidents, loss or damage. “If no precautions were taken to limit who can see the photo on social media, and your name and address were posted alongside then the general condition could come into play.” He said that Admiral advises against widely sharing photos showing you are not at home and suggest checking your security settings first or limiting the people you share with to close friends. A spokesperson for Aviva said that it would not decline a home claim because a customer posted holiday photos on social media but added “obviously we’d expect customers to take reasonable care and not post anything obvious (eg. advertising where specific things are kept, or that they have doors unlocked for access/opportunist thieves). “But posting holiday photos certainly wouldn’t invalidate a policy,” the spokesperson said, adding that it does not as a matter principal look at holiday social media posts and it would “be an extreme situation” for that to happen. A spokesperson for Direct Line, which operates alongside Churchill and Privilege, said: “[Holiday images on social media] is not something we take into consideration when assessing claims.” Lloyd Figgins, a former soldier and international risk expert, says that all travellers should be way about posting their whereabouts on social media. “Criminals have long used social media to track the movements of their victims,” he said. “Reduce your chances of becoming a target by only posting updates once you have moved on from a particular place or event. Never post plans of where you are heading next or where you are staying – this will help criminals to target you. “Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by thinking that it’s only your friends who can see your posts. In many cases this is not true. Depending on your security settings, you should also be asking yourself who can see what your friends are 'sharing' or 'liking' allowing more of the internet to see your posts. It’s entirely possible that you won’t even know the people who end up reading your fabulous holiday diary and who, more to the point, know where you are.”
The UK's Financial Ombudsman and local police forces have warned people they could invalidate their home insurance by posting images of themselves on holiday, effectively advertising their empty properties to criminals. Rising numbers of companies are rejecting claims from homeowners burgled during the summer months, with policyholders advised to post images to social media after they return from vacation.