Burglary: a couple successfully gets compensation despite leaving the shutters open

Upon returning to their home after being away for three days, a couple discovered that their home had been burglarized. The robbers had broken into a safe and stolen its contents.

The couple filed a complaint and notified their insurer, the Caisse régionale d'assurances mutuelles agricoles (Crama), a member of Groupama, of the incident. The latter refused however to compensate them upon learning that the blinds in the room where the safe was located were left open. The contract's general conditions stipulate that the insured must close the shutters in case of absence for more than 24 hours.

The couple sued their insurer who, after several investigations, was ordered to pay the victims 52 000 EUR (56 554 USD). Indeed, the exclusion clause "theft and damage occurring while preventive measures haven't been observed are not covered" includes an exception "unless the failure to observe these measures couldn't have had any impact on the realization of the damage".

The judges found that closing the shutters wouldn't have deterred the intruders who dared to break into a safe and wouldn't have hesitated to force the shutters open.