Wear and tear insurance?

[Adrian Caspersz]

Is rodent wear and tear insurable on a property?

A squirrel has eaten part of a gutter, letting water in during a heavy storm. Internal decoration ruined, lounge needs repainting.

Broker has advised not to pursue a claim as likely it would be rejected by the insurance company due to wear & tear and lack of maintenance, hence no claim - or increased premiums if we even filled out an insurance company claim form :(

Do I need to install CCTV to monitor my gutters?

In the last year squirrels have

- eaten electrical cables including the shower 10mm

- torn up loft insulation

- eaten up through the bottom of a plastic water tank, causing a leak (thankfully we caught that in time)

I'm installing wire mesh at the moment.

A few years ago, some idiots replaced our end terrace pitched roof and created huge gaps that these critters are invading.

Should really sue them ...

[Jeff Gaines]

Pointless, they'll only squirrel their way out of it :-)

[Martin Brown]

Allowing for the excess it probably isn't worth making a claim.

No but you need to discourage the squirrels from being there.

You have to stop them getting in ASAP. I've had them in the garage after my apples and they did a hell of a lot of damage to the roofing felt. I dread to think what they might do inside a household loft.

Chicken wire may not be good enough. Even the spot welded mesh that bird feeders are made of can be defeated (ie destroyed) by a well motivated squirrel. My eaves have vents made of I think steel (might be aluminium). They are annoyingly not quite completely mouse proof.

The odd one gets in about this time of year if the creepers are a bit too close to the eaves. Damn things can jump a long way!

Sort that out first as a priority. They usually only invade looking for food or failing that things to damage!

[Chris Hogg]

Dunno about your insurance situation, but a widow of my acquaintance who has a large woodland garden in which the trees are often damaged by squirrels (they strip the bark), uses a powerful air-rifle against them.

[Tim Streater]

Hum, are these things still legal? I had one as a kid but you never seem to see them these days.

[Jethro_uk]

[David]

Still legal AFAIK.

This shows some really scary/small penis guns as well as a traditional BSA.

Cheers

Dave R

[David]

Noting

Especially with respect to gas powered.

Cheers

Dave R

[Bev]

*self-contained gas powered* ie where the projectile and the propellant are in one item. Think of a traditional cartridge. Other forms of gas powered where the cylinder of gas is separate from the projectile are not covered by the legislation.

[John Rumm]

Yup still legal without a FAC as long as the muzzle energy is <= 12 ft/lb (rifle) or <=6 ft/lb (pistol)

[Rob H]

If they are grey squirrels, you can legally shoot them.

[Rob H]

Apparently they are, as a gardening friende told me I could use his to shoot the 'rats with bushy tails'

[Brian Gaff]

I see that somebody has already used the pun I was going to use. The problem is, how do you prove that the current damage is really unusual and has only just happened. I know somebody some years ago had a branch from a tree slightly overhanging a roof, and a squirrel fell and went through the tiles. Though the claim was paid, they made him get the branch cut back at his expense and it transpired the e stringers in the roof were all nearly petrified so he had to sell out for a new roof, in the end. Unfortunately houses do deteriorate, and there is not a lot you can do about it but patch them up until you need to spend a lot on them. Brian

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its the deer that strip my bark and east all my flowers. Squirrels just eat all the nuts and fruit.

An air rifle is adequate to bring down a squirrel under about 30 meters.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yes, they are legal. You nee to find as proper gunshop though Bottom of Exning road, Newmarket.

https://earth.google.com/web/@52.2456179,0.40294957,30.83117294a,0d,60y,40.19745501h,85.39671373t,0r/data=CloaWBJSCiUweDg4MmFkMjFmOTFhYjliMDM6MHgzZDExZmE5NjUxZjI2NTYwGQbT1cLRBUZAIXIdPkT-3VPAKhdOZXdtYXJrZXQgSGVhbHRoIENlbnRyZRgBIAEiGgoWekVyU3c2endJUmRoQjBZZnBoa3MtURAC Next door to the Islamic centre :-)

[John J]

Most of the currently available rodent poisons don't work on squirrels. Warfarin does but nowadays requires a licence to get your hands on it.

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

Pointless, squirrels have neither money nor property to seize.

[Scott]

What about ultrasonic emitters? I know they sell them for foxes.

[Animal]

If you claim for your bit of plastic & can of paint, you'll pay back the overpriced payout in higher premium over several years, then keep paying higher. You'll lose. That is the point of it after all.