Standby for a shock

[Bravia55HX]

Hi everyone,

i just wanted to raise awareness on the subject of leaving things on standby, i dont know about everyone else but i always leave everything on standby when not in use morning, noon, and night and to me thats never a problem, However i recently found out that if you unfortunately end up with a house fire and the insurance companies find out your tv was left on standby even though it was not the cause of the fire you will not get a penny out of them for a replacement!

so now im considering turning things off completely, i just wondered what everyone else thinks, personally i think its stupid as in this modern world of electronics almost everything is controlled electronically or by remote and i feel the insurance companies are, as usual, trying to get out of fullfilling claims!

anyone else got any views on this?, be interesting to get a response from Sony too.

[Anonymous]

Hi there

Im going to be really nit-picky here and ask a few questions. This is not personal, but I just cant see that being true, as home entertainment equipment these days needs to be plugged in. So....

1 - How did you come by this information anyhow? Personal experience?

2 - Is there a website/documentation supporting this claim?

3 - Is this for all insurers as a general policy information.

4 - If electronic equipment is not supposed to be left on when not in use, what about the following scenarios -

a - PVR Recorders - They are no use switched off.

b - TV - Automatic Software downloads over night?

c - TV - Auto Update of Freeview channel information

d - PS3 - Auto update of software and profile information (as in game saves etc)

e - PS3 - Unattended download of games over night?

5 - Whats the difference between a fridge or microwave or even your alarm clock compared to a TV and connected equipement?

Like you, I also leave everything on standby. When I did a full update of my equipment in 2011, I added a Belkin Surge protector ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Isolator-Cinema-Protector-Sockets/dp/B0002AG9SA ). If as you say rings true, these surely as suited to those conditions of leaving equipment in standby.

Anyway, they are just my thoughts to be honest.

If you found this out from personal experience, you have my deepest sympathy.

Cheers

[Batfinkk]

Seems a bit odd that it would entirely invalidate your policy. Can you link to a source?

cheers

[gofrost]

I use a smart panel that has 2 master sockets that are always on and the others power the rest of the devices such as blu ray player etc.When the tv is connected to one of the master skts and is switched on the rest of the devices are powered up at that time, and vice versa when tv is switched off. Even doing this there is some power supplied,as you point out to get round this situation you would need to switch off the mcb at the consumer panel so that nothing is powered on.

[Bravia55HX]

Hi,

all i can say is a family members friend left her tv on standby and this was the cause of the fire and because of this the insurers refused to pay out for anything that includes the tv and any other damage that was done to the home!,

i dont have all the answers to all the questions only to what has happened above, i too use a surge protector on all my gear, always have done even with the latest consumer board thats fitted to most homes now i feel safer knowing i have the extra protection, i think its worth checking this with your contents provider the ins and outs of this.

just to clarify, i know i said in my first post the tv was not the cause however i was misinformed but either way whether the tv was or not if its left on stanby i find it stupid for insurance companys to get out of replacing it or any other damage to the home