Home Improvement Articles And Tips

Most home insurance claims are for accidental damage but each year a good number of us will suffer a burglary. This is a particularly unpleasant experience as a stranger has broken into your home, rifled through all your possessions and then walked off with the most expensive items.

Fortunately, there are ways of minimising your chances of being burgled.

You are at risk even though you may not own any expensive items. Don’t forget that a burglar doesn’t really know what you have until they have broken into your home. Radios, CDs, DVDs are all things a burglar would gladly take away to sell. Sure they would prefer nice expensive jewellery but once they are in your home they will take anything they can sell on.

So what can you do to reduce the chances of a burglary?

Most burglars are opportunistic and look for open windows and doors for a quick way into a property. Always, always close and lock doors and windows when you leave the property, even if it’s for just a few minutes. Ensure the locks you have are adequate and change them if they are not secure enough.

Try to set up some lights and lamps on timers so they click on and off during the hours of darkness. Having bright lighting outside your property which is trigged by PIR sensors can also be effective, particularly at the front.

One simple mistake people make is to leave house keys and car keys within easy reach of the front door and the letterbox. Thieves will make light work of ‘hooking’ these through the letterbox will either a stick or even a fishing rod. They can now get into your home and steal your car. Never put your address on any set of keys.

Don’t leave spare keys outside where a burglar could find them, entrust them to a neighbour for safekeeping but do not put your name and address on the key fob.

Install a good quality burglar alarm and use it. Many people forget to turn on their burglar alarms, you’ve paid for it so use it at every opportunity even if you’re just popping out to the shops. Just the site of a burglar alarm will deter all but the most persistent of thieves.

Mark your goods. You could either buy an engraving pen or an ultra-violet pen to mark your goods. Put your surname and postcode on them so Police can trace the owner of any recovered stolen goods. It is also possible to store the serial numbers of all electrical items on a secure database that the Police can search on when stolen goods are recovered.

Make sure your home insurance policy is of good quality and that all your contents and possessions are covered. Policies provide different levels of cover so check what you have and upgrade or add extra cover if needed.

Check to see if you have a local neighbourhood watch scheme and join it along with your neighbours to help protect your local environment.

Sean Horton is a Director of www.rapidalert.co.uk who offer the innovative Nationwide Property Watch service. Nationwide Property Watch provides 24 hour police contact in the event of an emergency for homes, holiday homes and business premises.