Its that time of the year when many of us go away for a week or so for a well-needed break.
The last thing you want to do while you are away is to be worrying about how well your property is, and worrying if you are going to be broken in to.
It is a sad fact that burglars will take advantage of an empty home and a resident being away on holidays to break in. In many cases, it is really easy to go down a street and work out which homes have residents away for an extended time. A break in could go undiscovered for days or even weeks if you are away.
Consider the following signs that a thief may look for to work out of a house is currently occupied or if the resident is away for an extended time;
- curtains or blinds closed up on an otherwise nice day
- no lights on during obvious times such as early evening
- no signs of a tv or other sign of life later in the evening
- cars not coming and going from the driveway
- letterbox full or uncleared for a couple of days
- no sign of people or pets at the property
There are several variations on this, and you could imagine that there could be other reasons for the above, but remember that it is as easy as knocking on the front door to test of the burglar’s suspicion about no one being home is correct.
So if you are going away, here are a few things you should do to mitigate the risk;
1/ Have a friendly neighbour or relative empty the letter box daily, open and shut some windows etc
2/ Put some lights on timers in the house, ideally not in a predictable way, so different lights are going on at different times. You may also consider a TV or music that can go on and off in the same way
3/ Don’t tell people that you don’t know that you are going away. For example if someone comes to the door they don’t have to know when you going to be home next. As far as anyone else is concerned you are always at home.
4/ Invest in the best security system you can afford and make that known through small placards in windows and a siren/strobe exterior to the property where anyone can see it easily from the street
5/ Mount a couple of internet-connected cameras external to the property, ideally ones that you can check form your phone. If they are triggered then you can ask a neighbour or friend to check on the property.
6/ Check the locks on your doors and windows – make sure they are secure with decent brand locking mechanisms.
7/ ‘MacGyver’ some of your entry points (I don’t mean Home Alone style though!) Sliding doors can be extra secured by a small piece of wood on the bottom track going the whole length to prevent the door sliding open. Unused windows can be permanently screwed shut
8/ Do not leave any valuables in plain sight – in fact any precious items could be removed from the property if you are away for some time.
9/ And finally, if all else fails, ensure that you have adequate home contents insurance. Double check the replacement value of your items so that if the worst does occur, it’s only slightly annoying, rather than devastating.
If you are not sure, go ahead and give me, or another professional in the home security field a call. It may be worth the few minutes. And chances are that nothing will ever happen to your home, but that doesn’t prevent you from taking steps none-the-less.
And above all – have a good holiday!