Just before Christmas there was a spate of burglaries in our local area which made us very conscious of making sure our things are locked away safely.
I know you cannot be 100% safe wherever you live, but there are things you can do to ensure that your home and garden is as secure as it can be, both when you are home and away.
The obvious one is to ensure that doors and windows are locked, especially when you leave the house. We also make sure that bikes, toys and anything that could potentially be used to gain access to the house that are in the garden, are locked away each evening too. This is a good excuse to get your locks checked to see if they need to be updated, quick key cutting is possible from some companies so this is an important consideration.
Keep car and house keys away from the front door / windows where they could be easily snatched and having gates installed can be an added deterrent, especially if living in a busy area. Installing automated gates can add value to your home, bring your insurance premiums down and offer more security for children and pets. Click here for the best option for electric security gates in Shropshire.
Another tip is to keep your house lit. With solar energy improving all the time, we have got some fantastic solar lights that keep the garden lit at night and some high-powered lights that illuminate if someone is approaching both at the front and rear of the house. It is slightly unnerving if they go off, especially in the back garden, but it is normally a neighbourhood cat that sets them off.
Having internal lights on a timer that switch on and off is also great for making the home look like someone is in, but I do prefer someone physically looking after our house if we are away.
We also have an alarm on our house, however, if that is out of your budget, a dummy box is an effective deterrent too.
If you are going away, the biggest tip I have is to not announce it on social media as you could invalidate their home insurance if you get burgled whilst you are away.
Insurers are increasingly checking people’s social media accounts following a break-in to see if they announced that they would be away from the property, and are using it as a reason not to pay out.
Verisure have produced an interactive map showing burglary hotspots throughout the UK.
I am relieved to see we live in a low burglary rate area and unsurprisingly it is London, with a vast amount of wealth and its relatively low population, that has by far the highest burglary rate per 1,000 people. As the map shows, burglaries are far more likely to happen in cities in general, especially in the midlands and north of England.
The police website has a very good page on keeping your home secure with lots of sensible hints and tips.
Do you have any other tips on keeping your property safe from burglary?
Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post written in conjunction with Verisure. All opinions are my own.
Very good post with lots of informative information
Great post – I didn’t know that insurance companies would not pay out if your holiday was announced on social media! I will def ensure not to do that again! Thank you 🙂
This is something I am so paranoid about – fab tips and very interesting to see it all laid out on a map.
I too am glad the colour on my home town is pale. But it doesn’t mean I’m not worried about this kind of thing. I’ve known people who have been burgled, and it is a most horrible experience. All very sound advice given, thank you. Particularly about social media. I cringe at the amount of friends that announce where they are, and for how long! Stop it!
Glad to see my area is in the pale area. My husband has a bike that is usually locked up in a bike she’d round the back of our block of flats but it got broken into last week and his saddle was taken so need to get that all sorted now.
We have a timer so that we can have the lights come on at set times. We also put the radio on a timer too so it comes on if we’re out, that way if people hear talking/music they might think we’re in!
So informative. Burglary is a real worry of mine, we’ve had a spate of crimes in the area recently and a neighbour broken into last month. We always have our burglar alarm set and are really careful about locking doors and windows.
Very informative post! I never think worry about burglaries but it’s always be better safe than sorry.
All great tips. We always try and leave our house lit x
This is always on my mind, especially whenever we are away. Thanks for sharing.
We absolutely love and recommend timers! We also recently bought a new front door (cost an arm & a leg but so worth it!) to ensure that we’re happy with the security of the house.
The map shows a low rate where I live in North Tyneside, thankfully. It must be awful to be burgled xx
Great tips, there’s been a few recently near where I live
Great tips to keep in mind! Thanks!