Tagged: theft

Burglary prevention at Christmas

The build up to Christmas can be both exciting and stressful but imagine coming home one day and finding your property broken into and all the gifts you have bought or received gone.
The festive period is a prime time for burglars with properties being stocked with new unopened items of high value that are easier to sell on in their new and boxed condition, it is also a time when more people leave their homes unattended than usual to go on Christmas parties or to visit friends and relatives.
Opportunist thieves don’t need much to feel presented with a chance to steal and the season of goodwill can also be a time where people are more relaxed and don’t take the same security measures they may take when they go on holiday.

Most insurance policies will have an automatic uplift for contents of 10% for the Christmas period (we do here at Highhouse Insurance), if this is not the case, please ensure that your contents insurance is sufficient for your requirements. If they are not, then ensure that you contact your insurance to increase the sum insured as necessary.

Burglary prevention at Christmas

We have put together is a brief guide on various measures and general advice to help prevent your property from becoming a target.

Don’t leave gifts on display
Nothing feels more like Christmas than looking at a nicely decorated tree full of presents underneath. However having gifts on show, particularly in view from a window is also attractive to thieves. If possible hide all gifts until the day of opening and be equally stringent after they have been open. If you are going out or going away don’t leave them on show.

Festive outdoor lighting
Outdoor Christmas lights can act as a deterrent like any other outdoor lighting but can pose a potential risk if they are mains operated and need to be plugged in through a window. When possible buy lights where not only the lights are suitable for outdoor use but also the transformer or plug, then connect to an outdoor mains. Alternatively there are a large range of battery or solar outdoor lights available and have come on leaps and bounds since their first generation attempts.

Don’t publicly display any packaging
Councils these days are much tighter on rubbish and recyclable waste and some don’t allow you to put rubbish out beyond what will fit in the plastic bins or bags provided so the visibility of rubbish and recyclable goods isn’t as generally noticeable these days. However just after Christmas they generally are more relaxed and bins are overflowing, be careful not to display packaging, only put extra bags or boxes out on the day of collection or night before and when possible take what you can to a recycling centre. Don’t give potential thieves an idea of what they might find in your house.

The Christmas tree looks lovely by the window
A classic place for a beautifully lit Christmas tree is by a window with the curtains or blinds open so it can be visible to passers by and while I don’t want to destroy the spirit of Christmas it is also worth pointing out that not only the tree may be visible especially in the evening when the room is fully lit and the curtains aren’t drawn. The tree will also succeed in grabbing the attention of almost anyone that passes by so be careful in what else is visible should you decide to place it by a window especially when you are out.

Take basic home security measures.
This may appear in every article to do with home security but ensuring you have minimum securities in place where possible can never be understated. A third of burglars enter a property through a window so all ground floor and accessible windows should have key operated security locks which are kept shut and locked when the property is left empty.
Two thirds of burglars enter a property through a door so it is important to do what you can to make them as secure as possible. The minimum security standard for most home insurance requirements is having 5 Lever Mortice Deadlocks but additional security measures include fitting mortise bolts to the tops and bottoms of doors, fitting chains or bars and if the door has a window or glass panels then these can be replaced with either laminated glass or a special film over the existing glass which does a similar job.

Ensure all outbuildings and sheds are locked securely and that no ladders, steps, or outdoor seating that can be easily moved is readily accessible to aid thieves

Don’t leave spare keys in obvious places such as under a doormat, nearby plant pot, loose brick or rock, under the tyre of a second car and so on. Leave with either a trusted neighbour or friend and don’t leave any keys indoors in bowls, hanging up or visible from an external viewpoint such as through a letterbox.

Motion Sensor lighting and spotlights are very good for lighting areas of your property that would have very little lighting otherwise and can act as a great deterrent to potential burglars. Most have adjustable detection ranges so you can change them to only switch on when someone comes on your boundary and not just walks past.

Be wary of the pitfalls to using social media
We posted an article a few weeks back on thieves using social media sites to target victims, by using information they have made public such as being away on holiday leaving their property vacant. Christmas is no different and people should be wary of posting information when they are visiting friends and family especially when they share their location whilst posting, its best to do this post dated after you have returned home. It is also not a good idea to go showing off all the new presents you have on social media and keep an eye on what information your children are sharing.

Should you require home insurance or any other type of property insurance today or at some point in the future and would like a free quote then please feel free to contact us by either selecting the appropriate insurance or calling us directly on 01243 606552.

Sources
Home security guide, city of London police, HSL02- produced by the Home Office Communication Directorate, January 2004

December 18, 2013

Home Guides

Burglars use social media to target homes

These days social media platforms such as facebook and twitter have become ever popular and many people now see them as an extension of themselves to chat with friends, share views, sell their unwanted items, advertise events or businesses and make new friends.
This social revolution has not only changed the way we interact with one another but also how we share information about ourselves. There are plenty of positives to be gained by doing this like meeting up with long lost friends, finding out about local events and who is attending or just meeting people that have similar interests.

Burglars use social media to target homes

There are however some dangers to the use of social media and users can be left vulnerable without realising it. Social media has opened the doors for people to tell the world about themselves, who they are, what they like and what they are doing. There are many people who enjoy reading and sharing this information for honest reasons but there are also a few out there who use social media as a resource for gathering personal information with the intentions of criminal acts.
People love to write about what they are doing, where they are going and in particular when they are away on vacations. I often get face book posts from friends on holiday showing off a picture with them and their family enjoying themselves in some resort, somewhere hot and sunny whilst the rain hammers down in England.
Social media has however gained the interest from thieves and now burglars use social media to target homes. They use the information to target people by following posts to find out where they live, when they are on holiday and how long they are away for. Many users on facebook accept friend requests from people they have never met and allow them to read their non public posts. Options in facebook, twitter and google+ allow users to share their location whenever they post something and because they can be posted in almost real time, thief’s know when and where they are at anyone point in time.
Web mapping services such as google maps can provide additional information to thieves and help provide a blue print on properties to plan ahead.

Take Action

When sharing personal information it is important to be careful on what information you share and with whom. Be careful who you allow as a friend and / or what information you post about yourself online. If you go on holiday and wish to share photos or keep an online diary of your travels it is advisable not to post this real time or even better wait till you return home before you share it. Many mobile devices now carry location services so be sure to switch them off as well and ensure that your children take the same precautions because their online activities are equally attractive to thieves.
Of course thieves aren’t just looking for opportunities when people are away on holiday but rather simply just when they are away from the property, vacations are ideal because the whole household tend to go away but with every member of a household now connecting to facebook and these accounts naturally all being connected through ‘friends’ its possible to build up an idea of the activity for that property through details and posts such as where and when they work or regular day to day activities. The more information about themselves a person posts the clearer the picture about them and those around them becomes, for example dad is a travel rep, mum works as a secretary for a local solicitors (or the other way round) and the kids are at school and then picked up afterwards by gran and then collected by mum or dad after work, Monday to Friday. Comments and posts however small and insignificant over a historical timeline and across connected accounts can be used collectively to determine personal activities of a household the same way a points card used by supermarkets collects details on peoples buying habits.
Platforms like face book have become very popular quickly and revolutionised the way we interact not just with other people but with technology itself. As social media and technology integrates and evolves with new services and opportunities to share information it is important to remain astute and be aware of the potential pitfalls because professional thieves can be savvy and don’t need much to see an opportunity.
There are of course other measures you can do outside of social media to help prevent opportunist thieves from detecting when your house is vacant, here is a brief dos and don’ts for when you are away:

• Don’t broadcast your holiday, as much as you want may want to tell the world of your much needed break the same advice applies just as on social media, the less people know the better.
• Get a house sitter or ask a trusted friend or neighbour to regularly check on the property. If they are able to share their rubbish with your bins and put them in and out on collections days. Turn lights on and off in the evenings and the telly or radio, whilst shutting the curtains. This is of course subjective to what they would be willing to do but if you offer the same service in return then the old saying ‘what are neighbours for’ gains a bit more value!
• Cancel newspapers and redirect mail if possible. If people can visibly see mail and newspapers mounting up then this is a good indication the house hasn’t been vacant for a while. If you have a trusted neighbour or friend who checks on the property while you are away then have them collect the post and move it to a different part of the property, that again isn’t on view- unopened letters and a stack of newspapers on a table is just as evident. Also it is better to cancel newspapers than to put your deliveries on hold.
• Use timers on lamps in the house that switch on and off in the evenings and that are visibly on through windows.
• If you have a drive way then keep a vehicle on there, if not then ask if a trusted neighbour would be willing to park their vehicle there.

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November 21, 2013