You don’t have to dig a moat around your home and have armed guards at your door to protect your property. We’ve put together a simple list of ways to keep burglars from invading your home.
1) Start with your front door
If your front door looks tatty, or only has one cylinder lock (e.g. Yale), instead of a cylinder lock plus deadlock, it will catch a thief’s eye. You can have an extra lock installed in a matter of minutes and it could save you a tidy penny.
2) If you don’t appear to have anything valuable, you’re not such a tempting target
The most common stolen items from the home are computers, cash, electrical goods and jewellery as they are relatively easy to sell on. It’s interesting to note that 21% of people never hide their valuables when leaving their home and more worryingly, 37% of people leave expensive gadgets easily accessible. Keep things out of sight to avoid tempting burglars!
3) Do keep certain things visible to onlookers…
Even though you want to keep your valuables out of sight, there are certain things to have on show that can act as a brilliant deterrent. Window locks and cameras can deter burglars massively as they are an extra hassle to overcome. Also, if you have a dog, this can be a big deterrent for burglars. Don’t worry if you don’t have a big German Shepherd to hand though, a small, yappy dog will do just the trick if they bark uncontrollably and are difficult to calm the second someone appears.
4) On that note… Consider getting a home safe
For that extra peace of mind, we would encourage purchasing a home safe for your smaller, easier to pick up items such as jewellery, watches and cash. Don’t just buy your average joe safe you can pick up in the supermarket though because guess what… Burglars will take the whole thing and spend as long as they want getting it open. The safe must be 3rd party accredited and anchored to a secure object – either an external wall or solid floor.
5) Get an alarm fitted
Did you know that 60% of burglary attempts on homes with alarms are unsuccessful? However, shockingly 71% of homes still do not have a working burglar alarm! There are 2 main types of alarms, an audible alert only which relies on noise scaring the burglar or raising the alarm to neighbours to investigate. Alternatively, there’s a monitored alarm with not only sound but also notify people when triggered. Some will notify the home owner (by phone, text etc) and some will notify the police.
6) Cage your letterbox on the inside
It’s common practice for burglars to put a long stick through your letterbox to try and fish your keys off a table. Not only will they be able to break into your home but they will also be able to steal your car!
7) Don’t tell Facebook you’re going on holiday!
We see it every day, people checking in at the airport with that classic ‘see you in 2 weeks’ status but our advice is DON’T DO IT. You are literally telling the world that your home is going to be empty and potentially unmonitored for the duration of your holiday - it’s like an advertisement for burglars!
