Your home is at its most vulnerable when you are on holiday, some burglars will actually watch your property over a length of time to determine when you are in. There are obvious signs that a potential burglar will look for to determine whether or not you are on holiday. Here are some of the key things to check:
- We all love to talk about our holiday plans but be careful who you are telling! Don’t tell people outside immediate friends and family that you are going away or for how long. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to show off your tan and your holiday tales when you get back. Don’t post about your upcoming holiday on social media such as Facebook or Twitter – you don’t know who can read your comments, or who they will tell.
- Keep valuables out of sight! You don’t know who might peep in the window and that ipad left on the side or car keys hanging by the door are a huge temptation to the opportunist thief. Don’t hide things in the obvious places, these thieves are experts at this and know all the obvious hiding places.
- Newspapers or post hanging out of the letterbox – if possible ask a friend or neighbour to pay regular visits to your home to remove any post from your letterbox while you are away.
- Milk – Cancel any milk deliveries for the duration of your holiday. Uncollected milk as with post is a big shout to would be intruders that you’re not there!
- Curtains – If you can ask a friend, neighbour or relative to collect your post it is a very good idea to ask them to occasionally rearrange your curtains. This will make the house look occupied to any potential intruder that may be watching your property.
- Install electronic timers for lighting – This is another very good way of making the property look occupied while you are out or on holiday.
- Don’t leave your home looking unoccupied – mow the lawns before you go
Make sure that you have set your burglar alarm – Statistics prove that the very presence of a burglar alarm will deter even the most determined criminal before they attempt entry. If they are stupid enough to try they will soon give up when the alarm goes off, not only will the noise scare them off they won’t know whether your alarm is monitored with a police response. As soon as the alarm is triggered for all the burglar knows the police could already be on their way!
If you are considering protecting your property with an alarm system to give you peace of mind whilst you’re enjoying your holidays contact us on 01442 531031 or email.
