Top 10 Home Security Tips
1: Lock your doors!
The most fundamental of home security tips are, of course, to keep all windows and doors locked. When you leave the house it is crucial to make sure that a potential thief has absolutely NO easy access to your home, 15% of burglars will enter through an unlocked door, don’t make that mistake! When reporting a break-in, an unlocked door can also affect insurance claims enormously, with some people being denied payouts simply for because they left a door unlocked!
59% of burglaries occur whilst the victim is home, and this statistic is rising every year. Therefore it is equally important to lock up your home whilst you are in it. Not only at night, but during the day when you may be gardening or having a nap, burglars will seize any opportunity to slip in and out of a property. Any downstairs windows left open at night are a prime target for burglars so try and get into the habit of checking every night before bed.
2: Don’t hide spare keys.
It is common knowledge that most people will hide a spare key somewhere in their garden, and for this reason, most burglars will not hesitate to hunt it down. You may think you have found a genius hiding place, however, serial burglars will have had a lot of experience with finding spare keys and may very well find it. Giving a trustworthy neighbour, close-by friend, or relative a copy of your key is a good alternative for this problem.
3: Secure your shed.
Your house isn’t the only roof that needs keeping safe. For most people, their garage or shed will house valuable tools – tools that can be then used to break into your home. Ladders are the main concern as, though you may lock your downstairs windows, one open first-floor window plus a ladder is an easy entrance for a burglar. Similarly, if your shed stores tools such as screw-drivers or crowbars a burglar could easily use these to force a door or window open. Once again, getting into a lock-up routine before going to bed could help save your home from a break in.
4: Keep Keys out of sight.
Many homes will keep their keys on hooks or a table near the front door, which is handy for remembering them BUT also provide another opportunity for burglars. There are tools on the market which can enable burglars to reach through letterboxes or pet doors to access your keys, once again allowing for an unforced entry. Try using a closed box, or using a different location to store your keys or a letterbox with brushes that can make it hard for prying eyes to see what’s on the other side of your door.
5: Outside lighting.
Motion activated lighting for your garden can be a great deterrent for burglars as a sudden bright light illuminating their every move will make them very exposed. When purchasing lighting, consider the areas most vulnerable, hopefully, paired with a window you can easily look through to check. Also, different lights have different ranges of sensitivity, meaning that if you have a big garden you will need a more powerful sensor. Make sure to research before buying.
6: Burglar alarms.
Much like a security light at night, activating a burglar alarm will expose an intruder very quickly. Most alarms will have ways to install sensors to doors and windows which, upon opening, will trigger the alarm is activated. Even a dummy alarm, or one that no longer works, can be a great preventative measure as most dummy alarms look very convincing and it will be hard for burglars to tell the difference. Burglars may often decide to not take the risk, and instead, go looking for a home without any alarm systems.
7: Use British Standard Approved locks.
Most insurance companies will be reluctant to pay out after a burglary if you are not using BSA locks. This is because there are locks out there which are made from cheap materials and are easily broken or un-locked, compromising your home security immediately. Give your house the best protection possible by always buying reliable, trustworthy brands.
8: Social Media.
Posting personal information about going on holiday, new expensive belongings, or any other compromising information can seriously put your home at risk from burglary. In a new digital age, potential thieves can easily search through social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook to see if anyone near them is on a family holiday, or even home alone, and assess if they want to attempt a burglary. Adjusting your privacy settings can also help, as well as removing ‘location’ settings from your posts.
9: Light Timers.
If you are on holiday or out of the house for a prolonged amount of time, it can become obvious to regular passersby that your house is unoccupied. To combat this there are several plugs in timers available which can activate your lights on a timer, turning them on or off, to make it look like someone is in.
10: Keep Trustworthy Neighbours in the loop.
When you are on holiday, a friendly neighbour can come in very handy as they can keep an eye on your house as well as do simple things to help out, such as picking up mail etc