Christmas Security – Avoid Your Presents Being on a Thief’s Hit List
As we are coming into the lead up to Christmas, unfortunately instead of seeing a bounty of cheer and mince pies, some people see a bounty of opportunity to steal.
As the nights close in (from as early as 5pm in the Winter Season), and people are out of their homes celebrating and being merry, thieves see a prime chance to pounce on an uninhabited home and take as much as the contents as possible.
In light of this, the general public can take certain home security measures and precautions, to avoid falling into the grips of these grinchy thieves. Below are a few tips to help you on your way to ensuring that your home is protected properly this Christmas.
Home Security Tips for Christmas
- Keep things locked
It may seem like an obvious point to make, but making sure that all doors and windows are securely shut and locked is important. As we are not opening our doors and windows as often as in the summer, the inclination to check if they are locked is not a prevalent in our minds. We assume things are locked if we have not opened them in a while, but this may not be the case. Just double check the handles are worthwhile to make sure your house is secure. Similarly protecting your back garden or side passage is important to your home security. Make sure that your back gate/side gate (if you have one) has a sturdy lock on it. Putting your outside bins next to any potential entrance to your property can also help make it awkward for thieves to gain entrance.
- Keep a Light on
When you go out for the evening for a spot of carol singing or for any other reason, leaving a light on could be the difference between your house being targeted or not. Especially if cars are outside the front of the house, a few lights on in the house tell a potential thief that someone is home. They are much more likely to choose a house which they believe is empty, rather than take a chance on a house that could be occupied.
Use the radio – If you are in a real panic about your home being broken into or believe that thieves are in the area, then leaving the radio on, as well as lights, can only serve to add to the illusion that you are home.
- Gifts in the Cupboard, Cardboard Under the Tree!
If you have been broken into over Christmas before or are worried about potential break ins, then keeping all your well thought out/expensive gifts under the tree, may not be the best idea. If you are a family or a person who likes to have the aesthetic of presents under the tree, then it could be worth making some fake presents out of old cardboard boxes. You can wrap them up in wrapping paper giving the same appearance as usual, the only difference will be that in a break in situation the thief will walk away empty handed. Keep the actual gifts in a locked or padlocked cupboard in a different room if possible.
- Keep Your Keys Away From Doors and Windows
When you are leaving the house, especially if you are not taking your car with you, then always make a point to leave your keys in a secure place. If you leave keys by doors or windows there is more opportunistic potential for thieves to break in. More times than not, if a thief can see a key next to a window, they will break the window or put a hook through the letterbox to try and hook them.
If a thief does successfully break into your house, hiding car keys is a sensible idea. As thieves try to be as quick as possible, they will not have the time to look around the house for your keys.
- Home Insurance
Make sure to check your insurance policy, specifically whether it covers the contents of your home. In many cases, people do not know that they are not insured, until it is too late. Dont be one of these people this Christmas, make sure you know what is covered by your policy.
- Invest in Home Security
If you are still worried about your home and whether it is secure enough, then it may be worth your time and money investing in beefing up your home security. There are a few ways of doing this:
Window and Door Grills
If you live in an area notorious for break ins or one which has had a spate of crimes which involve breaking windows to enter a property, then window and door grills are the solution. They work to ward off criminals in two ways. Firstly, if the grill is there and they can see it through the window, they will probably not try and enter the property. Secondly, even if they did manage to break the pane, there would not be enough room for them to squeeze into the property.
A Good Alarm System
Having a good alarm system is extremely sensible, for obvious reasons. They can be found at most security shops or ordered online, and installation is usually offered.
Following these steps should help to protect you from the advances of criminals. However if you are truly looking for some home security wear, Safeguard Security have some great products available to keep your possessions and family safe and secure this Christmas. Above all however: