Unfortunately 2020 has been a year many of us have not had the luxury of a holiday, but there is always next year, fingers crossed. You can’t make your years worse by leafing your home open to theft. So, in this blog post Our Local Locksmith in London would give you tips to keep your from breaking in when you are away on a holiday or a vacation.
1.Keep Your Home Safe
It sounds obvious but the first thing you need to do is secure your property, you would be surprised by the number of people who forget to close all of their windows for example. You need to lock all of your doors, windows, including your garage, garden gate and any other doors you may have which can lead into your home. It is also worth locking as many doors as possible within your property, if someone was to get in the more barriers the better.
2. Ensure your locks meet BS 3621
Locks are the first line of defence when it comes to property security. You should ensure your locks meet British standard 3621. This is a standard set out by the British Standard Institute for theft resistance locks. We always recommend ensuring your locks meet at least this standard. British standard locks can be identified by the British kite mark sign usually located on the locks faceplate. Locks which meet British standards are usually a requirement by your insurance company and are recommended by the police too.
3. Activate your Alarm (If you have one)
This may also sound obvious but around 33% of people never activate their alarm system. Making the alarm system totally useless and without purpose. While you should always activate your alarm whenever you leave your property you should especially activate it before you leave for a holiday/vacation as you will be away for at least several days, meaning your home will be vulnerable.
4. Make it look as if your home is occupied
Burglars prefer targeting properties which look empty, in the UK around half of all homes burgled are empty. This indicates if you can make it seem like your property is occupied it will reduce the likelihood of a burglary.
5. Plug timers
A plug timer allows you to turn things such as TV’s lights and radios on and off at a time of your choosing. Simply plug them into a plug socket then plug whatever device you want to turn on and off into the plug timer and set the time of your choosing.
6. Postpone deliveries
If you have weekley milk, newspaper, food deliveries then we strongly suggest you cancel this while you are on your holiday/vacation. A mountain of milk or unopened letters is a clear sign no one is home and is basically an invitation to a break in. If you wanted to continue these deliveries for any reason, ask a trusted family member or friend to to collect your deliveries. If no one can collect your mail, Royal Mail offers a service where they will withhold your mail for a specified amount of time. This service is not without charges but you can easily afford it.
7. Ask for some help
Ask a trusted family member, friend or neighbour for some help. For example you can ask them to carry out daily tasks such as collecting your mail or any other deliveries, change plug timers times to stop anyone from realizing these are so and not actual people.
8. Keep Your Valuables Out of Sight
If possible try to keep any valuable items out of sight from ground floor windows such as Tv’s Jewelry, game consoles etc. If you can keep these items from view they are out of sight and out of mind of some opportunistic thieves. It may also be a good idea to close your blinds or draw your curtains.
9. Stash Valuables in Your Safe or Hide Them
If you have a safe, now is the time to make use of it. But how you make use of it all depends on the safes size. If you have a small safe store money, jewelry or any important documents in it before you leave. Once you have filled the safe try to find a place to hide the small safe if possible. Small safes are great but they can be easily taken. Big safes on the other hand are much more difficult to move and can also store more valuables.
10. Tell a few people as possible
It may come as a surprise but 25% of people know their burglar , it could be anyone from a friends, family member of perpshs a tradesman you recently had round your property conducting some work. Therefore, you shouldn’t tell many people that you are leaving. In addition, try not posting anything about your trip on social media until you are back home.
To summate going on holiday is meant to be an adventure it meant to be one of the highlights of the year, Do not ruin this by becoming a victim of burglary through sheer laziness. The steps outlined in this blog will help you deter any burglar and help ensure you home remains secure.
Article Submitted By Community Writer