Burglaries At Christmas: How To Keep Your Home Safe
10th Dec 2020
Unfortunately, Christmas is the most burgled time of the year, a burglary takes place every 40 seconds in the UK, so it pays to protect your home as best you can. Small things we do at Christmas, from social media posting to the way we store our rubbish, say to burglars that our homes are worth a second glance.
Here’s our checklist to make sure you’re homes are secure from burglars this Christmas:
Stop sharing
We love posting on social media, from sharing the gifts we’ve received to showing we’re away with winter holiday photos, but it may not only be your friends appreciating the updates.
Research has shown 78% of burglars use social media to target properties. So, if you want to avoid break ins, keep the Christmas snaps to yourself or make sure your privacy settings are up to date.
Christmas deliveries
Unfortunately, this year most of us are having to do our Christmas shopping online. It’s convenient until you have to get it delivered and you’re not going to be in! The easiest thing to do is to put a note in the window telling the driver to leave your parcel with a neighbour, for burglars this is a total giveaway you’re not home.
Try getting your packages delivered to your workplace, let the delivery driver know of any secure ‘safe places’, or let your neighbour know in advance the time you’re getting a parcel delivered.
If you’re living in a block of flats, you might think that your parcels are safe once they’re in your building, this might be the case for some people, but unfortunately this isn’t always the case. If the parcel is too big to put through your post box, make sure you know when the delivery is expected and to make arrangements with the delivery driver if you’re not going to be in.
Outside your home
By leaving empty packaging outside your house, burglars have a clear idea of what is inside the house and may be more likely to try and break in. Our bins fill up quickly at Christmas and often we leave the bigger boxes until last. But if this packaging belongs to your brand-new TV or laptop, it lets everyone on your street know of these items in your house.
Prioritise breaking down the boxes that belong to your more expensive presents, including electricals and jewellery. That way when a burglar passes by, your gifts aren’t on display.
Decorate wisely
As a nation we go all out with our decorations at Christmas but unfortunately, these festive items mean something totally different to burglars.
If your tree is in the window, thieves see it is a quick getaway with presents. Outdoor lighting means you’ll have a gap leading indoors to supply electricity, making it easier for burglars to identify weak spots around the property. To help you can do things like decorating with wireless light features, keeping your tree away from windows and doors, and turning off lights when you’re out to decrease visibility.
Stay secure
In most burglaries, the criminal has broken into the property through the door, either by forcing the lock or kicking it in, or by getting through a window. So, you need to make sure that these two points of entry are safe, strong and secure. Here are a few tips on how to do that:
- Consider fitting a bar for extra strength.
- Make sure you lock the doors and windows when leaving the house, even when you’re in the garden.
- Glass panels on doors are particularly vulnerable; you can replace the standard glass with laminated glass which is stronger, or you can also buy a film from most DIY shops which you can stick over the glass to make it harder to break.
- Buy key operated locks for downstairs windows and other windows upstairs that are easy to reach.
These are only a few basic tips but if you take them into account and start to apply them over the Christmas period, it will reduce your chances of becoming a victim of burglaries at Christmas. We at Blocsphere take care of all our customers by making sure that you and your homes are safe and secure.
Keeping in the Christmas spirit, check out our blog on 5 ways to keep your homes safe this Christmas.