Whether you are travelling for work, visiting relatives or taking that much needed holiday – leaving your home can be worrying. Give yourself some peace of mind and follow our top tips for keeping your property and your valuable safe when you’re not there.
Don’t Make It Obvious
There are some obvious signs that can be a giveaway to potential thief’s, allowing them to identify that your property is unoccupied.
Post – Ensure that exterior post boxes are emptied and any parcels or newspapers are collected regularly by a relative, friend or neighbour so that they don’t pile up.
Milk – If you have milk delivered then be sure to let them know to cancel it temporarily whilst you are away.
Bins – Make sure you arrange for someone to put your bins out and take them in on the right days. Bins left hanging around for days on end at the edge of the curb is suspicious and a sign that nobody has been at the house to take them in.
Make Them Think You’re Home
The simplest and most obvious way to prevent your property from being a target is to make it look like somebody is home. People tend to think that burglaries only happen in the dead of night but the truth is that most of them actually occur during the daytime hours of 8am – 6pm when occupants are at work.
By taking precautions and being aware of how your home appears from the outside when you are away during both the day and night, you can help avoid potential thieves from giving your property a second look. Just some things you can do to help include;
Visitors – Call upon a trusted friend, relative or neighbour to regularly drop by at different times. Swap around closed curtains maybe, switch on a light or two and ensure everything is locked up tight as it should be.
Be Smart – There is a whole world of great new ‘smart’ devices out there including smart switches and smart lights which act as a great theft deterrent. Enabling these allows you to switch on lights and appliances when you aren’t even home and some even have clever ‘holiday’ modes which turn the lights on and off for you in random patterns – mimicking you being home.
Dogs – A big deterrent for wannabe burglars is dogs. You might not want to go as far as committing to a new pet but you might want to consider displaying a ‘beware of the dog’ sign. You can even purchase fake ‘dog barking’ devices that can be left on whilst you are away and will emit random bark patterns – but be careful these aren’t loud enough to annoy your neighbours!
Security
Probably the best deterrent for any thief is a modern security system. These come in all shapes and sizes and can include;
- CCTV
- Intruder Alarms
- Video door bells
- Access Control
- Door entry systems
- Motion sensors
By investing in a high quality alarm system you can have the peace of mind in knowing that your property is protected and that just seeing the cameras or alarm is usually enough to cause interested parties to swiftly move along.
Keep It Quiet
Please don’t broadcast your absence. Some people believe that posting their holiday photos on social media whilst they are still away is a safe thing to do but unfortunately they are putting their home and their belongings at risk. All it takes is an innocent comment from a friend to another person or not to realise their post is public and they’ve announced to a number of strangers that their property is vacant and vulnerable.
If you would like more information on our intruder alarms Chelmsford then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. The professional, friendly advisors here at Colne Valley Security will be happy to help you with your questions.