That’s not a conversation you want to have.
Since the police are always running around like chickens with their heads cut off between Thanksgiving and January 3rd, and the last thing you want to do is watch your home insurance rates go any higher than they already are, here are some simple, tried and true methods to help keep your home from becoming a target this holiday season.
1) Keep your doors and windows locked, even if you live in a “nice” neighborhood. Areas where homeowners regularly leave back doors, windows and basements unlocked are prime feeding grounds for thieves. If they know your door is unlocked all they have to do is walk in, grab what they want, and walk back out. No effort, no property damage, and since there was no “breaking” to go with their “entering” home insurance companies won’t pay a dime.
2) By all means, spend Christmas in the Bahamas. Just don’t advertise it! All it takes is a casually dropped question, a friendly holiday conversation, and the nice woman standing behind you in line knows you’re going to be out of town for the next month. When the cat’s away the mice will play, and this mouse will have your house cleaned out long before you get around to unpacking.
3) If you’re going to be out of town, get a friend to watch the house for you. Home insurance companies like knowing that someone’s keeping an eye on the place, and overflowing mailboxes and piled up newspapers are like a neon sign to the industrious (if not too intelligent) petty thief.
4) Consider investing in an electronic security system, preferably one that connects directly to local law enforcement. Criminals do their best work in anonymity, and when they set off that electronic security system that anonymity is practically non-existent. The average thief will steer well clear of a home covered by an electronic system, especially when there are plumper (and less challenging) pickings next door.
5) Install a deadbolt. This is a big one! Since you can now buy lock picking sets and bump keys on the Internet before hopping onto YouTube to learn how to use them, the average door lock just isn’t good enough. Deadbolts take a lot more work to get through, and the thief has to decide between just breaking down the door (which isn’t as easy as it sounds) or taking the time to try to get through it.
Even during the holidays thieves will go for the ripest apple on the branch and leave the less appealing options alone, so make sure your home is that less appealing option. If you can do that you, your home and your home insurance rates should make it through this holiday season without a scratch on you.
