It’s Crime Prevention Month and Paula Smith Insurance wants to make sure that homeowners are equipped with what they need to prevent potential home theft.
5 home safety tips
Learn more about how you can help safeguard your home and valuables from being a victim in home burglary
Secure Openings
For the small percentage of the population who is actually interested in breaking into people’s home, you need to be aware of your home’s weakest areas. Your typical weakest areas would be any type of openings such as doors and windows.
Making sure that your windows all lock, even if they are high off the ground, will help keep burglars out. When it comes to sliding doors, you want to have not only a lock on the door but leave a stick or board in the open space on the rail when the door is closed and you’re not home. This is taking an even greater measure to secure your most vulnerable areas.
You’re Always at Home
For most people, we aren’t always home during the day (as we are at work), but it is good to create an illusion as if you are always home. You can do this by leaving a light on or having a light on a timer that goes on and off throughout the day. You can also use a TV or radio to make it seem like you are at home as well. IF you are going on vacation don’t advertise it and arrange for someone to come and take care of the exterior areas that make it obvious that someone may not be home for a period of time. For example, have someone get the mail, mow the lawn, turn the lights on or off and take out the trash cans.
Security System
Installing a security system is a great way to keep your home on the lock-down. Many systems today allow you to monitor your home from the use of your smart phone. So you can receive alerts of suspicious activity and know in real time if anything is happening around your property. If you don’t want to invest in a security system, even posting a sign in your yard that you have a system in place can be a big deterrent for potential theft.
Create Good Ties
The closer you are to your neighbors the more likely they are to look out for you, or you them. Though you may not be home, your neighbors may be. They are much more likely to keep an eye on your property if you have a good relationship with them.
Get Insurance Coverage
A great way to protect the investment of your valuables is to insure them. Hopefully you have a great relationship with your insurance agent and he/she can go over your prized possessions, discuss additional insurance options and help you to determine which of your valuables you should insure and which kind of policy would be your best safeguard.
Rental insurance is another part of getting coverage as you never know what the person on the other side of that wall does or what precautions they may or may not take. Also consider college students who have roommates who may not be as careful with their belongings.
Seeing that it is Crime Prevention Month, we hope that you are feeling equipped with tools and strategies that can help keep your household and valuables safe from potential theft. Should you have any questions about YOUR home insurance, whether you own or rent, want to have an insurance agent that you can build a relationship with rather than a 1-800#, want to discuss jewelry floaters or insurance to cover your valuables, call on Paula Smith Insurance at (281) 488-8880.