How To Secure Your Home

I’m sure it goes without saying that securing your home is extremely important. This article will provide you with some helpful tips so you know how to secure your home.

In the UK hundreds of homes are burgled everyday. You may not be able to fully secure your home against attackers however, you can take steps to minimise being burgled in the first place. One thing to be aware of is the typical thief will be an opportunist. If they notice your home is an easy target, they may attempt to break in on a whim. This leads me on to the next point – Visible Deterrents.

Secure Your Home with Visible Deterrents

You should have visible deterrents placed around your home because this will have any thief thinking twice.

• Illuminate your front and back garden – Most burglaries take place in the dark at the rear of your property.
• CCTV – Even if this is just a dummy camera, most burglars won’t take the chance.
• Alarms – Install an alarm or dummy alarm box.
• “Beware of the dog” signage – Even if you don’t own a dog, this is a proven way to deter thieves.
• High security locks – These offer great protection against forced entry but also boast visual security emblems on the front.

Security Products and Upgrades

We’ve gone over visual deterrents so let’s take a look at upgrades you can apply to your homes security. I’ve already pointed out the first two things above, a CCTV and alarm system. Not only are they preventative but in the case of a break-in they can be used to help catch and prosecute the offender.

High security door euro cylinders give protection against forced entry to your homes doors. Sometimes installing these cylinders can save you a premium on your home insurance too.

Sash jammers can be used as an extra lock on both your doors and windows.

Premium uPVC door handles are more robust and made from stronger materials to help stop forced entry.

Key lockable window handles are not only vital to your home security but most insurances require them.

Essential Security Tips

Now lets move on to some obvious and not so obvious tips.

Starting with a less obvious one which I know all of you are guilty of and that is posting about holidays on social media. You should never post that you are on holiday or even post your favourite holiday pics whilst your away. All this is doing is informing hundreds of people you’re not at home. You may not think someone on you friends list is capable of something like that but word gets around. Don’t forget, most burglars are opportunists and guaranteed a empty home for a week is about as good of an opportunity they can get.

Make sure to lock your door with the key any time you leave your home. If its not dead locked with the key then its not secure.

Lock your windows with the key if you leave your home overnight. Most insurances require you to do this otherwise you run the risk of having a claim rejected.

I know most of us have left a spare key under the plant pot in the garden before. This should be avoided because you could be handing a thief the key to your home.

If you lose a key then you should change your lock immediately. Don’t run the risk of your key falling into someone else’s hands. Be safe and change those locks.

Hopefully this article has provided you some insight in to how to secure your home. As always if you need any further information please don’t hesitate to contact us.