Tips for Preventing Theft While on Vacation

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Avoid becoming a statistic and implement these tips to prevent theft and protect your home, loved ones and your possessions!

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As much as you’d like to believe your property is safe while you’re not home, theft happens at an alarming rate every year.  Fortunately, there are many easy, affordable and commonsense things you can do to protect your home!

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports an average of 2.5 million burglaries occur each year; 66% of them are home break-ins between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Avoid becoming a statistic and implement these tips to prevent theft and protect your home, loved ones and your possessions!

Tighten Up Your Security

• Add a security sign to your yard or stickers to your door.  While it may not fool the burglar, they may think twice about approaching your home.
• Consider investing in a home security system, which can also qualify for discounts on your homeowners insurance.
• Trim back your landscaping so burglars have fewer places to hide.
• Install a motion sensor light to common entryways, and install them high enough so a burglar can’t unscrew or unplug it.
• If you’re on vacation or out for the evening, turn exterior lights on, as well as internal lights.
• Install deadbolt locks on exterior doors that have been given a Grade 1 from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
• Double-check doors and windows to ensure they are locked before leaving.
• Dogs are also exceptional deterrents to theft! Let your dog be seen – and heard!

Hide Your Valuables

• Thieves will look for gaming systems, small electronics.  Cover your windows so thieves can’t spot them from outside the home.
• Intruders will likely look in drawers and closets first.  Hide your valuables, jewelry and cash in a safe and in another location.
• Lock your office, if you have one.  Your desk might be filled with important papers, statements and banking information!

Pretend You’re Home

• Leave lights on timers while you’re away – Choose timers that have random settings so thieves don’t detect a pattern.
• Leave a radio or television on if you’ll be gone for a short time.
• Don’t post your travel plans on social media websites!
• When you’re leaving for an extended period of time, ask a trusted neighbor of family to watch over your home, gather your mail and give the home the appearance of activity!
  

Theft is the most commonly reported property crime in the Unites States!  For those items of higher value, your Homeowner’s, Mobile Homeowners, Renter’s or Condo’s policy might not be enough to replace them if they’re stolen!  Create a household inventory checklist, discuss its contents with your independent agent, and determine if you need a valuable possessions endorsement to protect your valuables! That’s living assured!

This information is intended for educational purposes only and is not legal advice and/or an authoritative guide.