Making Cents: Eight ways you can protect your home this Christmas

OVER the past 12 months, 25 houses in Ireland have being burgled every day and research would indicate that burglaries increase by almost 20% during the winter months.

And, interestingly, nearly 50% of all break-ins occur between the hours of 5pm and 11pm.

With Christmas fast approaching, it isn’t lost on burglars that houses are beginning to fill up with presents, so we need to be extra vigilant in the days and weeks before and after Christmas, to make sure we don’t fall victim to a break in.

And it doesn’t matter whether you have valuables worth millions in your house or hundreds, the only person you want gaining access to your property in December is Santa, which is why in this week’s article I’m going to share with you, 8 security housekeeping rules that if followed can make your home less attractive to would-be thieves.
And they are:

1. Install an alarm
The best thing you can to deter a burglar at any time of the year is have an alarm installed in your home.

In one survey I read about last year, 82 imprisoned burglars were asked what kind of security features in a house would stop them from robbing it, and 84% said, if the house was fitted with an alarm.

So, convicted burglars are saying they would not willingly enter a house fitted with a working alarm which seems to suggest that investing in a good quality alarm is the best way of reducing your risk of being burgled.

And if you do have one in place, don’t forget to turn it on when you go to bed. About 40% of people don’t for some reason, so before you go to bed, get into the habit of turning it on, along with checking that your front, back and sliding doors are locked.

2. Lock your doors
In nearly 20% of burglaries, the intruder gains access to the house via an unlocked door or window.

You are more likely to burgled during daylight hours, because your house is more likely to be unoccupied because you’re at work and/or your kids are at school which is why it’s essential you make sure all doors to your house are locked.

And, if you can help it all, try not to have external Xmas lights running into a socket inside your home via a window. Even the very smallest of wedges a wire can leave, is enough for a burglar to force the window open.

3. Keep valuables out of site
Having lots of presents under the Xmas tree, could make it very tempting for thieves to break into your house, so try keep presents out of sight.

It’s suggested by some security experts that Xmas trees should be kept away from windows because it’s easy for thieves to quickly break a window and grab all of the presents from under the tree, so try and have your tree in a place that’s visible but not very accessible.

4. Don’t leave packaging of presents outside
Having packages sticking out of your wheelie bin or alongside them, is just advertising what’s new inside your property. Break down whatever packaging any new item or present came in and ensure it’s out of sight.

5. Check your home insurance policy
And you’re doing this to make sure you know what you are covered for, and for how much.
Does your policy cover you if items were stolen inside or outside your property? Do you need to increase your level of cover because you are buying a particularly expensive gift?

Thankfully, some insurance companies recognise that people have more contents in their home in the month of December and will automatically increase your contents cover by 10% free of charge but it might be worth making a call to them to see if they will do this for you because if not, you might feel you need to increase the amount of cover or you might want to insure a specific item that is valuable.

6. Invest in a magic market pen
If you are worried about an item that was particularly expensive, you might also consider using a security magic marker pen to record your details on it.

When written on, the writing will go unnoticed but under a UV light, the ink will light up, identifying you as the owner. You can buy one for under €5 and it might be a good use of money, because if something was stolen and subsequently recovered, the gardai might be able to reunite it with you much quicker.

7. Keep shtum about travel plans
You really need to avoid telling the world you’re going on holidays or you’re about to go.
You might as well hang a sign on your front door telling the world you are going on holidays if you advertise your holiday plans on social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook or X.

Burglars are trawling through these sites every day looking for information and if they come across you and see you are heading away for a week or two, they know your house will be un-occupied, so it makes it all the easier and a bigger incentive for them to break into your house, knowing nobody is going to be home.

So, never post online where you are going, when you are going or when you’ll be back. And if you are going away, ask a relative or neighbour to look in on your house regularly to make sure nothing has happened or let you and the gardaí know if they see any suspicious activity.

And this last piece of advice is more about home safety than protecting your home from thieves, but it’s an important one that I wanted to mention, nonetheless.

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8. Be fire aware
Research was carried out a couple of years ago by a leading insurer who looked back at 10 years worth of claims data, and they found that December is the month that sees the biggest increase in fire claims, up nearly 120% from other months in the year.

And this spike in claims is largely down the number of electrical fires in people's homes.

So, be extra vigilant and safe this year and check your lights on the tree and the connections to sockets are in good working order. Don’t have too many plugs going into one outlet, or if there are some cords frayed in any way, get rid of them, and replace them.

And sometimes after a few drinks people might forget to turn off the lights on a tree or in other areas throughout the house, so whenever you are going out or to bed, make sure you plug them out. It will take you two minutes and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Liam Croke is MD of Harmonics Financial Ltd, based in Plassey. He can be contacted at liam@harmonics.ie or www.harmonics.ie