Please tell me your top tips to reduce the chances of being burgled

[morelippy]

We're going away in a couple of weeks and I'm already anxious about leaving our house empty. A neighbour was recently burgled and it's really unnerved me.

Added to things we're coming towards the end of a renovation and have no curtains. Would you cover the windows (so day and night) or leave open?

We have lights on timers, cameras and good neighbours if that helps.

Not daft.

I’m on a couple of Disney Facebook groups “for brits” as thinking about booking.

hundreds of people posting their holiday countdowns, hotels pages with lists of members and the dates they go.

out of curiosity I clicked on a couple. Took me seconds to find half a dozen addresses, floor plans of their houses and dates they would be away.

Honestly it’s never even crossed my mind to worry about being burgled. Of course take precautions but I don’t get this obsession with cameras etc. just get home insurance and enjoy your holiday

Deterrents are anything that make the house looked occupied- lights on timers, pet sitters going in, neighbour parking on the drive etc.

What are not deterrents:
Cameras - a classic signal there’s good shit in here so we’ve invested and burglars will cover their faces anyway so what do they care
Alarms - your neighbours will ignore them unless they’ve been going ages and they’re getting annoyed, even the ones that call the police typically take over 15 minutes and the average burglary is done in 12

And yes obviously keep the online posts to a minimum until you’re back

Lights on timers
radio also plugged into timers, radio 4 so sounds like talking not just music
I’d leave the newspapers up personally if you’ve already had them up a while. Won’t look any different.
ring door bell if you can manage it
Beware of the dog sticker

i know someone who couldn’t afford a full house alarm system so just bought a spare of one of the outside plastic bits off eBay for like £5 and stuck it up on his house. It’s just a plastic box it doesn’t do anything and isn’t connected to any alarm system at all. But a random passing burglar isn’t to know that and it looks like he’s got an actual real alarm system.

i don’t know if this is true at all but a friend at work said that the best source of info to burglars are bin men as they know who usually puts bins out for collection and would spot if someone missed a week. Apparently some local thieves paid one of the refuse collectors a nice little sum for him to keep track of who had missed their bin day and to then tip them off and there was a whole spate of burglaries in a short period. If there is any truth to this then it pays to a) be nice to your bin men if you’re not already 😉 and b) ask a neighbour to put bins out for you and collect the empty ones back in if needed.

Ps. No I don’t think all bin men are potentially part of a criminal gang, before anyone piles on…

She's a he actually, and it isn't daft comment at all. This particular person knows hundreds of people (he's self-employed) and posts on social media a lot.

Incidentally, many years ago, a friend of mine was a contestant on television game show. They were given audience tickets for family, and of course, they had told everybody what was happening and when it was going to be filmed. While they were all at the recording studios, their parents' house was burgled.

Like I say, I've been burgled when I was in bed asleep so I don't waste much time worrying about being burgled when I was away.

The fact that they burgled your neighbour might be because your house was less appealing than theirs. Probably because of the camera etc.
Definitely car on the driveway, outside lights left on or on auto at dusk, inside lights and radio on timers, gravel, spikey plants around the boundary, indoor key safe for vehicle keys.
Keep gates and windows shut and locked. I would put something up at the windows to make it look like you're decorating.

I'd put vertical blinds up and have them half open.

Someone tried to break into my house whilst we were in bed and MIL got burgled whilst on hols.

They were after out cars. MIL a small amount of cash and jewelry

My tips

Ring door bell: this woke me up actually but got good footage from it that went to court. When we later went on holiday this was the biggest reassurance.

Fences secure and gates padlocked

If you can pit blinds up do so

Lights on timer or random alexa switch ons

Car: use a crook-lock/ disc-lock hide keys well or leave a another neighbour. Block in cars

I live alone in a detached house, so don’t always put my bins out for weeks, maybe that’s why I’ve had so many attempts on my place 😂

She's close friends with burglars is she?? I'm always baffled when people make this daft comment

The only daft comment it yours.

Thieves (both break ins and identity theft) are known to obtain information from social media accounts. Checking your privacy settings is crucial these days, and ideally not revealing up any personal information or holiday details at all.

But if I post a pic of me in an airport lounge as I leave for Benidorm how will anyone be any the wiser as to where I live

Photos of you by your house on social media?
Do you share a general location? or even places you have checked into?
Photos of your car showing the numberplate?
Own a business with public accounts?

All clues yet most people are so ignorant that they are grossly oversharing.

a security light, gravel on your drive that makes a noise when people walk on it. I don't have any expensive gadgets so they would probably move on to the next house. Alternatively you could get a housesitter or give someone free accommodation so long as they stay in the house overnight, possibly most of the day.

We live rurally and have a ring doorbell and cameras but the one thing that gives us the most confidence when we are away is our 'nosey in a good way' retired neighbours who empty our post box, walk around the outside of our property regularly and are more than happy to challenge anyone with a friendly 'Hello there, can I help you?'.
Worth their weight in gold plus a nice bottle from duty free.