home security to park in garage or not?

[msmoist]

bit of a strange one, can you settle an disagreement between DH and I?

We have a detached double garage in front garden.

We have quite a few more (well undesireable looking) new people walking by, since a new estate was built up the road. It used to be a quiet road and they now use it as a cut through.

He says, the advice is always to park a car on drive when you are on holiday, as burglars see it and are put off.

I say, if there is a garage that we normally park in, so no cars on drive normally, but suddenly there is a car on the drive for 2 weeks, wouldnt it look like it was deliberately parked there?

I say, any regulars that walk past will know we are away if car is there.

He say most burglars are opportunists and not watching movements.

This is why I constantly change whether the curtains are open or not in our house, because it is much less obvious when we are away.

I think if you normally park the car in the garage continue to do so. If you park on the drive and are away they can chalk the tyre so they can see if your car has moved.

Don't change your normal routine. But ultimately I agree with your Dh, I feel burglars are more likely to be opportunists, you just need to make it as difficult as possible for them, so alarms, cameras, restrict assess and hopefully nosy neighbours

Put a timer on a light in the lounge and one in a bedroom.

a car parked on the drive makes it look less empty

best of all, if you have a friendly neighbour, invite them or their visitors to park there when you are away.

Last time I sold a house, the Agent's office was a short walk away in the High street, and he asked if he could park there. It saved him paying in the car park.

The car was in an out and moved every day, so looked very occupied.

You can also get a few timer switches to put table lamps and radios on and off at assorted times in different rooms. I use them anyway in the hall and landing when they will be wanted every day. Modern lamps use trivial electricity and run cool. Some TVs have their own timers.

The difference is that we have a double garage, and the cars are always parked there overnight and only ever on drive if we have just got home in the day and are about to go out again soon, we always put the cars away. Yes I know some people store suff in garage and leave cars on drive, but we do not - that was the petty disagreement between DH and !.lWhat I was saying is, why would we have a car parked overnight, when we ususally do not.

With what you described, i’ll park in the garage since this is what you

Park in the garage and put the garage key and car keys in different places around the house, not on display and accessible through the letterbox.

I am with your husband that it's more likely to be opportunists. And if someone notices it's one more car than usual, it could be guests or house-sitters. Making the place look occupied trumps sustaining normal habits, for me. Eg getting a light on a timer to run every night you're away is good, even if you're normally out 4 evenings a week.

However you'd be leaving the car more vulnerable and you've probably told insurers it's parked in the garage, so any insurance claims on that might get a bit sticky. I agree with your husband on balance but there's not much in it. I'd let you win the argument rather than chase up insurance docs.

Do you have any neighbours who don’t normally park their car in a garage who would be happy to park it on your drive?

I have my own cars, that I can park on drive!

I know it just seems like in your case a car that comes and goes would be more like normal than just leaving one there all the time.