What Security Measures Are Best For Your Home Valuables?

With the family holiday about to start for many, what home security measures should be taken to protect your valuables?

According to Hiscox, many homeowners are taking extreme measures to protect their home valuables from thieves, including using decoys and finding very strange hiding places. The message though is not to forget the traditional basics of home security.

Hiscox has seen some householders turning their homes into hidden treasure hunts to try and outwit burglars.

Recent examples of unusual security techniques identified by Hiscox include leaving ‘fake’ jewellery lying around the home to trick thieves, hanging out washing so the house appears occupied, hiding valuables in shoes and clothing, and making the front door look scruffy in a bid to disguise the value of the content inside.

These more unusal ideas though can backfire. For example in one home insurance claim a pill box was thrown away but the homeowner forgot they had hidden their engagement ring inside.

Andrew Cheney, Senior Risk and Valuation Advisor at Hiscox UK comments “It’s far better to prevent thieves from being able to access your home in the first instance. Think of your property with rings of security – from the outer perimeter of your garden and driveway to the inside of your home.

There are ways of securing your boundaries and driveway, followed by the main property and outbuildings. Then you can think about added protection for your valuables inside the home. This technique has the effect of wearing an intruder down.”

Suggestions include:

Use a physical barrier, such as trees or railings coupled with gravel paths and motion sensitive lighting.

Fit locks – external doors with a deadlock, patio doors with a cube lock or key operated bolts and fit all vulnerable windows with window locks, in additon to latches.

Don’t forget to secure outbuildings and sheds as thieves often target these looking for valuable gardening and sports equipment.

Lock jewellery, cash and high value items away in a safe and keep keys and combination codes secure. If you have high-value items or jewellery that is rarely worn, consider putting them in a safe security box or bank vault. Spreading your items is sensible as it reduces the total value of your goods in your home and may even reduce your home insurance premium.

Using timer operated lights, window blinds or curtains can be a good way of inferring that someone is in the home. If you’re away for a longer period of time, try and arrange for a friend or relative to visit and pick up post and other deliveries and if you have an alarm tell the company you are away.

Critically ensure you do get the right level of home contents insurance cover to meet your should you find yourself in the unfortunate event of having to make a claim.

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