One of the most vulnerable times for home invasion is when:

• The homes are empty - occupiers have left and gone on Holidays and
• When burglars are aware that the home is empty.

These two situations are most assured during any festive period, especially Christmas time.

However, there are a few things we can do to help make our homes less of a target for criminals:

• If you do not have to travel during this period, you probably do not have to – (personal choice). This means that there is someone or there are people at home at almost all times, making your house less enticing to be broken into.
• If you have to go away, having someone stay at your home to keep an eye, especially at night could be helpful.
• Asking a good and reliable neighbour to keep an eye on your house whilst you are away has also proven to be very useful.
• If you have a close-linked neighbourhood, that is security-minded, engaging them could also help in keeping watch while you are away. This has helped in situations where you have needed someone close by to quickly check on something at home – Remember, we are more/better secure together than individually.      

If you do not have anyone to housekeep for you, probably this is the time to consider the following:

o  Do you have an alarm system (House alarm - internal and external and fence alarm)? Test these regularly, especially before you leave. There is no harm in engaging an expert to check if all areas are covered and if what you have is working as it should. Ensure that what you have has enough power backup in case of any prolonged electricity/power failure. 

o  Do you have an alarm system that is connected to a reaction team that can respond to any activation? If you do, make sure you test this regularly to ensure it works.- Also remember to keep up your payment with the reaction team/company you have chosen.

o  It is always helpful for your house to have some form of burglar bars. Make sure this does not have any weak points anywhere.

o  If you have timer lights, use them. This would go on at a particular time and switch off at specific set times. This gives a feeling of someone being at home and again, make home invader less attractive to your home.

o  If you are going away for a longer period, you could ask a friend/relative to regularly come and collect your post/letters. Sometimes, criminal can tell that no one is at home by seeing posts still in the post box after several weeks.

o  Do not spread information about you going away to persons that do not need to know. In the past, criminals have used social media to find out which home is empty during the festive period and made that home their target.

o  Avoid having important documents lying around or places that can be easily accessed. Keep them locked up in secure places. Your vital documents, if stolen could be used at any time long after it was stolen. Moreover, information theft is difficult to retrieve. By this, I mean, theft of personal information such as date of birth, NR number, maiden names, work Identification and unique reference numbers, address of other family members, bank details, details about other assets/ investments, and the list goes on and on. If in the wrong hands can cause a significant amount of damage.

o  If you have a CCTV recording system, it is probably best to be able to access views from wherever you are, so you can have peace of mind and enjoy your holiday (as you can just log on and see what is happening at your house). CCTV has also been known to be a good deterrent and helps tremendously if installed appropriately to investigate a crime- gather evidence and many more.

o  Ensure that you do not have duplicate keys of your house unaccounted for. If you do, ensure that the lock(s) is changed.

o  Do not assist burglars by leaving around ladders, climbing ropes, poles, or weapons, tools etc. Anything lying around that can be used by the criminal to easily have access into any part of your house or cause damage. Lock all above mentioned away and tidy up your surroundings. Do not give the criminals any idea by leaving anything they could use to make their task easier.

Of course, the above is by no means an exhaustive list of “does and don’ts”. Individual circumstances, location type of crime, methods of breaking - ins etc vary. However, what you apply should be commensurate with what is required to keep your home safe and intact when you return back from your lovely Christmas holidays; and the above tips might help you make a “wiser” choice in achieving just that.

Have a wonderful Christmas all and stay safe.