May 2022
Vacations are the time to relax, unwind and enjoy your surroundings, whether that be on an all-inclusive beach holiday, a bustling city break, or taking the scenic route around the UK. The last thing anyone wants is to get a call from a friendly neighbour or the police that their home has been broken into, or that a fire has broken out in your home.
To help you avoid any unnecessary stress while on holiday, here at Lynx, we’ve put together some of our top tips for keeping your home safe while you’re away …
Lock your doors and windows
While this may seem like an obvious step to keeping properties safe, people often check and double check that they have passports, clothes … and sometimes even the kids all in check, but a lot of people forget to lock all doors and windows when they travel. Not only would it make it easier for a home intruder to enter your property, but in some cases, it can also invalidate home insurance claims …
Does your home look occupied?
Everyone likes to come home to a nice tidy house after a long time away, however, be careful to ensure that your home still looks like it is lived in. Home invaders may take an empty house as an open invitation or challenge. If there’s time to spare before your trip, it may be a good idea to tidy your front garden up, especially during the summer months, as an unkempt garden may lead to the assumption that your home is vacant.
Don’t forget the bins, leaving your bins out by the curb for days can be a sign to criminals that you haven’t been home in a while. Consider asking a neighbour to keep a helpful eye out on your property and to put your bins away for you. Offer to do the same for them while they are away.
There is also the age-old debate about curtains; leave them open or close them when you’re away? While closing them will ensure that a burglar cannot see into your home, if curtains are closed during the day, burglars may think that the home is vacant – it will also mean that once inside your home, burglars can take their time going through your items with the curtains closed.
If your front door includes glass or has a window nearby, remember that the build up of post will show that you are away. Ask someone you trust to move your mail for you or simply stop deliveries of mail until the day after you return home by using the Royal Mail Keepsafe service.
Hide valuables
Another no-brainer, if you are leaving your curtains open, it’s probably a good idea to keep valuable items such as laptops or jewellery out of sight, even going as far as leaving some cheap jewellery or money in an obvious place, so that if the worst does happen, it might act as a scapegoat to the burglars.
Are your electrics switched off?
Switching your devices off at the mains, as well as ensuring that any non-essential plug sockets are switched off is one of the best ways that you can prevent any electrical fires from breaking out in your home while you are not there.
Don’t tell the world
We all know it feels great posting to social media, especially if you’re in a fantastic location. To avoid the world knowing that you home is unoccupied, set your profiles to private or consider saving your pics of the sun-kissed beaches and famous landmarks until you are back home.
Ensure your intruder alarm system or CCTV is working
Before you go away, it is always worth checking that your intruder alarm system or CCTV system is functioning at maximum capacity. At Lynx, we offer the highest standard of servicing and maintenance for our intruder alarm systems and CCTV systems, so that you can enjoy your holiday with peace of mind that your Lynx security systems are at their best to keep your home safe.
To find out more about how we can help keep your home safe, why not contact us today by calling 0800 998 1303, or emailing [email protected].
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