4 August 2011

60% of Brits believe their home needs more security

Over half of British households believe burglary levels will rise in the next two years, find which is the best home insurance.

Over half (61%) of British households believe burglary levels will rise in the next two years, and nearly half of them would use a weapon to protect themselves against intruders.

Fear of future crimes is leading to 60% of Brits feeling their homes are not completely secure, according to new research from a leading insurance company.

Amongst other data, the report shows that 19% of households do not feel completely safe in their homes at night and 43% admit to having something nearby that they would use as a weapon to protect themselves and their property against intruders.

Protect your house

The study shows that almost half of the Brits surveyed (49%) acknowledged that experiencing a burglary would make them more security conscious. The most popular weapons and security measures against intruders are as follows:

Kitchen knife, baseball bat, frying pan, heavy torch and scissors are the top five potential weapons people would use against an intruder.

On the other hand, locking all windows and doors (69%), installing a house alarm (33%) security lights (31%), building up high fences (20%) and having a dog (17%) are the main security measures people use to protect themselves from burglars.

Bearing in mind this high perception of crime, having home insurance might be the best option for staying safe. In addition it is advisable to consider the following tips:

• Avoid keeping a spare key next to your door. However, if you do, bury it where only you can find it.
• Make your house appear occupied at all times: use timers to switch lights and radios on and off when you're not at home.
• Go for all wiring alarm systems, professional burglars look for places where they can disconnect the security system.
• If you have a faulty alarm that frequently goes off, get it fixed immediately and tell your neighbours that it's been repaired. Many people ignore an alarm that goes off periodically.
• Install deadlocks on external doors and close them all when not in use.
• Don't let strangers into your home unless they give you official proof of their identity.
• Cancel milk and newspaper deliveries before you go on holiday.
• Keep a record of your possessions.