If you’re looking forward to Christmas, bear in mind that thieves are gleefully anticipating it too – last year, there was a substantial increase in insurance claims for burglaries in winter, particularly over the Xmas period.
Halifax Home Insurance reported a 35 per cent increase in claims for forced burglary in the darker months, compared to lighter months, and as homes are often unoccupied for long periods around Christmas – when people visit family and friends – some reports suggest the rate of break-ins rises by up to 20 per cent.
Yet according to research from ADT Fire and Security over three quarters of Brits admit to inadequately protecting their homes.
National Police Chiefs’ Council says: “Police officers know how distressing a burglary is for victims, especially over the Christmas period. It isn’t just the loss of valuable and sentimental items, but it can also leave families feeling less safe in their own home.”
Here are 10 tips to keep those pesky criminals away;
- Double lock your doors – use a dead or double lock on your outside doors
- Don’t leave your presents under the tree – don’t make them visible
- Carefully leave your lights on – make them think someone is home
- Carefully dispose of wrapping and present packaging – don’t advertise the goods
- Don’t leave valuables near letterbox – prevent ‘letterbox fishing’
- Carefully place your calendar – if visible, thieves can see when you’re out
- Lock any outbuildings – shreds and garages make sure are locked
- Don’t overshare on social media – burglars can tell where you are if you share
- Key placing – make sure your keys aren’t visible through any windows
- Bathroom – be wary that thieves can tell when your occupied in the shower
UK regions at risk for rising Home Insurance prices…
A new study using Environmental Agency data has predicted the shocking speed of erosion on England’s coastline within the next century, with thousands of homes at risk of collapsing into the sea as the coastline fades away.
It has calculated that 7,000 homes, worth more than £1bn, will fall into the sea over the next 100 years.
The study, from price comparison site Confused.com, also shows that 520,000 properties are in areas with coastal flooding risk, and without further action this figure could treble to 1.5 million in the next 60 years.
These at-risk areas are also suffering from higher insurance premiums.
The most at-risk area on the list is the town of Happisburgh in Norfolk where the shoreline is predicted to erode 200 metres in the next 100 years. Land erosion has already claimed 35 houses in this area.
The average price for a property here is £295,182, which is £67,396 more than the average for Norfolk.
The average home insurance premium (buildings and contents) is £170.02. If residents’ houses fell into the sea or were destroyed beyond repair, the data shows that the average rebuild cost for houses in the postcode area would be £229,816.
These figures reflect the increased cost of living in a high-risk coastal erosion area. According to Confused.com, prices could rise if erosion continues to damage the area and push it into a high-risk category.
Yorkshire and the Humber suffers the highest rate of coastline erosion with a worrying 56.2% of land disappearing along the county’s coastline. Towns such are Hornsea, Withernsea and Filey are at risk of erosion and, therefore, face soaring insurance prices.
The east coast of England is being hit the hardest by the elements. According to the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP), 31% of coastline in the south of England is also eroding, leaving coastal areas such as Norfolk, Suffolk, East Sussex and West Sussex at risk.
In the north-east, 27% of the coastal area is at risk of disappearing, whereas the north-west is eroding at a much lower rate with only 18.5% of the coastline affected.
Please call us on 0207 691 2409 for an appropriate quotation.
