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Don’t become a victim of crime now the clocks have gone back and dark nights draw in.

As the winter months draw in, burglars are more likely to target your home or business.  Research from Halifax suggests that burglaries increase by as much as 20% during the winter months.  Reports from our local Police indicate a sharp spike in these crimes over the last 2 weeks with Evesham and the surrounding areas being seriously targeted, with a neighbour even reporting seeing someone run away from our Managing Director’s home in the middle of the night after their alarm was activated.

Experiences from confused.com customers demonstrate that they claim on their home insurance more in the winter months than any other time of the year.  The frequency of thefts increases during October, December and January with November being the worst month for burglaries; this coincides with dark nights and the build up to Christmas with many families already having purchased Christmas presents.

So how can you keep burglars at bay?

• Try to ensure that your home does not look like there is no-one there, you could always invest in timer switches which can be set to come on at specific times.

• Ensure that you lock doors and windows even when you are at home.

• Keep garden gates and side entrances locked and do not leave garden tools lying around as these could be used to break into your property.

• Keep valuable items away from doors, windows and letterboxes so they are not visible and so a burglar cannot reach through and steal them.

• Plant painful shrubbery at key points in your garden, such as under windows, by fences, back walls etc.  This is a cheap deterrent to burglars.

• Invest in a full alarm system, don’t be tempted to cut costs by getting a dummy alarm system, burglars can easily spot that it’s not real. 

• Keep your alarm system maintained by a professional to ensure it works when you need it most.  Dirty, dusty and rusted alarm boxes signal to a burglar that your alarm system is not properly maintained and therefore may not work properly.

• Having a dog in the house is not always a deterrent as it tells burglars that you may not set your alarm for fear of the pet setting off the motion sensors.  If you do have a pet ensure your system is pet friendly.

• Invest in a key holding and alarm response company who will respond to any activations therefore reducing the risk that either yourself or a neighbour may enter the property and find an intruder on site.  It’s always best to leave it to the professionals who are fully trained to deal with any eventuality.

If you are concerned about your security measures now the winter is fast approaching then please call our friendly staff who would be happy to discuss this with you.