Five ways to keep your home secure this Christmas

Christmas is a very common time for burglaries. The days are shorter, with darker mornings and nights, many of us go away to visit friends and family, not to mention the valuables we may purchase as presents.

An unsecure home can make you feel anxious, unsafe and stressed at a time when you want to be feeling celebrating and happy. To help you feel safer this year, the team at www.boundary.co.uk have pulled together five top tips on ensuring your home stays secure over the holidays.

 Invest in a good home security system

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The most effective way of protecting your home during this festive time is to invest in an effective home security system. A good home security system will flag legitimate threats of break-ins, but they should also then proceed to provide follow-through protection, such as automatic police response. A professionally monitored system from a recognisable brand makes it more likely that your intruder will be initially deterred, cause less damage and ultimately increase the likelihood of being caught, thanks to a swift and reliable 24/7 response. Look out for systems that have BS EN 50131 tested motion sensors and only buy from companies who can offer a Grade 2 installation, Police URN and are accredited by one of the two industry bodies (SSAIB or NSI). These companies are the only ones who can access the highest priority ‘level 1’ response from police forces in the UK.

Don’t let your house appear vacant

If you are travelling this year, especially for longer periods at a time, it’s important to ensure that burglars don’t know about it. The best way to do this is to keep your home well lit, so turn a few lights on a timer around the house before you leave. Another way to do this is if you’re not travelling leave it parked on your driveway or nearby to your home – this can be a real deterrent for those unwanted visitors scoping out potential targets. If you’re using your car for your getaway, it’s worth asking a neighbour, friend or relative that lives nearby to park on your drive or close to your home if possible.

Be careful with your Christmas lights

One of the most common ways to set up outdoor Christmas lights is to trail the power cable through a slightly open window. It’s so common, in fact, that burglars will look for this when scouting out a house to target as it’s an easy point of entry. Choose lights that are battery or solar powered, or have an outdoor plug socket.

Don’t keep presents under the tree

It might not sound very festive, but you really shouldn’t be keeping presents under the tree until Christmas morning. Leaving them out before that will only advertise to potential burglars that you have a lot of valuable items in your home. It is best to keep them hidden away until the big day, plus this adds to the surprise for your family members too.

Keep your presents off social media

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While it’s tempting to show your friends and family all the lovely gifts you will receive this year, you don’t know who else will see these pictures. Again, this is an advertisement to burglars so try to wait until you see your loved ones to show them all your wonderful presents – this is much more wholesome anyway.

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