It’s officially summer, which means we should be expecting some lovely warm weather any day now… (maybe). It’s also the busiest time of year for travel agents as all the summer holiday bookings start jetting off to their destinations. If you’re one of the people who is taking a well-earned holiday over the next 3 months, firstly – have fun! But second, make sure the fun continues when you get home. After all, no one wants to come back to a broken lock and half their stuff missing. Keep your home and your belongings safe by following these holiday security hints.

Make It Look Like Someone’s Home

The single biggest deterrent to burglars is people. While it’s not unheard of for thieves to strike while a house is occupied, most prefer a time when they know the owners are out, or at least asleep. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your house looks like someone is home, which means faking activity. A few things you can do include:

• Keep the curtains and blinds open. Closing them is like ringing the dinner bell for burglars and letting them know you’re not home.

• Set your lights on a timer. You can buy extensions that just go onto your plug sockets and allow you to schedule a time for lights or even the TV to come on and turn off again in the evenings. This helps give the impression that someone is in, even if they can’t be seen through the windows.

• Get up to date on your gardening. Particularly mowing your lawn. An overgrown lawn is a dead giveaway that you aren’t home to take care of it, so make sure it’s done right before you go away. Think of it as gardening camouflage!

Talk To Your Neighbours

While you’re away, your neighbours are your best line of defence against break-ins. So even if you’ve never spoken to them before, now is the time to make friends. Ask them if they wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on your house and maybe doing a few simple things for you. For example:

• If you’re taking your car with you on holiday and your neighbours have more than one car, invite them to use your driveway. This added activity is an excellent deterrent.

• If you know them well, give them a spare key and ask them just to collect your post to keep it out of the letterbox. Overflowing letterboxes are a clear sign that the property is unoccupied.

• If you get regular milk deliveries, contact the company to pause them while you’re away. If you can’t, ask your neighbour to take them for you while you’re away.

• Ask for help with the bins. Specifically, putting them out and then bringing them back in again at the right times. You don’t want to leave a bin on the curb for weeks at a time, as this is another signal that you’re away.

Take A Social Media Break

This is one that irritates us every time we see it. Don’t post photos or statuses of you on holiday on social media while you’re actually there. Yes, we know you want to share it and to make your friends jealous. But trust us, it’s not worth it. Just think about it. You’ve just arrived for your two-week holiday to a long-haul destination, and you excitedly post about it on Facebook. You’ve let the internet know that your home will be unoccupied for a longer period of time, and you don’t have control over who sees that post and who shares it.

Burglars don’t just keep an eye on your house for signs of life. They also look for signs on social media, and nothing says ‘burgle me’ more than announcing you’re on a beach in Marbella. So while you’re away, take a break from posting online completely to resist the temptation. Make it an ‘unplugged’ holiday, savour the moments and then post all your photos once you get home again.

Check Before Your Leave

And then check again. Give yourself plenty of time to run through the basics before you leave so that you know your home will be as secure as possible while you’re away.

Make sure every window and door is shut and locked properly, with keys taken out of windows and hidden away. There’s always that one small window we forget, so make sure you’ve gone around and checked every single one. If you have any outbuildings like a shed or garage, make sure they’re secure too. Move any valuables out of view, and spend some time going around and turning everything off so that you don’t have to worry about fire or electrical failure while you’re away either.

Check Your Home Insurance

This is the one most people forget to do. Most home insurance policies will have a clause about how long you are allowed to leave the property empty (also known as a vacant period). If you leave it empty too long, you may invalidate your insurance, which is the last thing you want to do. While a week-long trip to Spain probably won’t make a difference, If you’re heading off for a month-long trek across the Australian outback, then you might have a problem.

And of course, you should make sure your security system is up to scratch and your alarm is set as you walk out of the door. That’s where we come in. At Securifix we specialise in all elements of home security, making us the perfect partners to keep your home, family and belongings safe 24/7. So if you’re planning a holiday this summer, why not have a free home security review first, so that you can be confident your home is in safe hands. To find out more, or book your free review, just get.in touch with the team today.