Look, we won’t lie to you. We haven’t done it in the past and have zero intention of doing it now. So when we tell you that the layout of your home could easily be enticing burglars, please believe us.
Basically, 3 years ago it was discovered that home burglaries are the third most common crime in South Africa and it got a few smarty-pants thinking… What makes some homes more vulnerable than others? There’s got to be more to it than living in a ‘dodgy’ neighbourhood, right? Turns out, there is something more to it. Turns out the design of your house plays a big part, too.
What do we mean? Well, that burglars are up for the challenge. They’re keen to work around the design of your house in order to break in. For instance, if they spot that you have sliding doors, they’ll happily take the time to lift it up off its rails and get inside.
And that’s the simplest example we could think of, but you shouldn’t wait for a list of standard ways that burglars use to break in. That’s because, like we said, burglars are willing to get creative.
What we can do, however, is help you with some ideas to make it harder for them. You know, bring something unexpected to the party that they can’t plan around.
Royal tips to protect your castle:
- Noise makes your home less inviting, so having a dog on the property is a good deterrent.
- Avoid creating hidey-holes for burglars. By that we mean, don’t place tall or thick plants around your windows and doors and reconsider putting in a privacy fence.
- Burglars study the neighbourhood to find out when you leave the house, when your neighbours head out, and other details for their break-in schedule, so see if you can change things up once or twice a week at random. You can avoid traffic by leaving earlier some days and later on others.
- Don’t put the name of your security company on your door or gate because burglars can figure out now to disable a particular brand of security system. Go for a generic sticker to let the criminals know that there is security. That should do the trick.
While these tips are harder for burglars to work around, it’s worth saying that where there’s a will, there’s a way. And some burglars just possess that will, don’t they? Ultimately, home insurance is the safety cushion you need. And our royal home contents insurance is phenomenally affordable (seriously, it’s super cheap) and allows you to claim for the things that make your house a home and which, incidentally, are the things that burglars want to take.
Want to find out more? Just call our royal client care team on 0860 50 50 50. They’ll sort you right out.
