Burglary Prevention

• Burglars can try to gain access at any time and most burglaries are opportunist crimes.
• Keep all your doors and windows locked if you are not near to them or using that room.
• Be aware that most thieves enter your home trough and open window or door.
• Keep your expensive belongings out of sight and locked away.
• Dont leave keys, laptops and smart phones laying around where a thief can just grab them and run off.
• Fit Window Locks to all windows.
• Add a Door Chain and Spy Glass.
• Fit security bars to wooden doors, known as London and Essex Bars.
• Never put spare keys under a flower pot, leave them with a trusted friend or relative.
• Lock your doors, even if you are at home or in the office.
• Get a rim latch fitted to your door by a professional locksmith.
• Fit quality locks to outside doors and windows, and make sure they are locked at all times.
• Remove keys from locks, and keep them out of sight, in a safe place.
• Fit high security deadlocks (BS3621) to all doors.
• Ensure your doors and frames are strong and in good condition.
• Security mark your expensive items – marking helps police verify it’s been stolen and who it belongs to.
• Leave your lights on and shut the curtains if you are out at night.
• Install PIR security lighting, if other people can see your property seems inhabited, a burglar may think twice.
• Keep your tools and ladders in a locked shed, a burglar could use them to break into your house.
• Make sure your garden gates and gardens are secure with strong fencing and strong gates and pillars.
• Add a lock on your garden gate.
• Don’t place garden furniture or things like pergolas close to your home, they can act as handy climbing devices for burglars.
• If you have a passageway or live in a terraced house, add a strong locking full height gate across the passageway. This will prevent a burglar getting access to the rear of your property.
• Never leave your garage or shed unlocked, most thefts from garages and sheds involve high value items and these are some of the most common losses:

– Mountain Bikes, Racing Bikes and ATV's.
-  Childrens Toys
– Tooling such as MiG welders, Mini Lathes, Compressors, Power Tools and high value hand tools.
– Lawnmowers, Strimmers and other electrical garden tools.
– Gym Equipment.
– Cars, Motorcycles and Car parts.

• Keep high value tools in a heavy duty lockable steel box and bolt it to a concrete floor.
• Ensure your shed and garage locks are high security.
• Have a good quality professional Burglar Alarm installed and think about CCTV.
• Check the BSI standards that alarm systems should meet for insurance purposes.
• Mark your high value items with an security pen or other marking system such as smart water.
• Keep itemised records of all your valuables and always tell your insurance company of the value of your items and exactly what make, model and serial numbers they have.
• Take photos of all your valuables and send them to your insurance company.
• Always keep your money in the bank.
• Keep documents locked up to prevent identity theft. Never throw documents unless shredded.

Make It Hard For Thieves

Examine your home of office as though you were a burglar. If you think your security is lax, then a burglar will be thinking the same. Look for break in points and try to get in your home or office without the use of keys. If you can do so, so can a burglar.

Securing Your Doors

If your front or rear doors are not secure, then neither is the rest of your home. If you are replacing your doors, always fit PAS 24 certified replacements.

Ask for a spy hole and door chain to be fitted to your doors and always ask if your locks are insurance approved high security items. Locks can be upgraded and additional ones fitted.

Ensure your doors are thick enough, wooden doors should be at least 45mm thick.

Ensure you have BS3621 mortice deadlocks plus a rim lock fitted to all outside doors. These make it harder for a burglar to get out of your home as you can effectively shut them in the house whilst you have escaped.

Have your door hinges checked to see if they are strong enough. Hinge bolts can be fitted for additional security. They help reinforce the hinge side of any door.

Add a letterbox cage to your door, these catch your mail but prevent access through the letter box flap.

Rim Locks certified to BS3621, consider having automatic deadlocks, door chains or bars and mortice deadlocks.

The Home Office has a handy guide for burglary prevention which you can view here.

Replacing Your Windows

If you are replacing your windows, ensure the replacements are certified to either PAS 24 or are BS7950 certified. Look for replacement windows with laminated toughened glass as it provides more protection against being smashed with a blunt weapon.

Fit key operated Window Locks - Window Locks can be fitted to all windows, whether they are UPVC, Steel, Composite, Wood or Aluminium.