Are you going on holiday and don’t want your house to be targeted for a break in? Don’t panic we’ve manage to collate the best top tip[s to ensure that your house will be safe and sound, enabling you to relax on holiday without a worry.

Ask a Friend to Help

By asking a friend or well-known neighbour to keep an eye on your house whilst your away is the first move, then if you trust then enough or manage to rope in a local friend to help then its good practice to give them a key to your house and they can bring in the post for you, water your plants, feed the cat etc. This person should also have a copy of your travel, contact and itinerary information just in case of emergencies.

Don’t Tip Off Criminals on the Web

In this day and age, we can’t step outside our front door without telling the whole of social media what we are doing, but it’s important to stop and think about who is actually reading this and whether it’s a good idea to tell the world that you are going on holiday for two weeks to France! Think twice about posting your holiday plans on Twitter or Facebook – especially if your privacy settings allow other internet users other than your family and friends to see your post!

Curtains Closed or Open?

Before you leave for your jolly holidays you may decide to close your curtains to prevent people from peering inside your home in order to see if anyone is home, so the obvious answer would be to close the curtains? Not necessarily, closed curtains may also stop those who are trying to help see in too, like neighbours, friends and the police. The best bet is to leave your curtains how they normally are, whether that be open or closed, the worst thing to do in to start acting odd. Remember to move expensive items, like jewellery or computers, out of plain sight if they’re visible from the window. Most of us have some sort of ‘key bowl’, mine is on my solid oak coffee table, but remember these are prime pickings for burglars – so make sure you move them too out of sight!

The Lights Are on But No One’s Home

Don’t leave your lights on at home throughout your entire holiday in an effort to make it look like someone is in the house because not only because you will come back to a bill bigger than you holiday! It isn’t exactly environmentally friendly either. Instead why not purchase a light switch timer that can turn your lights on and off automatically according to a programmed schedule, this means you can set it so the lights flick on at night and off in the day to look realistic.

Stop Your Mail

You can either place a stop order on mail and newspapers or arrange to have a friend or neighbour pick up your mail while you’re away because a large pile of papers on your doorstep could tell a potential criminal that you have been out of town for a while!

Pull the Plug

Unplug your television, computer, toaster and other appliances to protect them from power surges that could cause serious damage to your electrical equipment. Did you know that according to the Consumer Energy Centre, many appliances use power even when they’re turned off?! I’ll be unplugging EVERYTHING next time I go away!

Remove Your Spare Key

However secretive you think you are being my hiding your spare key under that rock in the garden, trust me when I say that burglars will spot that a mile off! If a criminal figures out you’re away on vacation, it’s likely that he or she will check your porch for a spare key. So reach under the mat, into the mailbox, above the door frame or into the flower pot and remove your spare key before you leave for holiday. After all these precautions you can finally go and relax, be that on a beach or on an activity tennis holiday – where you might not be relaxing as much, but you be rest assured that you have taken all provisions possible to keep your home safe! So book your flight, pack your bags, and get your local chauffer services (in Peterborough for me!) and don’t forget to lock up!