Over Half of Burglaries Take Place at Night

Stay Safe And Be Smart as The Dark Evenings Descends

23rd October, 2019 - London - It’s official, the clocks go back this weekend.

As our days and nights get darker, and daylight hours dramatically reduce, residents are being urged to get smarter about their home security

Recent research, commissioned by Verisure, the UK’s leader in monitored smart alarms, has revealed that 32% of burglaries take place through the night, with 20% occurring in the evening. 75% of these break-ins are carried out on a weekday. Sadly, 1 in 2 victims found that the burglary of their property had taken less than 10 minutes to carry out.

With the average value of stolen goods now reaching £4,680 (per claim), homeowners are still making the most basic of mistakes when it comes to protecting their properties. The survey found that 16% of victims had left a ground floor window or door open and 13% were left unlocked. With 6 in 10 victims reporting that they think their house was being watched in the run up to the burglary people must get smarter about how they protect their families and homes.

“With the dark mornings and dark nights creeping in, we need to wake up to staying safe. As well as choosing smart security, we should also be mindful of our everyday habits and behaviour and how this can increase our chances of becoming a burglar’s target,” advised Horacio Perez, Operations Director at Verisure UK.

With that in mind, Perez and his team at Verisure UK have put together some tips on how to protect yourself, your family and your home from burglaries:

Be vigilant
Keep your eyes open for unfamiliar cars and people in the vicinity of your home, or if you notice any suspicious or out of the ordinary activity.

Keep all doors and windows tightly shut
Ensure that all entries to your home are properly locked when you are not in. Intruders must be faced with the utmost difficulty when it comes to attempting a break-in. This may be crucial to foil their attempt. It’s also important to keep doors locked while you’re at home too, to avoid burglars being able to walk straight into your home while you’re in a different room or upstairs.

Always lock your doors when leaving your home and never hide a key near the home
It is highly advisable that each door has two locks. Never leave a spare key anywhere near your home, like the classic ‘under the doormat’ or ‘behind the plant pot’ place. This is where thieves will instinctively look, and you’re making their job much easier.

Ensure that all external and internal spaces on your premises are well-lit
A simple way of deterring thieves is to have adequate lighting both inside and outside your home through security lights and timed switch ons. Ensure that no doors and parking areas are in darkness at night.

Give the impression that there is someone at home
To prevent thieves from targeting your home, make it appear occupied during prolonged absences, such as weekends away or holidays. Technology now makes it possible to programme the lights and other appliances to switch on and off. Ask a person you trust to pick up your mail on a regular basis and put your bin out and take it back in too if you’re away on the usual collection date.

Install a monitored alarm system
Install a system monitored 24/7 by specially trained operators will help not only deter potential burglars, but also thwart intrusions if they do happen. Verisure has invested £5 million in developing a new smart alarm, ZeroVision, that enables homeowners to proactively protect their properties remotely by physically attempting to prevent a burglary. It does this by generating a zero-visibility situation in the event of an intrusion, preventing the burglar from seeing while inside the property, and forcing them to abandon the premises immediately.

Find out more about Zero Vision and Verisure UK: https://www.verisure.co.uk/

For more information please contact:
Nicola Williamson or Victoria Melville
Melville Communications
01483 489009
nicola@melvillecommunications.co.uk
victoria@melvillecommunications.co.uk