Protecting your property over the festive period.

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by Stuart Hall

Christmas and the New Year is always an opportune time for criminal gangs to take advantage of owners of large properties that have not given enough consideration to their home security requirements.

Keep your festive spirits high this year by making sure you do not make these common mistakes, to ensure you protect yourself and your family.

With so many deliveries and people posting Christmas cards through the letterbox, the increased traffic to your home becomes somewhat normalised, with plenty of criminals waiting to take advantage.

Festive Decorations – The children are screaming for you to get the lights up, and each year we often add to the collections of twinkling lights on the outside of the home. How can these festive decorations lead to a security breach for your home?

• With multiple lights needing power, many opt for the easiest option and feed the cables into an open window or door. Criminals will be looking out for this security weakness and will happily exploit it.   If you cannot secure the windows and make sure they are locked, think of unplugging the cable and turning the lights off when you are not in.
• If you have lights under the gutter of the home, chances are criminals will know you have a long ladder on the property, make sure you do not leave this ladder out in the back garden, giving them a helping hand up to the higher floors of your property.

Packaging – We accumulate a lot of packaging when we have been doing our Christmas shopping and with disrupted refuse collections it can be easy for our recycling bins to be a giveaway to all those new, expensive gifts and gadgets that are worth stealing from our homes. If possible, try to hide the boxes in a locked shed or garage until the morning of the collection, out of sight from prying eyes.

Deliveries – With so many deliveries, it becomes very easy for criminals to check out your property in plain view of your neighbours.  A white van, an empty box in hand and a high visibility jacket are all that they need to check out a property and not be questioned or stopped. Make sure the perimeter and access to your garden, garage and any other outbuildings are secure, locked and monitored.  Make sure you have clear instructions for deliveries that are dropped off when you are going to be out.

Online – It can be hard to resist sharing a snap of the tree and your decorations, and why not; you have spent ages picking the tree and investing time to make your home Christmassy and you are feeling proud!… But think about what else you are sharing in those pictures. Social media is an easy way for criminals targeting high-profile individuals to build up an idea of your home’s internal layout, check out one of our blog posts on social dos and dont’s here for tips and advice on this subject.

Trips out – With so many drinks invitations and trips to visit relatives and friends throughout this festive period, make sure your existing security system is up to the job of protecting you, your home and all the lovely assets and gifts you have inside this Christmas. 

Bring in the experts – Chat through your security requirements with an experienced and reputable security company such as Brook Security.  Often a multi-layered approach to securing your home is the best way!  A layered security system, with security alarms to manage access and deter criminals.  Monitoring visitors to your property via CCTV security cameras remotely while you are out, like an onion, protecting each of the important elements of your home layer by layer.  If you would like to know more about how to protect your home, whether you have a country estate and grounds, farm or rural property, London mansion, large executive property or a listed building, we have experience of securing the homes of high net-worth individuals and celebrities providing them with peace of mind through our security expertise and experience.

Don’t leave it to chance this Christmas.  Please get in touch on 0800 281249 or email us on enquiries@brooksecurity.com to discuss your current security system and how we can boost it further to ensure the very best in home security for you and your family.