An Ounce of Prevention ….during Holidays….is worth a pound of cure.
Another Simon Says Blog Post
December 19, 2011 Holiday Edition
Hello Everyone
During the Holiday Season it’s important to remember to take precautions when leaving your home for an extended period of time. This Blog Post discusses a few precautions you may wish to consider.
Holidays are always fun, the problem is they can also be lots of fun for others that would gain from theft of your property. During this Holiday Season, especially with a stressed economy, please be aware that even a brief absence from home can result in burglary. You may be signaling that you are away. Today probably the most important issue for many of us is maintaining our standard of living. When something goes wrong, our standard of living can be quickly threatened. A break in can affect your standard of living.
The burglar casing your home may look for the following:
- Visible wealth - neighbourhood, size of home, number of vehicles in the driveway and toys (boats, seadoos, skidoos).
- Expensive items such as chandeliers, original paintings, grand pianos, widescreen TV visible through a large front window.
- Habitual commute patterns will broadcast to criminals when you have gone to work.
- The babysitter/nanny that arrives every morning.
- Snow in the driveways when you’re away enjoying a beach or away for a weekend maybe attending a child’s sports meet.
- Forgetting to cancel your newspaper delivery when you’re away, piles of newspapers on the porch are a direct invitation.
- Many contractors habituate communities; they may be trustworthy but they often employ labourers that they may not even know very well. These people get to watch everything going on inside and outside your home.
- A dark house, no lights from dusk until dawn.
Remember the idiom: “An Ounce of Prevention is worth a pound of cure” by Benjamin Franklin? Well there are obviously measures you can take such as security systems, timer lights, advising neighbours, cancelling papers, arranging snow clearing etc., to try to make your home look normal during your absence. Sometimes just thinking about how obvious your habits are will encourage you to change them.
I hope this posting helps you at least to an extent. Of course if all efforts fail, we do have insurance, but who really wants the stress associated with an invasion of your personal home and then having to prove what you have lost to an insurance company?
Try to prevent burglaries by taking the right precautions. You’ll feel more comfortable next time you leave home.
Have a Happy and Safe Holiday Season.
Simon J. Fenn, CIP
President
Fenn & Fenn Insurance Practice Inc.
905 836 6066