Your home is your castle

Going away for some winter sun, or visiting relatives over the festive season, and worried about your vulnerable empty property? Hiscox research shows that the traditional basics of home security should not be forgotten in the race to outwit thieves.

Recent examples of unusual security techniques identified by Hiscox include leaving ‘fake’ jewellery lying around, hanging out washing so that the house appears occupied, and hiding valuables in shoes and clothing.

Though these security ideas are often inventive, they can backfire. Hanging out washing, for example, will work against an owner when left out for a long time and, in one Hiscox claim, a pill box was accidentally thrown away – the homeowner forgot that they had hidden their engagement ring inside.

Andrew Cheney, Senior Risk and Valuation Advisor at Hiscox UK, visits hundreds of homes every year. “Homeowners can be quite creative in their attempts at securing their valuables,” he says. “However, many of their inventive hiding places are quite obvious to most thieves, and there’s also the danger of forgetting them.”

Andrew thinks it’s far better to prevent thieves from being able to enter your home in the first place. “Think of your property as having rings of security,” he says. “There are ways of securing your boundaries and driveway, followed by the main property and outbuildings. This technique has the effect of wearing an intruder down.”