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As the festive season approaches, the spirit of joy and giving fills the air. However, it's also a time when burglaries tend to spike.
Homeowners across the UK must be extra vigilant to ensure their homes remain safe and secure. This article provides essential tips and strategies to help protect your home during the festive period. Its designed to provide tips helping with burglary prevention during Christmas. Catering to those eager to protect their homes, prevent burglary, and enjoy a peaceful holiday season.
1. Do Burglaries Increase at Christmas?
Statistics show a noticeable increase in burglaries during the Christmas period.
Homes being left unattended while people are out celebrating with friends and family causes this increase. Often leaving homes unattended and filled with valuable items, making them a prime targets for burglars.
2. How Do I Keep My House Safe for Christmas? Ensuring home safety during Christmas involves a mix of common-sense measures and proactive strategies:
3. How Can You Reduce the Risk of Burglary? Reducing the risk of burglary involves being mindful of your home's security year-round:
4. What is the Best Deterrent for Burglars? If there's a risk of a burglar being caught this is a deterrent , either on a security camera or triggering a house alarm, they are less likely to break into your home. Visible security measures, like alarm systems and CCTV cameras, are potent deterrents.
5. What scares burglars? Homes that are dark, partially hidden, and have little or no security are often the targets of burglars, as they fear being caught. Therefore, they avoid homes with security systems, loud dogs, and active neighbourhood watch schemes. Anything that increases their chances of detection deters them.
6. What Time Do Most Break-Ins Occur? Most burglaries happen during the daytime when people are at work or school. However, during Christmas, the pattern might shift slightly, with evenings becoming riskier as homes fill with new purchases.
10 Tips to Keep Your Home Safe and Prevent Burglary at Christmas:
While these tips can reduce the risk of burglary, break-ins can still occur unfortunately.
Ensuring you have the correct policy and that your insurance covers all your requirements is vital.
Having Insurance does not only provide cover for theft and burglary, but also it provides financial protection against a range of unforeseen event such as fires or flood, and storm damage.
The cost of repairs or rebuilding can be substantial after such events, and home insurance helps to mitigate these expenses.
For homeowners with a mortgage, Insurance companies often require home insurance to protect their investment. Even for those who own their homes outright, insurance offers peace of mind by safeguarding. In summary, home insurance acts as a safety net, providing financial security and protecting against potential risks associated with homeownership. This advice extends to commercial and public liability Insurance too.
In such unfortunate events, having a professional like Oakleafe at your side can be invaluable. As experienced loss assessors, we can help you navigate the complexities of insurance claims. Ensuring you receive fair treatment and get your full entitlement. Their expertise can be the difference between a prolonged, stressful insurance process and a swift, favourable resolution.
Remember, the best Christmas is a safe one – take proactive steps to protect your home and enjoy the festive season with peace of mind.
While the biggest mistake is not having insurance at all there are 3 Insurance Claim Mistakes Most People Make and therefore are best avoided. The first is not filing on time, the second is not providing adequate documentation or and the third is destroying evidence. You may be surprised at how often these occur; However, to be fair after a fire in your home the insurance company’s procedures are not at the forefront of anyone’s mind.
Although, claims do get rejected for these reasons and when that happens it is a big deal.
According to the Association of British Insurers only “79% of home insurance claims are successful” .
So there is a real risk of a claim being rejected. Considering that the average UK home contains assets worth around £35,000 and that the repair or replacement costs of the damaged property can often be higher than its value it is well worth it to know how to file a claim properly.
First Insurance Claim Mistakes Made Is Not Filing On Time. -Yes, contacting the insurer within a reasonable time is a standard policy requirement. Most insurers have written procedures about a reasonable amount of time to file a claim after an incident. You can check your policy or contact your insurer to find this out. If the issue is gathering the needed documentation for a reasonable claim, do let your insurer know that is what you’re doing.
Filing on time is essential because the insurance company can deny your claim for an unreasonable delay and this is one of The First Insurance Claim Mistakes Most People Make. If the incident is a fire or burglary notifying authorities is also necessary and the insurance adjuster will require their report. Not filing on time is probably the most common mistake which causes claims to be rejected. So, if a fire or a burst pipe happens do not procrastinate – contact your insurance company as soon as possible.
The second Insurance Claim Mistake Made Is Generic Filing - Proper record-keeping following an incident is the second most crucial thing when a claim is successful in avoiding making an Insurance Claim Mistake. This includes photographs of the damage, pre-damage photos, receipts or proofs of purchase, and any reports from authorities, such as the fire department’s report.
Photograph all damage as soon as it is safe to do so and obtain surveillance videos if you have cameras installed. An adjuster will require proof of loss so have it ready when they ask. It is also always a good idea to keep records of all communication between you and the insurance company.
You don’t have to wait for a disaster to strike to start keeping adequate records. You can prepare by having your home photographed and keeping the photos as well as any other documentation in a cloud-based platform such as Google Drive. It may give you peace of mind that in case any disaster strikes you know where to find what you need quickly.
The Third Insurance Claim Mistakes Most People Make Is Eliminating Evidence. People who do this do not think of it that way. For instance, if your property is damaged by fire or water, the natural tendency may be to throw a burnt or water-damaged item away, but that is the last thing you should do. Could you keep everything as is until all damage is documented and your insurer has had time to verify the loss? There will always be time to clean up after filing your claim.
If you hire a Loss Assessor such as Oakleafe Claims they will guide you through all this. It is always helpful to have someone qualified who will pay attention to all those procedural details and who will make sure everything is done correctly with your claim so that you don’t have to worry about it.
Some of the Insurance Claim Mistakes That Result In Rejection are as follows - Refusing to cooperate with the insurer’s requests for information can be a reason to deny a claim. The adjuster needs proof of your loss, which means documentation such as photographs and any receipts or proof of purchase of items claimed. If you do not have anything to submit as proof, your claim will likely be delayed in processing or denied, and this is a pivotal Insurance Claim Mistake made by many.
Claims are also likely to be rejected for not being filed on time and in cases of inadequate coverage. If you file for a damaged laptop but you do not have Portable Items insurance, you may not be reimbursed for that item even though your policy may cover other damage. It is important to know exactly what your policy covers so that this is not an unpleasant surprise when something happens, and you have a million other things to worry about.
It may seem like a no-brainer to know your insurance policy, but with the busy lives we all lead, people often need to read them after purchasing them. Your home is not just the sum of its market value and contents but also where you and your family make your history. It’s important to know what you are covered for before anything happens.
Not filing on time, not keeping adequate documentation and eliminating evidence are the 3 Insurance Claim Mistakes Most People Make, but there are plenty of other mistakes you can make. Insurance companies are always on the lookout for any inconsistencies in a claim and they always look to minimize the settlement. One way to ensure that your claim is successful, that it is processed quickly and for its real value is to hire a Loss Assessor such as Oakleafe Claims. Having someone on your side is important when it is your home and your peace of mind at stake. Never mind looking incompetent – the bottom line is that you probably do not want to be a part of the 21% of claims that get rejected.
As the clocks go back for daylight saving and, the darker evenings and longer nights will mean a sharp increase in burglaries and theft related crime. A major Insurer has reported that last year Theft Insurance claims notified to them at this time of year saw an increase of over a third.
Burglars take advantage of the darkness and violent or forcible entry is an unfortunate consequence of circumstances due to the change in time. Over a quarter of these burglaries are opportunistic and mainly on a Thursday or Friday. Statistics or not, if your home is vulnerable it becomes an easy target.
There are some useful things that detour thieves from targeting your property or house. Here is a list of things which you may consider to use:
You must check your home or business insurance policy as there may be stipulations on some of these being in place for them to accept a claim.
Notify your Insurance company if you have made any installation or chances to your home or business security as this might be beneficial to receiver a lower premium offer.
But be mindful as this can also be a double edge sword. Insurance companies may use this as evidence against your claim if the security system have not been maintained or kept at good condition.
Always try to discuss renewal terms with you Insurer each year as the sums insured will most likely have gone up and this will need to be reflected in any policy you hold.
Should the worst occur, you would be wise to call an Insurance claims Management company or loss assessor to assist. Theft damage is often as a result of break-in and this will form part of any claim as well as the actual items that are stolen.
Engage a Loss Assessors and they can help manage the Insurance claim process on your behalf from start till finish and endeavour to get everything you are entitled to.
If you have been declined whilst trying to claim on your domestic or commercial insurance, we can help. We can also help with professional services, for example, Brokers, VAR Valuations and Managing Agents.
