How to Make Sure Your Home is Secure While You’re on Holiday

Follow these tips to help secure your property and belongings while you’re on holiday. With our help you’ll deter thieves and prevent break-ins.

Whether you’re going away for just a long weekend, a full week or a lengthier period, it’s important to dedicate time to securing your home. Returning from a relaxing holiday to find that you have been the victim of a break-in or theft will invariably cause distress.

Follow these simple steps to help set your mind at ease while you’re away, so that you can enjoy your holiday without worrying.

Install Smart Lighting

Technology has come a long way over the past few decades, so it’s no longer completely necessary to rely on a friend or neighbour to regularly visit your property in order to give the impression that someone is home. General hardware stores sell timers for light fixtures so that you can control when your lights come on and go off. Cleverly setting a number of lights in various rooms across your house on different time schedules will give a more realistic appearance.

Smart lighting like this can prevent the conundrum of whether to leave your curtains opened or closed (we recommend keeping them at least partially open but placing netting over the window to further obscure the view into a room).

Photosensitive light bulbs are an alternative, which switch on in your home when it gets dark outside. For the exterior of your house, solar-panelled bulbs and security lighting that is activated by a sensor are further options to ensure that your property remains well-lit when it is most vulnerable at night.

Fit an Alarm System

As well as sensor lighting that’s activated when someone approaches the property, it’s also worth fitting a burglar alarm system. Lighting may not be an adequate deterrence for some thieves, but the piercing sound of an alarm is far likelier to stop people gaining access to your property.

Many alarm systems are now very technically advanced, and you can even purchase some that are linked directly to a security firm. This option eliminates further pressure, as the security firm will be on hand to rectify the issue of a potential break-in during your absence.

Protect Your Valuables

It’s essential that you don’t leave any valuable items or pieces of jewellery in sight. Hiding valuables under your bed, in your underwear drawer or in a food cupboard is far from fool-proof; these are classic hiding places that many thieves are wise to and will check first. Instead, secure your smaller precious items in a hidden safe.

For larger valuable items, where possible, avoid placing them close to windows or doors where they can easily be seen and thus invite thieves. Table and floor lamps placed close to windows can be used to obscure the view through.

If you’re leaving any cars behind when you go on holiday, ensure that they are safely stored in the garage. A one-lock garage may not provide adequate protection – take a look at our range of electric garage doors, which are specially designed to safeguard your vehicles through smart engineering.

Check Your Insurance Policy

Make sure you check your insurance policy well in advance of your holiday. Your policy should cover you against theft or loss, but many insurance providers have clauses that make their policies invalid if you are away from home and leave your property vacant for a certain amount of time.

If you’re unsure about the protection of your policy, it is worth contacting your provider. You may be able to temporarily adjust your cover for the period you are on holiday. If this is not possible it may be best to compare insurance providers to find the most secure deal to suit your circumstances.

Test All the Locks

Even if you think that all the locks inside and outside your property are functioning securely, err on the side of caution before you leave and check every window and door, as well as any internal locks on cabinets. It may take some time, but if an insurance provider finds that you did not securely lock external parts of the property they may be unwilling to compensate you for theft or damage.

It’s also important not to leave keys lying around in your property and especially not outside it – that spare key you keep under the doormat or in the plant pot is an easy find for burglars.

Secure Your Property with SWS

Securing your home against theft while you’re on holiday starts from the outside of the property. At SWS we have a range of expert garage door solutions, security gates and blinds. Browse through our products and don’t hesitate to contact us if you are looking for something specific. We can build a bespoke product to suit your needs.