Home Safety While on Vacation
In 2018 Americans spent 23 billion dollars on domestic travel. This number was up 2% from 2017 travel data. We know many of our friends, family and clients will be traveling in August as we wind down the summer.
At Gateway Insurance, we know how important it is to secure your home during travel. One of our clients came home from vacation to find thieves in their home. The thieves had camped out at the home taking their time to find and extricate everything they felt was valuable, including the safe.
Most insurance policies pay in the case of a loss. To what degree they pay depends on the policy details. We hope we never have these types of losses, but when we do we want to make sure the coverage is exactly what we need. The best way to assure that is to review your coverage periodically.
Below you find 10 ways to protect your home while on vacation this summer and fall.
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· Keep your travel plans a secret on social media
· Plant thorny shrubs, such as rosebushes, beneath ground-floor windows
· Ask a neighbor to check daily for flyers stuck in your front door
· Disable automatic garage door openers
· Don’t store wood near the side of the house, as it can easily be used by intruders as a stepladder up to a window
· Worker or unknown visitor uses the bathroom, he may unlatch the window so he can gain entry later
· Set timers to turn on and off lights and radios
· Don’t close all the blinds and curtains if you normally leave them open
· Store valuables in your child’s sock drawer rather than in your nightstand
· If your front entrance contains decorative glass, install your security keypad in a spot that is not visible from the doorstep.