Things to Check Before Going on Holiday
Chances are you’ve got a huge pre-holiday checklist going including items such as ‘Don’t Forget the Passports’, ‘Online Check In for Flights’. Additionally, hopefully you’re not planning on a repeat of Home Alone and likely to forget the kids (no matter how much it’d be more relaxing without them). But have you considered your Pre-Holiday Home Checks?
Nothing will snap you out of your post-holiday bliss like coming home to discover you’ve been burgled; or that maggots have not only taken up residence in your bin but are planning a Costa del Sol type expansion; or that your milk supply is planning on entering you in to the Local Cheese-making competition (with accompanying smell); and oops, looks like another house plant bites the dust.
Become friends with your list-making abilities, and write another list of quick checks to do before you leave the house to ensure that when you return, stepping over the threshold will bring no surprises just a happy sense of contentment of being back on your own turf.
Most importantly, and yes we are a Security Systems Company so we would say this, but do everything you can to prevent a burglary. Intruders like unattended properties. They scout areas to watch for signs of absences and holidays and a vast number of break-ins are opportunistic. Don’t make your home an easy target. Double- and triple-check each door and window in your home. Use switch-timers to have lights and the radio coming on at certain times. If you’re going to be away for a while ask someone to mow your lawn and remove your post from the door mat. Houses that look empty and neglected are prime targets. Cancel all milk, grocery and paper deliveries. They are simply an advert saying “we’re not home”. If you have windows where people can see in, close the curtains.
Furthermore, if you have a spare key hidden in the garden, now would be the ideal time to remove it and instead ask a trusted neighbour to hold on to it for you. We all hate being locked out, and we’re all capable of doing it at one point or another, so thieves know this. Safeguard your home by leaving the key with an actual real life person instead of your garden gnome.
Most modern homes have become a haven to technology and electronics. As well as paying unnecessary amounts on electricity for items left on stand-by, there is also a small fire risk of leaving items switched on. Go around the house switching off all electronic items such as microwaves, toasters and computers that don’t need to stay on (and be amazed at just how many you have). Similarly reduce the time your central heating will be on, but not so much you are at risk of frozen pipes. Check all taps and that they are fully switched off and that all toilets are flushed if you don’t want to return to an unpleasant stench.
Vitally, inform your Alarm Company. And if you don’t have an alarm, ask yourself why. The single biggest deterrent for intruders is an Alarm System, especially a Monitored System like BT Redcare, installed by experts like Nova Security Systems. The single easiest way to ensure peace of mind for you whilst you are away on holiday is knowing that your home is being protected 24/7 by a team of dedicated specialists. Not all alarm systems are created equal either, and knowing that you have a reliable professionally installed Intruder Alarm system will take the fear away that you might return home to the worst surprise of all: a break-in.