The safety of your home boils down to two things – protecting your home and possessions and taking care of yourself and your family. Some people think that protecting your home will cost a lot of money, however, that’s not always the case. You don’t have to turn your home into a fortress or spend a lot of money to make your place tougher for thieves to penetrate.
Here are a few free things you can do to increase your home’s safety:
- Keep your doors and windows locked. This may be a “no-brainer,” but it can be easily forgotten – especially if you have been enjoying the nice fall weather by having the windows open!
- Lock the door to the garage. It’s a habit we are all guilty of: Not locking the door that leads to the garage. While it is very convenient to keep that door unlocked when you pull into the garage, if someone is able to break into the garage, they will have full access to the house through the unlocked door.
- Let trustworthy neighbors know when you are out of town. Having a neighbor look after your house while you’re out of town is almost as good as having a watchdog! They are more likely to notice if there is someone suspicious around.
- Cancel newspaper and mail deliveries. While away for an extended amount of time, make sure that you cancel your newspaper subscriptions and mail deliveries. Several newspapers in the yard and a mailbox overflowing can be a green light to a thief to break-in!
- Don’t hide an emergency door key outside. Thieves know all the “secret” places you’d hide your key, including that little bunny-rabbit figurine with the hidden compartment underneath! Do yourself a favor and just keep your spare keys with you or someone you trust.
- Buy some hardware. Window locks cost about a dollar at the hardware store and can prevent a thief from breaking into your house. Likewise, using a door chain (which only costs a few dollars) is also a great preventative measure. These added lines of security can make a big difference.
- Replace old door locks and latches. If your door locks are old or continuously loose, replace them! Consider adding a deadbolt at least 1 inch long to your door. Consider a double deadbolt that has a key lock on each side – BUT, always leave the key in the inside lock when you’re at home, otherwise, you won’t be able to escape in an emergency.
These are just a few low-cost things you can do to help protect your home. At Texan Insurance, we want to help you protect what matters. Contact us today to get your free home insurance quote. You can also go to our home insurance page to learn more about coverage and see other helpful tips on how to protect your home.
If you have any other questions on how much coverage you should have, please contact us!