Beat the burglar!

November 5, 2025

With winter just around the corner, it is a good time to spare a thought for the security of your home as the nights grow longer.

Research indicates that burglary rates can rise by as much as 40% during the winter months, when longer nights and darker evenings make properties more susceptible to intruders. But there are steps you can take to beat the burglar – and help maintain reasonable rates for your home insurance.

Let’s take a closer look at some of these security tips:

A light in the darkness

• keep the lights on, even when you’re out at night, to give the appearance that someone’s at home;

• if you keep them on timer or smart switches, you can turn them on, in the most appropriate rooms, as and when necessary;

Curtains to prying eyes

• keep the curtains or blinds at least partially closed to shut out and hide valuables from the prying eyes of opportunistic burglars;

• what the burglar can’t see, puts temptation at bay;

Lights, camera, action

• motion-activated security lights near doors and pathways will alert you to potential intruders – with the limelight discouraging all but the most persistent of burglars;

• with motion-activated cameras also extremely affordable these days, any wrong move can be captured on film;

Stay locked in

• you’re enjoying a night in and making the most of the comforts of our own home – but make sure to keep you and your family doubly safe by locking all the doors and windows even while you’re at home;

• a burglar or intruder alarm – coupled to a smart home security system – will provide even greater reassurance;

• when you do go out, of course, your home insurance policy almost certainly depends on your having securely locked the door and windows behind you;

Steer clear of social media

• social media can offer lots of harmless fun, of course, but beware of advertising your every move to the world at large;

• when you have planned holidays, days away, or other absences from home, avoid posting the fact on social media;

Don’t do the burglar’s work for him

• burglars have their tools of the trade – stepladders and other equipment for ease of entry to your home, for instance;

• the last thing you’ll want to do is to make the job so much easier by leaving ladders, bins, and other tools and equipment anywhere near the doors, windows, and fences of your home;

Keep under lock and key

• any tools and equipment you keep in a garden shed or the garage need to stay safely locked away;

• in addition to any locks already built into the doors, it’s worth considering strong padlocks to increase security;

Keeping tabs on your valuables

• a handy tip recommended by the Metropolitan Police as a way of deterring burglars is to mark your valuables with an invisible trace;

• this uses a police-approved forensic marking solution that is visible only under Ultraviolet (UV) light – the marking kits typically come with stickers and posters that make it crystal clear to would-be thieves that any stolen goods are indelibly marked;

• many home insurance policies require a declaration about specific items of value. Once these individual items have been marked, they can be registered with an online agency – and this will help the police identify your valuables if they are ever stolen;

Maintain a (neighbourly) watch

• if you are going to be away from home for longer than a day or two, ask a neighbour to keep an eye on your home and to raise an alert if anything suspicious appears to be happening.

As the winter draws on, your home may become a more appealing target for thieves and others with malicious intent. But there are ways you can beat the burglar – through a few, mainly commonsense, precautions.