Home security

Outside – your first line of defence

• Keep fences repaired. 
• Consider an outdoor light with a movement sensor.
• Ensure the front of the house is visible to passers by, so that a burglar can't work unseen.
• Store your wheelie bin somewhere secure where it can’t be stolen or and used as a ladder to gain entry to your garden or house.
• Fit a bolted, high gate across any passages leading to the rear of your house.  

Is anybody home?

• Get plug-in timers for your lamps – and timers for your ceiling lights. Fool a burglar by lighting up different rooms and by varying the times each light comes on.
• Use a plug in timer for a radio – make it a talk station rather than music. Radio 4 is good – it lasts all night.
• Get a trusted neighbour or friend to shut the curtains if you’re away. 
• When on holiday cancel the milk and papers, these are a signal that the house is empty if they build up.  

Get equipped

• Get mortise locks for your front and back outside door.  Make sure they conform to British Safety Standard BS3621 or another approved British Standard. Go to the Secured by Design website for advice.
• If other people have keys to your home, change the locks. Don't give keys to people that you don’t know, they can easily make copies. 
• The best type of window lock for a wooden frame does not involve any of the window catches – it pulls the window onto the frame with a key. Fit two locks on a big window.  Go to the Secured by Design website for advice.
• The safest double glazing has bolts that shoot into the frame for extra security. Laminated glass is better than toughened because it stays in place if it is smashed – slowing a burglar down. It is safer for kids too because toughened glass shatters into tiny pieces.
• Make patio doors safer with a purpose-made lock or a security bar.  Fit mortise bolts to the top and bottom of each French door. Fit them into the frame – not the other door.
• Keep spare keys with a neighbour, friend or relative – not in the house.  Never leave keys in the door or next to the door or window where they could be accessible to burglars.  Never “hide” a spare key outside – thieves know all the usual places and will find it.
• A dog can provide extra protection.  But check with your landlord to make sure you have permission to have a dog in your property. 
• Get a house alarm fitted by a professional.  A visible burglar alarm or alarm bell box on the outside of your property will make burglars think twice.  

Keep them out

• All official callers, including our employees, will probably have made an appointment with you in advance and will always carry identification.  If in doubt, deny them access and ring the company they claim to be calling from.  Remember, genuine callers won’t mind waiting.  If you let them in, stay with them at all times.
• Always look to see who is at the door before you open.  If your front door doesn’t have glass, fit a spy-hole. Or look through a window near the door to see who is calling.
• Install an outside light over the door and a door chain. 
   

Protecting your property

• Ultra-violet (UV) marker pens cost about £1 from stationers and security shops. Use them to put your postcode and house number in invisible ink on the bottom of your valuables. 
• Photograph your valuables, for possible identification following a burglary.
• Keep your garage or garden shed is securely locked, especially if it has a connecting door to the house. Lock bikes to something fixed or bulky like a ladder.  Remember to postcode anything of value in your shed. Items are harder for the burglar to sell on with your house number and postcode painted across it.
• Use a good quality padlock – and the hasp and staple that go with it. It’s best to bolt the hasp and staple to the door and frame for extra strength.  And smear glue over the heads of screws or use anti-tamper screws.
• Put tools away – they could be used to break into your home.
• Dial*#06# on your mobile phone to get its unique identification number. The police can use is to help recover your phone if stolen and your service provider can use it to stop the phone being used by anyone else.  

Vehicles

• Never leave anything on display when you park your car. 
• Professionally fitted electronic engine immobilisers prevent your car from starting and are the best way to stop thieves. 
• Park in a garage if you have one and lock both your car and the garage. Otherwise, try to park in a well-lit, open place.  
• Choose a well-supervised public car park with restricted entry and exit points, good lighting and security cameras.
• Use a steering wheel lock every time you leave your car. 
• Get a professionally fitted car alarm. 
• Etch your car registration number or the last 7 digits of your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) onto all windows, both windscreens and your headlamps. 
• Mark your car equipment, like your car stereo, with your vehicle registration number.  

Personal information

• Use only your surname and initials on nameplates and in the telephone directory - that way strangers won’t know if a man or a woman lives there. 
• Just say “hello” when answering the phone, don’t give your number or name. If it’s someone you don’t know then don’t reveal any information about yourself or say you’re alone in the house. 
• Always shred documents carrying your personal details such as bank statements or credit card bills – identity thieves can steal your personal details.