We might like to think our homes are as ‘safe as houses’, but security emergencies are worryingly commonplace, with tens of thousands of household crimes occurring every day.
Research into the Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for England and Wales by Churchill Insurance found that in England and Wales alone, there are 11,620 household crimes reported every day. This means that every seven seconds, an English or Welsh house is vandalised, broken into or stolen from.
Burglars appear to be disproportionately targeting the vulnerable, as well. Unemployed people are disproportionately likely to be a victim of household crime, with 35.9% of residences containing unemployed people targeted by criminals last year.
Lone parents were also found to be particularly at risk, facing a 28.7% likelihood of a household crime last year, with the household crime rate for economically inactive people, such as those with long-term health conditions, hitting 27.6%.
Furthermore, while homeowners faced an annual household crime rate of 15.9%, this rose to 21.8% among social renters. The highest rate of household crime was found in the East Midlands, which saw 208 incidents among every 1,000. This was followed by Wales, at 194 per 1,000, and Yorkshire and Humberside, at 190 per 1,000.
Densely populated areas were also found to be particularly at-risk, with terraced households 70% more likely to be affected by criminality than detached homes, and with urban areas seeing 167 incidents among every 1,000 households, compared with 112 per 1,000 in rural locations.
Keeping your home secure
Security cover comes as part of our home emergency cover package. With this plan, you simply have to call us when a security issue arises in your home, such as a broken window or a faulty door lock, and we will send a specialist round to resolve the issue immediately.
There are a number of other security measures you can use to protect your house alongside a home security cover service contract:
- Fit security lights, burglar alarms, high fences, prickly shrubs and other security measures, as these will dissuade burglars.
- Keep your home well-maintained. The ‘broken windows theory‘ illustrates that a vandalised or badly-maintained home has a greater chance of being targeted by criminals than a clean, tidy and well-repaired home. Think about litter – people are far more likely to throw litter in dirty environments than in clean ones, and the same applies to other forms of criminality.
- Take care to ensure your home does not look unoccupied when nobody is home. Ask a friend to come round to collect your post, turn the lights on and off, and make it seem as if the house is still occupied. Consider investing in a timer, which will turn your lights on at intervals.
- Lock your windows and doors, close your garden gate, and set your burglar alarm when you are out of the house.
Don’t become a statistic – keep your home safe and secure by taking out home emergency cover today.
Want to save money? No problem.
If you’re having trouble with any aspect of your boiler, home appliances or if you’re suffering from a home emergency such as an electrical breakdown, plumbing problem or security issue then be sure to get in touch with us.
You can face a hefty bill if something goes wrong at home so eliminate the possibility and speak to us today.
Call us on 0345 3192 247 and one of our friendly technical team will go through some simple diagnostics to see if your problem can be resolved over the phone. If not, we’ll send an engineer to be with you as soon as possible to ensure you’re back up and running in no time.
