What to Do if a Burglar Breaks into Your Home While You’re on Vacation
October 22, 2009 – 6:36 pm
You’re on vacation enjoying the beautiful sunny shoreline, and you’re family is having the time of their lives. It’s a couple days into your getaway, and you get a call from your security company saying that a burglar has broken into your home. What do you do know?
As much as you hate it, you’re most likely going to have to return home and deal with the awful situation that is waiting for you. If you have family members who are willing to deal with it until you get back, that is great. However, you know where important documentation is, and how are you going to relax knowing that all of this is going on, unless the intruder broke through the door and left without your belongings upon hearing the alarm.
First, you need to collect all of the important facts. When? How? Who? What? Why? Depending on how elaborate your security system is, you might be able to gather this information from your security cameras. However, it’s also important to collect answers from your security company, neighbors and anyone else that you think might know something.
Second, report the incident to the police, so they can write up a full report on it. They will most likely ask your neighbors repeat questions, but maybe they will remember something else such as the type of car that was used or part of the license plate number. Make sure you get a copy of the report for yourself and the insurance company.
Third, you need to sort through your belongings and figure out what has been taken. If your home has been ransacked, it’s going to be a messy, frustrating, emotional and time consuming job. However, your insurance company as well as the police are going to need to know what was taken. You’re going to have to do this as soon as possible, so it might go faster if you check on your most expensive and treasured possessions first.
Fourth, figure out how you can make your home safer. Analyze the burglary and determine why it was so easy for an intruder to get inside. Did you forget to turn the security lights on or did you tell too many people that you were leaving town? You don’t want your house to be vulnerable again, especially when you go on vacation, so consider the areas of weakness. You might even need to repair windows, doors, locks, etc.
Experiencing a burglary while you’re away on vacation is a big dose of reality. Try to make your home as burglar proof as possible when going out of town to prevent a situation like this.
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Tags: burglar breaks into your home, burglaries during vacation