You return home to find your door open and all your personal belongings and contents in places where they have no right to be strewn across the floor. Your mind races as you realise your house has been burgled. What do you do?
The first thing to do is to enter your home only when absolutely certain no one is inside and to resist the overwhelming urge of rescuing ornaments from precocious positions about the room. Now is the time to heed something of a burglary plan.
It has been announced that burglary is on the rise in the UK and that this is directly linked to the downturn of the economy. Burglary rates have risen for the first time in eight years because, according to the Guardian newspaper, thieves are attempting to weather the tough times by taking advantage.
According to the article “Should the worst happen” a stark reality is that once you have been burgled that your chances of being burgled again will have increased by four times. In an attempt to weather your first nightmare of a burglary, something of a rescue plan has been formulated for readers’ attentions by ‘aboutproperty.co.uk’.
One important point to make is to take out some home contents insurance. In the event of a burglary, your loss will not be a permanent one. With the rate of burglary on the increase it is highly recommended that you take out some protection.
As already mentioned, upon discovering your house has been burgled, do not enter your home until sure that no unwanted guests remain inside. Do not touch anything, including the front door! There may be evidence lying around that can assist the police bringing the culprit to justice. Call the police dialling ‘999’ but do not call them from your home telephone, as the phone may again be a source of evidence. Ideally, you should call the police from a neighbour’s phone or a mobile.
Next, commit yourself to making sure your house is burglar proof by changing locks on your doors and windows. Check to ensure any banking paperwork has not been stolen, if it has then immediately call your bank or credit card providers. While you are on the telephone, call your insurance company and report the incident with a case number issued to you by the police.
The effect of burglary can be emotionally catastrophic, if you feel you can’t talk about the crime to your family, get in touch with Victim Support. Don’t underestimate the detrimental effects of burglary, instead, during the aftermath of the crime, seek out help immediately.
Tags: burglary, home contents insurance