What’s the one item at home you’d hate to lose? It might be a family heirloom passed down through generations, something from your childhood, or a favourite item of jewellery.
Almost all of us have something we treasure, but when it comes to protecting our most precious and personal belongings, it turns out that in Ireland, we’re not as vigilant as we could be.
Liberty Insurance wanted to find out more around attitudes to home safety in Ireland and some research* they commissioned revealed some pretty surprising facts.
Nearly half of us (47{02e21beb59b1df31df52f01e04ea99c95a2ad51089caffe33918efe7878483f7}) don’t have a house alarm at all – with 1/5 of us relying on our neighbours and family to keep an eye out instead
A house with an alarm doesn’t mean it’s fully protected – a third of people with an alarm didn’t switch it on the last time they left the house.
As a nation, we’re quite a trusting bunch – a hugely surprising 17{02e21beb59b1df31df52f01e04ea99c95a2ad51089caffe33918efe7878483f7} of us admitted we don’t even bother locking the door when leaving the house, although this falls to 10{02e21beb59b1df31df52f01e04ea99c95a2ad51089caffe33918efe7878483f7} among those who don’t have an alarm.
The Dubs are the least likely to lock their door – 23{02e21beb59b1df31df52f01e04ea99c95a2ad51089caffe33918efe7878483f7} don’t bother locking up when leaving their home unattended, compared to 17{02e21beb59b1df31df52f01e04ea99c95a2ad51089caffe33918efe7878483f7} in the rest of Leinster, 13{02e21beb59b1df31df52f01e04ea99c95a2ad51089caffe33918efe7878483f7} in Munster and 14{02e21beb59b1df31df52f01e04ea99c95a2ad51089caffe33918efe7878483f7} in Connacht and Ulster
A third of us feel relaxed and content when we leave our homes unattended – surprising really, with a staggering 26,430 recorded burglaries taking place in 2014, up 5{02e21beb59b1df31df52f01e04ea99c95a2ad51089caffe33918efe7878483f7} on the previous year**
Check, lock and leave
As we come into the winter months, and with burglaries on the rise, we’re asking you all to be extra vigilant when it comes to your own home security arrangements, especially if you’re going away. In addition to getting a good alarm and securing all windows and doors, there are a few extra steps you can take to make sure you have secured your home, including:
- Make it look like someone is home using timer lights
- Ask your neighbours to keep an eye out
- Cancel milk and other deliveries
- Don’t leave valuables on view
- Consider installing security lighting
And the next time you leave the house unattended, think of that one precious and personal item you own and it should help you to remember: check, lock and leave.
Liiberty Insurance want to help make Irish homes safer. Visit their Facebook and Twitter pages for more Home Safety tips or get a home insurance quote today
*Research was commissioned by Liberty Insurance and conducted by MillwardBrown amongst a national population sample of 1,000 people in March 2015.
**CSO Burglary and Related Offences