Neighbour burglary often insufficient warning

Only half of participants in the annual survey* by the National Burglary Prevention Weeks (NIPW) say they would take extra measures to secure their own home after a neighbour's burglary. The other half think that burglars will not return to the same street.

The other participants say they do not need to do anything because their homes are already secure enough. They often even feel safer after a burglary at their neighbour's house, assuming that burglars will not strike again in the same street. "Unfortunately, the opposite turns out to be true," says Coen Staal, chairman of National Burglary Prevention Weeks. "When a burglar has successfully broken into a particular home, there is actually a high(er) chance that he will strike again at similar homes in the neighbourhood or street in the short term. Sometimes, even a few months after the first burglary, the same house is broken into again. By then, insurance has mostly paid out and the stolen property has since been replaced. Moreover, a third of respondents do not take any preventive measures at all after a burglary." In fact, Staal advises to be extra vigilant when the neighbourhood or street has been burgled.

Better locks or alarm system
Half of the respondents said they do take measures. On average, they take 2.4 measures, such as installing better locks, thieves' claws and anti-burglar strips on windows and/or doors. One in eight are also thinking about installing an alarm system. Previous research showed that after a burglary actually occurred, more than a quarter had an alarm system installed.
A number of people indicate that they do not take extra measures if their neighbours are burgled. 'Because there's not that much to get from us' or 'because we are insured for this', they note. "About the former, we can say that burglars are not guided by that. They break in first and only then see if there is anything to get. There is always something of their liking in the end: a wallet, tablet or a mobile phone," says Staal.

Great uncertainty about insurance
There is considerable ambiguity among survey participants about how to be insured. More than two in five (44%) think they will be reimbursed for everything, with or without a co-payment. 56% think they will get a certain percentage of the damage (breakage damage and the value of stolen items) back from the insurer, ranging from a quarter (3%), half (10%) to three-quarters (17%). 3 % think they are not insured against theft at all, while almost one in five (19%) simply do not know.

Extra prevention valuables
There is a special UV pen on the market for invisibly marking valuable items, for example with postcode and house number. When the police recover the stolen good, the original owner can be easily traced on the basis of the marking. Informed about the existence of the uv marking pen, almost half of the survey participants said they would like to use it. 45% is taking this into consideration.

About the National Burglary Prevention Weeks Foundation
The National Burglary Prevention Weeks Foundation is a public-private partnership with the aim of making homeowners more aware of good burglary prevention. In order to contribute to the Ministry of Security and Justice's goal of substantially reducing the number of burglaries and burglary attempts. While there were 91,000 burglaries or attempted burglaries in 2012, by 2017 this had dropped to 49,500. The foundation campaigns twice a year, in May/June and November/December in close cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Security and the Association of Insurers.

Source: Securitynews.co.uk dated 28-11 2018