Unoccupied Property Insurance Specialists issue warning for Bonfire Night

October 2011

Extra vigilance is required between Halloween and Bonfire Night this year. A stark warning has been issued by Police Authorities who expect house burglary to significantly increase during this period.

This typically busy and noisy period, combined with darker nights prove too good an opportunity to miss for some criminals to resist.

According to research conducted by 16 Police forces across the UK and Aviva, last year saw an average increases in respect of burglaries to domestic premises rise by 26%. Police in Strathclyde saw an increase of 57%, closely followed by Northamptonshire of 53% and South Wales of 45% average increases. The data also shows on Halloween night an average increase of 150% in respect of malicious damage incidents to the home and 50% increase in respect of motor vehicles incidents and 20% increase in vehicle theft.

Simple measures can be taken to help reduce the risk of householders becoming a statistic. Putting the car in your garage or parking it in a well lit area will help.

Leaving your lights on in your home to make it look occupied, along with making sure all doors and windows are securely locked and valuables placed out of view of the windows will help prevent the opportunist thief.      

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