High level of burglaries in Bradford
Comparison website Moneysupermarket tracked millions of theft claims made to major insurers in the previous 12 months.
What they found was that Insurers pay out £8.1m per day in domestic property claims (figures from the Association of British Insurers) and theft is the third most common type of home insurance claim.
After reviewing the 10 most burgled towns in Britain, they found that Bradford (BD2, Eccleshill) was the 8th most burgled town.
My experience and that of my colleagues in the industry is that the most common form of break-in to domestic properties is through a upvc door, especially those that only have a standard cylinder lock in it. Unfortunately this can be achieved in a matter of seconds by using a simple DIY tool.
Take a look at the following article to see where the least burgled town in Britain is (and if you don’t want to read it I’ll tell you that it’s Lochee and Blackness in Scotland.
In order to reduce the chance of your home being burgled you can of course move to Scotland. An easier option is to follow my simple steps below:
If you have upvc doors, check that your cylinder locks are anti-snap. Consider upgrading to anti-snap if you don’t have them already.
Sash jammers are an excellent purchase and, if fitted correctly to your upvc door, will be a further deterrent to a burglar. These are only useful when you are on the inside of a door so either for night-time or a door that is not your usual exit/entry point.
Buy and set an electrical timer. You can purchase this from most DIY stores, attach to lamps and set to come on at dusk giving the illusion that someone is in the house.
If you have a gate that allows access to the rear of the property fit a hasp and staple and a substantial padlock; make life as hard as your can for potential burglars.
You could also have a burglar alarm system fitted, there are some very professional organisations out their, their latest technology allows an alert to be sent to your smart ‘phone when the alarm is activated.
And finally think about your outside lighting, burglars don’t want to be seen so the more light you shed on their illegal tricks the less chance there is that they will hang around. Lights that are activated by movement are excellent, they are cost effective as they only light up when there is movement and you have the added benefit that they draw attention to activity as they are not on all the time.
You can put some of these steps into action straight away and don’t forget your local locksmith will be happy to advise.
