How to improve your house’s security using your home insurance provider cash
In the current recession, home owners looking for savings while improving the safety of their house may have to look no further than their home insurance provider.
In the current recession, home owners looking for savings while improving the safety of their house may have to look no further than their home insurance provider.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, insurance companies often dole out discounts to home owners looking to purchase products that make their house more secure from burglars. With that in mind, the institute has compiled some suggestions on how to increase a home’s security using items that many home insurance companies will award discounts for.
Checking you house for weaknesses, or “casing” the house as a burglar would as they look for security weaknesses to exploit, can reveal potential breaches such as tree branches near windows. However, installing exterior lights and/or motion detectors around the house will also deter burglars and improve security.
Inside the house itself, investing in a burglar alarm is one of the first things that many insurance companies will look for before handing out a discount. However, investing in strong doors – the institute recommends metal or hardwood doors at least one-and-three-quarter inches thick – and doorframes with pick-resistant deadbolt locks as well as gating for street-level windows will only make the house look better in the insurance company’s eyes as well.
Additionally, general security habits will also help maintain the security if the house. Remembering to lock doors, not listing you home address on the same keychain with the house keys, and setting up automatic lights and having mail picked up by a friend when away on vacation are among the institute’s tips for maintaining a house’s security over time.
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Posted: August 7, 2009
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