For those of us who often complain that our neighbourhood is not as safe as it used to be, you can actually check the reality for yourself.
Back in January 2017, the UK's top burglary hotspots for 2016 were revealed. 1.8 million home insurance claims from January 2015 - December 2016 were analysed by MoneySupermarket to reveal the postcodes for the biggest burglary hotspots in the UK.
This year, you get the chance to type in YOUR POSTCODE to see if you live in a burglary hotspot. AND how your address compares to the rest of the UK.
And then you can check on our list below from 2016. Can you see your town?
Back in 2016, London districts stole the show by taking 16 out of the 20 most burgled postcodes. In fact, the IG4 postcode that covers the area between Redbridge and Gants Hill in East London was the most burgled district in the UK!
Here's a list of the 20 most burgled postcodes last year. Each postcode has a number next to it which represents how many properties out of 1,000 made a home insurance claim after a burglary. Is your postcode on the list?
There was good news in 2016 though! When the Crime Survey of England and Wales was released, it revealed that domestic burglaries had fallen by 8% from October 2015 to September 2016. A massive decrease of 71% since 1995!
This can only mean one thing...
“It is encouraging to see the overall rate of burglary claims has dropped 8% in the last year, in line with the fall in recorded burglaries. That’s no doubt thanks to improvements in home security, although the falling cost of electrical items, such as TVs, might be significant as, simply put, there’s less need for burglars to steal items than in the past.”- Kevin Pratt, of Moneysupermarket.com
Hurray! We're finally starting to take a stand against burglars by improving our home security measures such as burglar alarms, CCTV systems and door entry systems.
Let's hope the residents of Redbridge take note!
The take-home point here is that homeowners must take action to prevent burglary. In 2017, it's naive to believe that criminals will put down their crowbars - which leaves it up to you to make their job as difficult as possible.
All too often we are contacted after a family has suffered a traumatic break in.
Most people think their fake CCTV camera or the padlock on the side gate is enough to stop the common burglar, but it's not.
It's Blake's NSI Gold and SSAIB accreditations that allow us to pass our expertise on to homeowners, like you.This 5 min quick quiz addresses potential security weak points in your property you might not think of! Look at your home through a burglar's eyes... is it as safe as you thought?
Tap the image below to get started and take the quiz!
