According to Money Supermarket stats, you have almost a 1 in 50 chance of being burgled if you live in Southend.
Money Supermarket ranked 2,195 post codes in order of how likely they are to put in a claim for burglary on their home insurance. Take a look at the specific Southend post codes below:
SS1 is the area of Southend that includes the town centre, the main seafront area and Eastern Esplanade, Woodgrange Drive, Southend East Station, Southchurch Village and Thorpe Bay, including Thorpe Hall Avenue and Lifstan Way.
SS2 is to the north of SS1. It covers Victoria Avenue and Southend Victoria Station, the area of Southchurch that includes Bournemouth Park Road and Hamstel Road. It also stretches west to include Priory Park, London Southend Airport, Manners Way, Eastwoodbury Lane, and the Western Approaches.
SS9 is Leigh-on-Sea, including Old Leigh, Two Tree Island, and Eastwood.
SS0 is Westcliff-on-Sea from the Cliffs Pavilion and Western Esplanade on the seafront encompassing the Palace Theatre and the two schools to Prittlewell and the hospital.
If you live in one of these Southend post codes, you have approximately a 1 in 50 chance of being burgled.
Is this high? It's hard to say without some comparative context!
In neighbouring town, Basildon, where some residents have roughly a 1 in 30 chance of being burgled, Southend doesn't sound so bad.
But how does Southend compare nationally?
Three of the post codes listed here are in the top 25% at risk of burglary in the UK!
There's no putting a brave face on it, this sounds pretty bad, especially when you remember that these stats are the people who have been burgled AND claimed on the insurance. It doesn't take into account the burglaries where no insurance claim was made.
Well, you could always move to a gated community where people leave their doors open and neighbours just pop by for a cuppa, though it's not the most practical step in the world. Besides, they're expensive.
The most obvious way to protect your home is to get an alarm system.
But, at the very least, you should be following anti-burglary advice.
The problem is, we don't always remember to do the simple things to protect ourselves and burglars use this to their advantage.
For example, in this video, a convicted burglar reveals his plan of attack when analysing your home as a target - it's an eye opening interview and definitely worth a watch.
The most shocking aspect of this interview is how easy it was for him to break into his victims' homes when a few security tweaks could have stopped him.
Find out how attractive your house is to burglars. Click here or on the image below to take the quick quiz!
