Home Security… Are you as secure as you think?
It’s really funny how all these years in the real estate industry we have advised our clients and family to take certain steps to insure their personal property is protected. We have recommended such steps as video taping all their rooms and belongings or taking snapshots if no video camera is available. We have talked about adding extra locks to windows and door walls. We have talked about the importance of a safe or safe deposit box.
Do you think we follow our own advice? Not up to this point. But that is about to change:
Last week our home was broken into. Thank goodness we weren’t home when it happened. When Jay got home that afternoon, the first thing he noticed was that all the built in cabinets in the den were wide open. Then he noticed that one of the back windows was also wide open. His first thought was “why did Lynn leave all this open?” because we have never been one of those families that worried about break-ins. Then the window being wide open with no screen hit him… Someone else had been in our house. He called the police right away.
The next thing he worried about was whether or not our cats had gotten out. They are indoor cats, and behave more like dogs in that they always greet us at the door when we come in. Where were they? He did find them hiding under the bed in the guest room. They were truly traumatized. Then he went into our bedroom and walked into a huge mess. All the dresser and nightstand drawers were emptied onto the floor. Our dressing area cabinets and drawers were ransacked, the closet as well. All our jewelry was gone. Every last piece. The only thing that was left was what we were wearing that day. All the little things that had been given as gifts to one another over the last 21 years was gone. The gold chain that had been my mother’s was gone. All things that you could never truly replace with an insurance check was just plain gone.
So the next step was to take an inventory as best as I could of all the things that were missing based on memory along with their value at time of purchase for the police report. I came up with a list of the jewelry which i know didn’t include everything because even as I write this I am remembering things that i hadn’t included. I was shocked when I added it all up. The jewelry alone came to well over $15k and that wasn’t in replacement value. When we looked up our insurance policy to see what kind of coverage we had, we were covered for $2,500 for jewelry. What? You’ve got to be kidding! It is devastating enough to have your privacy invaded in such a manner, but then not to have coverage enough to take care of the loss, adds insult to injury.
So, the first thing I am telling people is: Take an inventory of all your jewelry. We didn’t have any one or two big expensive pieces, but we did have a lot of little inexpensive fine jewelry pieces. It adds up much quicker than you might think. So take the inventory, check your insurance policy and make sure you have enough coverage for your jewelry. Next look at your policy to see if you are covered for other personal property that may be used for business. For example, my laptop, bag, calculator that was in the bag, images that I had purchased for use on postcards and websites that were on the laptop, are all considered business use. We have a cap of $1,000 for that. So we will take a slight loss on those items as well.
If you do not have an alarm system, get one! If you have windows in your garage, install the film that makes it like frosted glass that you cannot see inside. If you don’t have window treatments to keep people from seeing inside get them. If you don’t have a fence that you can lock to keep people from entering your back yard, install one. If you are using a fireproof strongbox for all your important papers, don’t bother, they will just walk out with it. Get a safe deposit box. Not only will you not remember everything you had in there, it will cost you money to replace the contents.
So, overall, do your due diligence now, instead of later. And please STAY SAFE!
Lynn Otlewski
