HOUSEHOLD BURGLARIES TIPPED TO SURPASS $100 MILLION IN JANUARY 2016

English translation, article originally appearing in the Vision China Times, Melbourne (30 October 2015)

WILL YOUR INSURANCE COVER THE LOSS FROM PROPERTY BURGLED THIS JANUARY?

As we reach the end of a year of hard work, we’re all looking forward to summer holidays… all except Melbourne’s thieves, who are looking forward to empty homes and easy money.

For the past few years, January has been the worst month for home break-ins.  The most burgled areas in Melbourne are in the west and north of the city, for example, Heidelberg West, Heidelberg Heights, Hoppers Crossing, Broadmeadows and Preston.  Wealthier suburbs in Melbourne’s inner east are also targets for thieves, for example, there were 9 burglaries and 2 attempted burglaries in just one night this October, in Camberwell, Hawthorn, Kew and Ashburton.   There are a few steps you can take to improve home security to reduce the risk of becoming the target of crime.  However, it’s also important to make sure that you have the correct insurance in case you are unlucky. 

Home security measures
The following tips can help you make your home more secure:

• Install a home alarm and connect it to professional security monitoring
• Ensure all doors and windows are well secured with locks, and make sure you lock up when you go out, even for short periods.  Lock the front door when you are in the back yard.  Burglars enter from unlocked or poorly locked doors and windows in almost 50% cases of home break-ins in Victoria. 
• Don’t hide a spare key – it can be found by a thief.  Leave it with a trusted friend instead
• If you purchase expensive items such as electrical appliances, cut up the boxes or shopping bags into pieces before recycling because boxes can let burglars know what’s new in your house
• Keep your garden tidy and well lit, removing hiding spots for burglars

Preventing crime during the holiday season
If you are going overseas and leaving your home vacant, be careful with your personal information online, for example, posting your holiday plans on Facebook and Wechat means that you are broadcasting that your home will be vacant.  You should also make it look like someone is home.  For example, get your neighbours to collect the mail, bring in the bins, close the curtains and hang some old clothes on the line. 

Insurance for your home
It’s impossible to prevent all crime, so insurance is critical in protecting your valuables.  Thieves will take items like designer bags, cash, jewellery and electronics, and this can quickly add up – in 10% of burglaries, the victim will lose more than $50,000 worth of goods.  Home insurance is readily available online, but you must make sure you get the right type of insurance for your home.  There are a few things to be careful of:

• Default limits for jewellery:  The standard insurance for jewellery can be quite low.  For example, theft of jewellery can be limited to $1,000 and theft of watches can be limited to $1,000.  In almost all cases, this would cover only a very small value of what is taken in a burglary.  It is best to discuss your valuables with your insurance company or your insurance broker to make sure you have enough coverage.  A better insurance policy will give you a limit of $10,000 for any one item.  You can also specify if you want to have coverage for certain, expensive items for example, an engagement ring.
• Default limits for theft of cash:  The standard insurance for theft of cash is limited to only $200 or $500.  A better insurance policy will provide for $1,500 or more.  Of course, it is best for you to limit the amount cash kept in the house.
• Default limits for paintings, pictures and rugs:  Again, this might be limited to $1,000 per painting or rug.  If you have invested a lot in furnishing your home, you should find an insurance policy that does not have a sub-limit for these items. 
• If your home is vacant: A lot of the cheaper insurance policies will deny your claim or charge you extra to make a claim, if your home was broken into after more than 60 days of being vacant, even if you were just on holidays.  The better insurance policies will have a longer period, such as 100 days. 

The better insurance policies will also cover the cost of replacing locks and keys when they have been stolen or damaged.  As you can see, buying insurance for your home may not be straightforward, and it is best to discuss it with your insurance company or your insurance broker instead of buying it online.  An insurance broker can help explain to you the differences between policies, and this will help you decide what is most appropriate.  An insurance broker will also help you make an insurance claim if you are unlucky enough to be the victim of a break-in.