With the dreaded ash clouds gone (for now!), homeowners across the UK are packing their bags ready for their long awaited summer holidays. Many of them are announcing their excitement on Facebook and Twitter totally unaware that they could be inviting burglars to a guaranteed free house.
Scott Fynn, head of marketing, said: “The majority of homeowners are already well aware of the basic security ‘checklist’ before going away – locking all doors and windows, using timer lighting, cancelling the milkman and asking the neighbour to check in and draw the curtains every now and again. But in the past few years, a whole new threat has come to light through the popularity of social networking. Too few people realise that these sites, as fun as they are, act as a ‘one stop shop’ for burglars looking for a guaranteed empty home.”
Fynn continued: “Many people are too trusting when it comes to sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Recent studies have shown that a vast amount of people are happy to add complete strangers to their Friends or Followers lists. They then include personal details such as where they live and work, before blasting their pages with excited comments about their holiday plans, including how long they’ll be away for, because they don’t realise the dangers.
“Being burgled can be an extremely stressful and upsetting time – the last thing you need when you’ve just come back from a summer break! The majority of homeowners do have home insurance but it’s unlikely that they actually want to ever use it. For someone unlucky enough to have a low quality or inadequate policy, the knock on effects can make things even worse – from losing all that hard earned no claims discount and having to pay higher premiums, to finding out that there are hidden excess charges and exclusions. Or worst of all, finding that you were under insured in the first place.”
