A burglary in your own home can be a frightening and frustrating time for you and your family. Losing your possessions and goods is not the only negative impact of a burglary in your home. It can also leave you feeling vulnerable and frightened that it will happen again. But there are ways that you can reduce your chances of being burgled. 
Don’t Store Your Spare Key Outside
No matter how good you think, your hiding place is, don’t leave your spare keys outside your home. Burglars will be aware of all the common spots to hide keys around your home and may even be monitoring your home in the days leading up to a robbery. Leave your spare key with a friend or neighbour that you trust. Last year, Phonewatch released a figure of approx. 163 incidents where keys left in letterboxes have been discovered.
Install an Alarm System
Having an alarm system in your home can act as a huge deterrent for burglars. If the thief has a choice between robbing a home with an alarm or without an alarm, they’ll usually opt for the latter. If your home in targeted despite having an alarm in place, the thief will have less time in your home to damage property or take anything.
Help Your Neighbours
If you’re going on holiday or your house is vacant, ask your neighbour to monitor your property. You should also investigate whether there is a neighbourhood watch scheme in your local area. Many towns and villages around Ireland have set up a text alerts service which warn locals about suspicious activity in the area.
Install Sensor Lights Outside Your Home
Sensor lights are a good way of alerting you to intruders in your garden or on your property. They can also startle and scare off thieves when they are activated. Having a well-lit area around your home can also be very beneficial if you have CCTV on your property, as it allows you to obtain a clearer picture of any night-time intruders.
Purchase Home Insurance
Having a Home Insurance policy in place is unlikely to prevent a break-in from occurring, but it will help you with the aftermath. Ensure that you include valuable contents such as engagement rings or sports equipment when arranging home insurance. You can get a home insurance quote with KennCo Insurance by clicking here.
Setup Automatic Light Timers
Automatic light timers are an inexpensive way to deter intruders from targeting your home. You can pick them up in most hardware stores and set them to turn on when you are not in your house. They are particularity useful when you are on holidays as an intruder will assume someone is in the house.
Install CCTV Cameras 
Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras are a great way to protect your home from a burglary. They are not the cheapest way to protect your home; however, they are a huge deterrent for thieves. The price of CCTV cameras has reduced in recent years so it might be worth investigating how much they would cost to install in your home. There are plenty of options available when it comes to CCTV nowadays with many systems now having the ability to steam live footage directly to your mobile phone.