Halloween Home Safety Tips
It is Halloween week and prankers are on the prowl. With this celebration comes an event what is NOT so fun — cleaning up the damage or making an insurance claim for damage caused by a group of mischievous goblins.
- Insurance claims for theft inside the home are approximately 60% higher due to Halloween shenanigans
- Claims related to vandalism raise by 19% because of Halloween mischief
- On Halloween night, car theft increases by about 5%
- Halloween had the highest average number of insurance claims for any day of the year.
Taking extra precautions ahead of time will reduce your chance of becoming a victim.
- Be a good neighbor – Vandals are less likely target the house of someone they like.
- Park your car in a well-lit area or parked in the garage. Lock cars, close windows and turn on car alarms.
- Bring any toys, lawn equipment or anything you don’t want damaged or stolen inside.
- Temporary remove your mailbox. This will eliminate damage to mailboxes or rotten items stuck inside of it.
- Keep your porch and exterior lights on all night. Vandals are less likely to act if neighbors and people going by can see them easily.
- Install motion-sensor lights.
- Be sure the path to your door way has plenty of light and free of obstacles that can cause falls.
- If you have a mail slot, tape it up. It’s the perfect location for a smoke bomb delivery.
- Sit outside during trick-or-treating.
- Lock all of your home doors except the one you will be using.
- Make sure your pets don’t scare or harm trick-or-treaters.
Don’t be afraid to report suspicious behavior. On Halloween night, it’s easy to dismiss suspicious behavior as “just kids” – but that may not actually be the case. Call your local police department (or 9-1-1 if it’s an emergency) if you see anything that looks unusual or illegal.
