A home is not just a house. It’s a place where memories are made with loved ones. It’s a place to keep family happy and safe.

That’s why we believe that all South Africans need to study how to de-risk your home.

To tackle the issue of de-risking our homes, we first need to understand how criminals behave and what might attract them to our places of sanctuary in the first place.

Petty criminals are generally opportunistic. They will measure the risk of stealing from you versus the potential reward of that action.

Think of the people you know that have been victims of home robberies and try to isolate the risks and the rewards that were presented to a criminal in those instances. For example – if a criminal has insider information about the layout of your home, they can reduce the risk of being caught by being able to execute their crime in a shorter time. Similarly, if they knew that you have valuables in your home, their potential reward is increased.

So simply put – if we minimise the reward from a potential robbery and simultaneously maximise the risk of the same, we de-risk our homes.

That seems simple enough, but practically what can be done?

 

Tips on how to de-risk your home

1. Be careful of what you post on social media

Social media is fun, but we all know how easy it is to see what people are doing and what they have just by looking at their digital profiles.

Criminals use Social Media to quickly gather intel on the type of target you may be. They also get a lot of useful information about the layout of your home, where you live, what car you drive, what you own and where you work.

With this information, they can easily plan a home robbery that would put you and your family (not to mention your valuables) at risk. Post cautiously and make sure that criminals aren’t able to create a risk vs. reward profile of you.

2. Do NOT install a home safe

Having a home safe is probably one of the riskiest things in making you a target. Having a safe means that you have something of value and this is information easily accessible to criminals. Have a look at this article on why you should not have a safe in your home.

Make sure that the people that work in your home are also well aware that your home DOES NOT HAVE A SAFE. This is the easiest way to minimise the reward side of the equation for criminals. Rather opt to have your cash, gold, diamonds, luxury watches, jewellery, Krugerrands, crypto wallets and other valuables stored off-site. A safe deposit box like Capital Vaults Safer Safe Deposit Box – is a great option for this. If you’re in Umhlanga, this is for you.

3. Install a high quality security system

Having visible security measures installed at your home, ensure criminals don’t have to work too hard to realise that a robbery at your home is risky.

Having an alarm, panic buttons, cctv, patrolling guards and armed response teams all act as deterrents for would-be robbers. They increase the risk of getting caught and if the reward is insufficient to compensate for this risk, criminals would rather move on to another location.

4. Ensure you have good quality locks installed

Similar to the above tip, a good quality lock means that a thief would take longer to access your home and that increases their risk of getting caught.

Also, although it may seem very obvious, make sure you keep your doors and windows locked.

5. Keep your yard well maintained

This may seem like a strange tip, but homes with unkempt yards are statistically more likely to be robbed than those with neat yards.

This is partly because criminals assume that the home has not occupied by anyone for a while and also because debris in a yard create hiding places for criminals who might be spotted by patrolling guards or neighbours.

Untidy yards are also less likely to be observed by neighbours, because none of us like looking at an eyesore. A neat yard means your home is cared for. If there is no reward to compensate for the risk of being easily observed – there is no opportunity for a petty thief.

6. Have someone house sit your home when you’re away

If you’re away for lengthy period, make sure that someone you trust comes around to switch lights on and create some activity in your home.

An unoccupied home present a lower risk profile for a criminal.

7. Do not leave keys in secret spots

Having hiding places when you employ people to work in your home, may not be as secret as you may think. Rather make use of biometric access controls or if you really need to – key safes.

These tips are very useful in keeping your family safe. However, no action has more impact on how to de-risk your home, than that of removing the reward off site.

Consider making use of a safe or safety deposit box. Also called bank vault boxes, these storage solutions allow you to still own valuables without putting your loved ones directly in harms way.

Although, there are many options for safe deposit boxes, not all secure storage vaults are equal. Click here to see why Capital Vaults is the Safer Safe Deposit Box.