had burglary today, advise for next time please!

xyz123

hi

had a theft at our home today, gutted about it. no contents insurance (i know it sounds stupid but i coudlnt afford it after moving in)

front door is pvc. police say they put something through the letter to open the door from inside.

without going into too much details re the incident itself can someone give some advise how to prevent this from happening again. We have a seperate letterbox outside and so dont really use the letterbox opening in the door.

how or can i seal the door letterbox opening permanently rather than putting some tape on it!

SJshah

Getting contents insurance is the only real way you can have piece of mind.

Having an alarm system installed would be a good idea, another is getting cctv installed. Dummy alarm boxes and dummy cctv cameras can be put up as a deterrant if you're really stuck for cash.

Nothing will really be as good as having an insurance policy.

phill99

SJshah wrote: »

Nothing will really be as good as having an insurance policy.

Sorry but that really is a stupid statement.

An insurance policy is your LAST line of defence.

The first line if defence is high quality security.

Decent, 'kite marked' locks on all doors, good window locks, security lighting outside, lights on timers inside, difficult to climb fences, etc etc. Then you get insurance.


OP if you want to seal your letter box, you can screw it shut.

Mojisola

xyz123 wrote: »

front door is pvc. police say they put something through the letter to open the door from inside.

Most modern doors have to be opened with a key so I don't understand this.

morganedge

Mojisola wrote: »

Most modern doors have to be opened with a key so I don't understand this.

When you're inside your house and you want to open your front door, you don't use a key, do you?

dickibobboy

When its locked i do use a key yes? Otherwise i just use the handle.. the same handle that is on the outside that would also open it if it were to be unlocked..

john.h

morganedge wrote: »

When you're inside your house and you want to open your front door, you don't use a key, do you?

I use a key to open the front door from inside..
I can't see how they got in with access through your letterbox. Unless you have a thumbturn on the inside or they reached your keys from somewhere.
If you have a thumb turn, change it

SailorSam

You need to check with the Police exactly where the weak spots are and get better locks.
https://www.upvc-hardware.co.uk/restrictors-security/extra-security

dacouch

They probably "bumped" the lock

john.h

dacouch wrote: »

They probably "bumped" the lock

You would bump the lock from outside

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I got shown in my old flat how someone could gain entry. It was a firedoor, solid as anything, with a mortice and a deadlock. The technique was to put a tyre iron through the letterbox, bang goes the deadlock, tap goes the mortice and in.

Having locks outside the reach of such an implement would help, ie, at the top and bottom. Or just buy a piece of plate metal and screw it to the back of the door.