Neighbours house broken into :-(

mollycat

ska_lover wrote: »

Are you in an upstairs flat?

Just trying to understand the layout

You could get one of those ring front door bells, that record - but it would be at your own cost - less than £100 and self installing

You really should have contents insurance.

^^^^This. Complete and utter no brainer.

Concerned enough to post for advice, seeking viewpoints on CCTV, but ambivalent on the one thing that should be in place (but isn't) anyway.

2 recent threads where tenants don't have contents insurance, this baffles me....a "young person" thing?

couriervanman

ska_lover wrote: »

Are you in an upstairs flat?

Just trying to understand the layout

You could get one of those ring front door bells, that record - but it would be at your own cost - less than £100 and self installing

You really should have contents insurance.

"You could get one of those ring front door bells, that record".......loads of them get nicked

HarryGray

mollycat wrote: »

^^^^This. Complete and utter no brainer.

Concerned enough to post for advice, seeking viewpoints on CCTV, but ambivalent on the one thing that should be in place (but isn't) anyway.

2 recent threads where tenants don't have contents insurance, this baffles me....a "young person" thing?

Thanks for the advice! Contents insurance has now been purchased and is effective as of tomorrow :-)

mollycat

HarryGray wrote: »

Thanks for the advice! Contents insurance has now been purchased and is effective as of tomorrow :-)

Well done!!

As well as ensuring you have good door and widow locks and being sensible re security this is as much as you can do.

Time to get on with life and not over worry too much following your vicarious brush with crime.

Good luck.

Nebulous2

couriervanman wrote: »

"You could get one of those ring front door bells, that record".......loads of them get nicked

I don't think loads of them do, maybe an occasional one. I'm pretty sure Ring gives a free replacement if it does. There are different types. In a flat with a spyhole there is one which goes in there, to prevent damage to the door, or any deductions on ending a tenancy.

sal_III

There is no impenetrable security. Any home security is mostly a deterrent, trying to outweigh any "benefit" of breaking in, by increasing the risk. If you have more valuables - you need more security.

Just as the potential burglar you have to make a cost/benefit analysis of your situation and establish what level of deterrent you are willing to pay for against the risk of losing your possessions.

Personally when we moved into a ground floor maisonette on a large new build estate last year we got several unsolicited visits from home security companies offering their services for the new wave of residents. The offers where in the range of £50/month. Most of the neighbours have caved in to the charming salesmen.

There is estate wide CCTV and the front of the property is extremely well lit, so i judge the probability of being burgled to be low. So in my view £600/year wasn't justified to protect the £5k tops worth (replacement cost not fencing value) of portable valuables in our home. Instead I have spend less than £300 on a couple of CCTV cameras and I can link them to a siren and door/window sensors for another £300ish if I want essentially achieving the exact same thing the security company offers for a one off payment of £600 instead of ongoing cost.

CCTV is pretty low deterrent, a simple hood or balaklava and it becomes useless. Only the most stupid/drugged out of their minds burglars will get in with their faces visible, and no amount of security will deter these. The main benefit of CCTV IMHO is to use one with instant alerts to your mobile, so you can call the Police during there and then.

Content insurance is about £100/y and includes accidental damage which is far more likely - complete no brainer. Even if you have CCTV and alarm if you get burgled you still lose your possession, so the content insurance is a must regardless. Sounds like you have already taken this piece of advice on board

Mutton_Geoff

couriervanman wrote: »

"You could get one of those ring front door bells, that record".......loads of them get nicked

Fortunately Ring offer theft protection .. from their adverts .. "if your doorbell gets stolen, we will replace it for free".

Puflet

If you want a security camera, you can use an old mobile phone. More details here: https://alfred.camera/

As long as you have online access, you can keep an eye on your place. I did so when I was on holiday in France!

I hid the phone in a large matchbox, trained on the most likely break in point.