How To Prevent Burglaries and What To Do if it Happens in Your Home

The good news is that the residential burglary rate during the first half of 2024 was 14% lower, on average, than in 2023 during the same period.⁽²⁾ Whether or not burglaries will continue to decrease remains to be seen, but there are always spikes in break-ins around the holidays, when people are away visiting family and leaving their homes vulnerable to crime.

There are steps one can take to prevent burglaries, but the important thing to remember is that losses will be covered with home insurance policy or renters insurance policy. In fact, many robberies and other types of theft are covered too. Keep reading to see how it all works.

Burglary Vs. Robbery Vs. Theft: Does Insurance Cover it All?

There are small and large differences when it comes to burglary, robbery and theft. Also, the nuances affect homeowners insurance and renters insurance coverage. Both homeowners and renters insurance generally follow the same protocol when it comes to various types of theft. Here’s a little bit on each three types of crime:

Burglary

When someone illegally enters your home with the intention of committing a crime (usually theft), the crime is considered a burglary. The crime can include larceny, petit larceny or even grand larceny. The difference between burglary and larceny depends on whether the assailant was armed and the value of the stolen property.

If your home is burglarized and your possessions or cash are stolen, homeowners insurance will cover losses, up to limits, minus your homeowners insurance deductible.

However, theft and robbery are not the only events that may take place during a burglary. Murder, rape, assault, and credit card fraud may be other overlapping crimes, which would not be covered by home insurance.

Credit card fraud is a form of identity theft, which is not covered by homeowners insurance, if the burglar takes off with your credit card and charges up a storm. You’d have to dispute the charges with your credit card company.

Robbery

The FBI’s definition of robbery is the act of taking something of value from the “care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.”⁽¹⁾

There are many types of robbery, and breaking and entering is not always the way thieves rob people. You can be robbed just walking down the street. The question is will homeowners insurance cover it?

If you are mugged, for instance, there will be a specific homeowners insurance limit on cash, but the wallet and/or purse will be covered by the contents portion of a homeowners insurance policy minus the insurance deductible. Muggings, purse-snatching and hold-ups are all covered within limits.

Even if you don’t foresee catching the criminal, you must file a police report in order for homeowners insurance to accept the claim.

Theft

A theft may occur during a burglary or robbery. It can also happen away from home and without the victim ever being confronted by the thief.

For instance, if your bike is stolen after you locked it up, that will also be covered by the contents portion of your home insurance policy, but you will need to file a police report that specifies where the bike was locked up, if it was locked up, as well as other circumstances surrounding the crime.

The same goes for items in your car that may have been stolen. Let’s say you left a laptop or cellphone in the car and it was vandalized and the items were stolen, you’d be covered by home insurance or renters insurance after showing a police report about the incident.

First Vs Second Vs Third Vs Fourth Degree Burglary

There are different levels of burglary, with first degree burglary being the most severe and including bodily harm to the victim or victims in a residential space. The harmed victim may even be a neighbor who tries to thwart the crime.

In most first degree burglaries, the burglar is armed with a deadly weapon. However, a repeat offender may be charged with first degree without meeting all the criteria mentioned above.

In a second degree burglary, the offender is armed, but whether or not the victim(s) need to have been harmed to meet the charge will vary according to state laws. The second degree burglary charge may also be applied if the offender was armed but did not encounter anyone during the event.

Third degree burglary doesn’t usually involve arms and is considered a misdemeanor, not a felony like first and second degree burglary. Any type of unlawful entry into a home, whether it’s using a key without permission or breaking a window to get in, is considered burglary.

Fourth degree burglary is simply the intention to burglarize a home but not succeeding in it. For instance, a burglar may be intercepted by police while holding a crowbar and wearing a ski mask.⁽³⁾

20 Steps on How To Prevent a Burglary

Burglary prevention means taking every step necessary to make sure no one can get into your home. The holidays are when many break-ins and burglaries take place because people are away or they have all sorts of valuables neatly stashed under a Christmas tree, which is sometimes quite visible from a nearby window.

Preventing a burglary requires you to:

1. Make it Seem Like People Are Home

Do whatever you can to make it look like you’re around, whether you’re away from home for a couple of hours, a weekend or the entire week during the holidays. Lights, not letting mail pile up and having a neighbor check the home or prevent snow from piling up in the driveway are just a few ways you can make it appear as if you’re still in town.

2. Lock All Doors and Windows

Most burglaries happen through the front door or a first-story window. Make sure you have good locks on all doors and windows.

3. Lock the Garage Door

It’s easy to forget to lock the garage door, which may be an easy entry point to the house. Even if you have a detached garage, make sure it’s locked to keep your car and stored possessions safe.

4. Put Your Mail on Hold

Make sure to contact the post office if you’re going away for an extended period of time. Don’t let the mailbox get overcrowded with mail. It is a telltale sign that you’re away.

5. Don’t Let Your Grass Get Tall

Not only does snow in the driveway signal that you haven’t been around, a badly maintained yard with grass growing high may also tell criminals that the house is an easy target.

6. Install Deadbolt Locks

Push button locks are too easy to break into. Don’t buy the most inexpensive lock you see. This is one area where being frugal may end up haunting you. Ask a trustworthy locksmith what is the best one to install for maximum security.

7. Get Special Locks for Sliding Glass Doors.

Sliding glass doors are great for letting in light, but they can also let intruders in if you don’t have safety gates or a special lock to keep the door in place. Some people also place a dowel on the tracks to prevent the door from sliding open if the lock gets broken.

8. Store Bikes and Outdoor Equipment Out of Sight

Tempting thieves is a bad idea. It’s easy for an intruder to simply take everything you’re storing outside. Keep your bikes and other equipment in a locked garage.

9. Don’t Post Notes on the Outside of the Home

Send a text to loved ones who may be stopping by but never leave a note saying you’ve stepped out, even if it’s a quick trip to the store. You’ll be giving thieves a nice window of time during which they can enter without confronting anyone.

10. Replace Locks if Keys Are Lost or Stolen

Don’t be lazy, hoping for the worst when the worst may be getting robbed for assuming people won’t figure out whose door the key matches. Burglars are pretty sharp when it comes to committing crime.

11. Install Outdoor Lights

Motion sensitive lights are great and they deter thieves, especially if there is a camera set up to observe their attempts to break in.

12. Prune Hedges

Don’t let hedges and shrubs turn into hiding spots. Better yet, don’t have any shrubbery beneath windows, which makes it easy for thieves to camouflage while lurking.

13. Be Smart With Hinges

If the hinges on your doors and windows are on the outside, intruders can unhinge them and enter your home. Make sure they are on the inside!

14. Pin Windows

Hire a handyman or do the work yourself. It’s simple: drill a small hole on a slant through the inside and halfway through the outside of the window frame. By placing a nail through the hole, you’ll be securing the window a little more than without.

15. Good Security System

This is one area where it pays to buy a system that costs a little more. The good news is that your home insurance company will offer you a discount if your security system matches their requirements in proving that it makes your home more safe against intruders.

You may want to contact your insurer before making the investment to see which products they recommend and will discount.

16. Don’t Hide Your Keys

It’s never a good idea to leave keys under a mat or anywhere around the house or the perimeter of the house. Intruders will search around for keys for easier access.

17. Leave the TV On

The light the television casts against the wall changes scene by scene, creating the illusion that there are people home and there is activity inside. Unfortunately, many tvs these days will automatically shut off after being ignored for several hours without any action on the part of the viewer. If you can bypass that setting somehow, this method can help.

18. Use a Dowel

If you have a sliding door or sliding window, a very persistent thief may be able to break the lock but if there is a solid dowel blocking the door from sliding, they’ll be fresh out of luck.

19. Use a Safe

Storing your valuables, like jewelry and expensive electronics in a safe space can limit how much is stolen if there is a break-in. Make sure it’s a heavy one that the intruder(s) cannot take with them.

20. Get a Good Guard Dog

A little pooch may not be of help, but if you buy a good guard dog and train it well, the dog may be able to confront the burglar and deter a heist.

What To Do After a Burglary

The best and first thing to do after you realize a burglar has broken into your home is dial 911. Police will be dispatched to the scene of the crime to look for forensic evidence and fingerprints. You’ll also be asked some questions that will be entered into a burglary police report.

If you feel you are in danger after you discover the burglary, it’s best to go to a police station right away instead of calling 9/11 and waiting for police to arrive.

Reporting a Burglary: What Is in a Burglary Police Report?

Having a home inventory always helps burglary reports, especially if you’re diligent enough to include serial numbers and the like for expensive items. They may be tracked down this way and lead to the intruder.

You’ll also want to include a description of the damages to your home, like a broken window or lock and anything else an intruder may have damaged or destroyed during the burglary.

You’ll also have to explain how the burglary was discovered. If you have video footage of the crime, you’ll be asked to hand that over to police as well.

Filing a Homeowners Insurance Claim After a Burglary

There is a statute of limitations for when you file a home insurance claim so do it sooner rather than later, preferably right after you have a copy of the police report.

The time limit for reporting a burglary to your insurer depends on your state and the insurance company’s policy. Most states have a statute of limitations of two years, but an insurer can cap it before then.

It’s best to file a home insurance claim right away, but if your possessions are recovered by the authorities, you’ll have to notify the insurance company to avoid being found liable for home insurance fraud.