10 Ways To Keep Your Home Safe While on Summer Vacation

You can practice summer home vacation safety by utilizing remote security features, informing select neighbors you’ll be out of town and ensuring you’ve tracked your possessions to know if something’s been stolen. Whether you plan on taking a monthlong beach vacation or a simple weekend getaway to the mountains, it’s necessary to take various steps to protect your home from break-ins and other sudden sources of damage while you and your family are away from home this summer.

Keep reading to see 10 summer vacation security tips and learn how your homeowners insurance policy can help in case of an unforeseen loss.

On This Page

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  1. Install a Smart Security System

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  2. Install Indoor and Outdoor Cameras

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  3. Invest in Outdoor Lighting and Motion Sensors

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  4. Make Sure All of Your Windows and Doors Are Locked

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  5. Let Others Know You’ll Be Out of Town

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  6. Ask Your Neighbors, Family or Friends To Check In on Your Home

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  7. Store Your Valuables in a Safe Space

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  8. Create a Home Inventory

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  9. Keep Your Vacation Plans off of (Public) Social Media

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  10. Get the Right Insurance Coverage for Your Home and Valuables

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  FAQs

1. Install a Smart Security System

Burglaries are most common in June, July and August, and more than half of all burglaries in 2024 took place at residential properties.^[1][2] As a result, it’s important to have a home security system in place that can deter would-be intruders heading into the summer months. Smart home security systems are beneficial because they can include numerous features that make keeping your home safe while you are away easier.

For example, a smart home system may allow you to lock and unlock your doors remotely, so you don’t have to worry about a break-in if you realize you forgot to lock your doors before leaving. In addition, many smart security systems will notify you if your house is broken into. If you are away from your phone and don’t respond to the notification, your home security company may even contact the police for you in certain situations.

2. Install Indoor and Outdoor Cameras

Security cameras can provide valuable insights if things go wrong at home while you’re away. For example, footage from a doorbell camera can help police officers identify a porch pirate and retrieve stolen packages.

Additionally, indoor security cameras can provide evidence to present to your insurance company’s adjuster if you need to file a homeowners insurance claim for damage that occurs while you are out of town. For example, the video could show that water damage was caused by a sudden water discharge from your washing machine and that your home insurance policy covers the damage.

3. Invest in Outdoor Lighting and Motion Sensors

Outdoor lights that turn on automatically at night, respond to motion or can be engaged remotely may lower your exposure to theft since people may be more hesitant to break into your home if the surrounding area isn’t dark. You may also want to install motion detectors that trigger an audible alarm since this could potentially scare off intruders or alert your neighbors that there is an intruder on your property so that they can call the police.

4. Make Sure All of Your Windows and Doors Are Locked

While you may be more apt to leave windows and doors open when it’s hot outside to improve air circulation in your home, you need to close and lock all windows and doors before you go to bed and whenever you leave your house. Doing so ensures you won’t give intruders an easy entry point into your home and lowers the risk of damage inside your home due to summer rain showers or other weather events.

5. Let Others Know You’ll Be Out of Town

As long as you know that your neighbors are trustworthy, you should tell them when you plan to be out of town and who is supposed to be at your house while you are gone, if anyone. This makes it easier for them to recognize suspicious activity and decide whether they should contact you or call the police.

6. Ask Your Neighbors, Family or Friends To Check In on Your Home

Consider asking a trusted neighbor, friend or family member to stay at your house while you are gone — or at the very least, to check on your house daily. They should be able to notice and report a break-in, test smoke alarms and other devices as needed and address any sudden damage that may have occurred overnight, such as a tree branch falling through your roof. Be sure to leave them a list of important emergency contact numbers.

Your designated housesitter may also help make your house look lived in by picking up mail and packages, keeping a car parked in the driveway and turning interior lights on during the day. These small touches may discourage prospective intruders from trying to break in.

If no one is available to housesit, consider submitting a request for your local post office to hold your mail until after your summer vacation to help avoid an overflowing mailbox.

7. Store Your Valuables in a Safe Space

Anytime you plan on leaving your home for an extended period, you should ensure your jewelry and other valuables are stored strategically and safely. Theft is one of the most common jewelry-related losses, with 44% of Lemonade Insurance’s jewelry claims having to do with theft.^[3] You should consider hiding your jewelry rather than leaving it near windows where a potential thief could easily spot it from the outside.

In addition, you could split up your jewelry among multiple boxes and store them in different places so that, even if a home intruder discovers one stash, they might not find your entire collection. Store your valuables on shelves or otherwise keep them off the floor to mitigate the risk that a flood or water leak could ruin them.

If you’re particularly concerned about losing certain items, you could take them to the bank and store them in a safe deposit box until you return from your trip.

8. Create a Home Inventory

It’s beneficial to keep an up-to-date home inventory to present as evidence for your home insurance claim if a thief steals your belongings or they are damaged while you are away. Your home inventory should include information such as when you obtained each of your most valuable items and how much you paid for them, or, if recently appraised, how much they are currently worth.

9. Keep Your Vacation Plans off of (Public) Social Media

It can be risky to post about your vacation on social media, especially if you have a public account. Potential burglars could come across your posts and realize that your home is vulnerable to a break-in. To stay safe, set your social media profiles to private and avoid posting about your trip until after you have returned home.

10. Get the Right Insurance Coverage for Your Home and Valuables

A standard homeowners insurance policy should include multiple coverage types that can insure your home against various damaging perils while you are away, such as dwelling insurance to cover the physical structure of your home and personal property insurance to cover your possessions.

However, your home insurance policy may place personal property coverage sublimits on valuable items, like jewelry, firearms, carpets, silverware and more.^[4] As a result, if a home intruder steals any of these items, your subsequent insurance payout could be less than the items’ worth.

For this reason, you may want to purchase added protection in the form of a scheduled personal property coverage endorsement for your homeowners policy that allows you to raise your coverage limits for select items. Alternatively, consider buying a separate jewelry or collectibles insurance policy to ensure you have enough coverage for your valuables.