A bare half of British householders with a burglar alarm turn it on every time they go on holiday, according to research by YouGov for the security product company RISCO. That survey of 4,237 British adults found that a third (32pc) have a burglar alarm in their home and, of those, 49pc actually set it every time they go on holiday.
Of those Britons that rarely or never set their burglar alarm, one in five admit to forgetting to switch it on, while for 13pc of householders it’s because they fear getting false alarms. The same amount (13pc) rarely or never set their alarm because they find it too complicated.
Steve Riley, Commercial Director at RISCO Group UK, said: “British householders could face more than a bad case of sunburn when they return home from holiday this summer. There were an estimated 800,000 domestic burglaries in 2014/2015, resulting in an average loss per incident of £2,267 and damage costing £892. We are urging those that have an alarm to make sure it is working and switched on when they close the front door and head off on holiday this summer.”
Domestic burglaries don’t just have a financial impact on victims. According to the 2015 Crime Survey for England and Wales, some 80 per cent of those who experience a domestic burglary say they are emotionally affected by the incident, with around one in four having difficulty sleeping after a burglary. Householders should also be aware that not switching their burglar alarm on can affect their home insurance, potentially leaving them without cover in the event of a burglary.
One solution to forgetting to turn on an alarm is, the security firm says, to choose one of the smartphone-operated burglar alarms now available. An alarm system like RISCO’s SmartAlarm can be operated from a smartphone app, which allows householders to set and unset their alarm remotely. Forgetting to set an alarm is easily remedied with a few swipes on a smartphone screen.
Alerts are automatically sent to a householder’s phone if the alarm is triggered, while users can even watch live images of their home on their smartphone if video cameras are attached to their alarm system.
Further information on the survey is available at: http://www.causeforalarm.co.uk/.
