Homeowners urged to secure property

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Homeowners are being urged to secure their property and belongings, as most of them have been found to poorly conceal spare keys outside and fail to secure windows and doors.

According to a study by esure home insurance, as many as 42 percentage of homeowners admitted to having left the house without locking their back door, while 64 percentage left their windows open when no one was home.

A further 34 percentage said that they have gone out without properly securing the front door. Homeowners have been warned that they are increasing the risk of burglary by hiding spare keys outside their property in case they misplace the originals or lock themselves out.

The study showed that around 39 percentage hide keys in their garden in case of such an emergency, while 7 percentage of these had already been burgled by a thief who got into their house by using a hidden key.

Around 8 percentage of homeowners questioned admitted that they were not sure how many sets of spare keys they have given to friends, family or hidden somewhere outside their property.

Mike Pickard, Head of Risk and Underwriting at esure home insurance, said: "Homeowners should make sure their property is as secure as possible because if they can't prove to their insurer that they took steps to keep their home and contents safe - then a claim may not be paid out."

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