06 May 5 Steps You Should Follow After a Break-In in Salt Lake City
5 Steps You Should Follow After a Break-In in Salt Lake City
If your home in Salt Lake City has experienced a break-in, you need to react quickly and calmly. Chances are, it will be quite some time before your home feels truly safe again. Thankfully, there are several steps you can take to restore your security and feel better about your situation.
1. Contact the authorities. As soon as you suspect a break-in, you should contact the authorities. The sooner they arrive on the scene, the better the chances that they’ll be able to catch the person responsible and locate any belongings you may have lost due to theft. Try not to investigate on your own; instead, leave things alone so that the police can proceed as seamlessly as possible when they arrive. Calling the police also ensures that there is a record of the break-in, which is a necessary part of filing insurance reports and being compensated for any big-ticket items that were stolen or home repairs that need to be made because of the event.
2. Contact your insurance company if necessary. Depending on your insurance company, it may take time to receive compensation for stolen or broken items. The sooner you get in touch with them, the sooner you’ll be able to get the funds to replace items that have been stolen. When you contact your insurance company, you should have a list in hand of any items that have gone missing, any repairs that need to be made, and any other critical information relating to the break-in.
3. Clean up the physical damage. Once the police are gone, you can start fixing up your home again. Temporary repairs may include duct taping plastic bags over broken windows or doors or nailing boards over a door that has been broken down. If the event has occurred at night or wasn’t discovered until after the end of a standard work day, these temporary repairs may be your best option until you can contact a contractor to make more permanent repairs the next day. Be sure to contact local businesses for estimates for any professional repairs that will need to be made. Know your insurance company’s policies: is there a particular provider that they require you to use for compensation? Do they need to see an estimate? Take these questions into consideration before deciding on the final steps to repair your home.
4. Increase your physical security. Once your home has been broken into once, you won’t feel safe keeping things as they are. Look for ways to increase your security so that you’ll feel safer both when you’re in the house and when you leave it empty. These may include an alarm system, improvements to your locks, dead bolts that can be fastened when you’re in the house, and video monitoring of the premises. Contact us for more information about the security measures that are available for your home and how we can help increase your feelings of security following the break-in.
5. Take a look at your habits and recent actions. What is it that might have caused your house to become a target? Have you recently hired someone new who has had access to your home and might have seen expensive items sitting out? These might include a new cleaner, an exterminator, or a repairman who has been inside your home recently. Consider whether you routinely leave a door unlocked, or if there’s something you do that would let a potential burglar know automatically whether or not you and your family are at home. You can’t prevent all break-ins, but understanding why your home was targeted may help you make better choices in the future.
Regaining your equilibrium after a break-in can take time. Don’t expect to feel safe and secure overnight, especially if your home was vandalized or you were at home when the event took place. Increasing your security, however, can help. The more secure your home is, the more secure you’ll feel.
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