It’s a new year, make sure you are up-to-date with your security and insurance needs

Following the festive season, there’s a good chance that you’ll have a few new items in your home that need to be protected.

“January can be a tough month financially for most people.

“The last thing you want to have to deal with is a robbery and losing your new, but still uninsured items, especially if it’s due to a faulty security system,” said Charnel Hattingh, Fidelity ADT’s national marketing and communications manager.

She advised getting in touch with your insurance company and making sure the necessary items are insured as soon as possible.

She also recommended assessing your security system and ensuring any adjustments are made immediately.

“If you didn’t get to doing it before or during the festive season, now is a great time to get your security system in tip top condition.

“Start with your perimeter security and work inwards.

“Fences, walls, gates and beams should be thoroughly checked for any vulnerable areas or areas that may need maintenance.

“As is the case with all household assets, especially outdoor items, they will be affected by wear and tear and need regular maintenance,” she said.

“Then check your indoor security making sure that alarm panels, sensors and panic buttons are in working order.

“It’s also a good idea to check door locks, windows, sliding doors etc to make sure they are effective, rust-free and so on.

“If in doubt, call on your security provider to send an expert to check your system.”

It’s also vital that your profile with your security provider is current.

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“The whole point of having a security provider is so they can assist in your moment of need.

“To be able to assist they need to be able to contact you and have access to your property.

“Only by keeping your details updated is this possible,” explained Hattingh.

“If you don’t have one in place already, consider either a lockbox or digipad if access to the property is difficult.

“Both of these can only be accessed with a secure code shared between the homeowner and the security company.

“As long as that code is not changed, the system works well.

“We are finding that homeowners change their codes and often don’t communicate this to the monitoring centre.

“This prevents access when the homeowner may need it most.

“Another point to remember is that every six months you should check the battery of the remote in your lockbox.”

Another potential problem is not alerting your security company about any guard dogs on your property.

“Officers will not enter premises where there are vicious dogs.

“We rely on our clients to tell us whether they have dogs, especially vicious dogs, at their premises.

“We really try and avoid any harm to animals or our officers so ask that our customers keep us up to date on their pets,” she said.

Lastly Hattingh urged homeowners to ensure they properly vet any new staff members they may be considering hiring this year.

“Your domestic staff are your home’s first line of defense.

“That’s why it’s particularly important that you hire staff who have been vetted, are trustworthy and competent,” she said.

“Doing the necessary background checks on domestic staff before hiring them may seem like a time-consuming exercise but could make all the difference to your home security.

“In many cases of break-ins and house robberies we find that there has been inside information shared with criminals.”

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Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, Leigh Hodgson (News Editor) leighh@caxton.co.za or Ashley Kiley (Journalist) ashleyk@caxton.co.za.

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