What To Do After A Break-in At Your St. Louis Home?
It’s every family’s nightmare. You pull in the driveway and find your front door has been kicked in or a window shattered. You can hardly process what’s happened, worrying about what’s missing and the harm done to your property. What can you do? Stay calm, take a breath, and follow these tips after a break-in at your St. Louis home.
Once the dust settles, learn how to better prevent intrusions with the latest home security system.
Initial Steps After A Break-In
Discovering your house has been burglarized is unsettling. You might be shaken, angry, or just in shock. Regardless, it’s important to respond rationally by doing the following:
- Don’t go inside. It’s only natural that you want to go inside to assess the situation. Don’t. There’s a chance an intruder is still on site.
- Contact the authorities right away. Keep yourself and others safely away and wait until help gets there. Work with the authorities to file a report.
- Leave everything as is. Let the police secure the premises and collect evidence.
What Are The Next Steps?
You’ve completed a report with law enforcement, and your home is safe to re-enter. What should you do next?
- Notify your bank and credit card companies . If a burglar grabbed sensitive documents, purses, or wallets, you’ll want to alert your credit card issuers and banks at once. It’s smart to lock accounts and your credit. You might also place a fraud alert with credit bureaus.
- Contact your insurance provider. Start the claims process with your insurance company. This should be done within a day of the incident.
- Take pictures of damage. Document shattered windows, kicked-in doors, and anything else that’s been damaged.
- Document what was taken. Create a record of what’s gone and provide it to the authorities and your Insurer.
- Secure your house. Restore your home’s security by installing new locks, fixing windows and doors, and taking care of other damage. If you utilize a keypad lock system, now is the time to reset your codes.
Cleaning up will do wonders for your stress and make things feel normal. After you do so, it’s time to consider improving your home security.
Strengthen Your St. Louis Home’s Security
What can you do to prevent another break-in from occurring? Your initial step should be to assess your home’s security. A new system with these devices will work wonders in keeping your home safe:
- Video cameras: Almost all prowlers will reconsider their plans when they observe security cameras. Newer exterior and doorbell cameras give you advanced features like smart detection. Any time there’s unusual activity, you’ll get a notification.
- Entry-point sensors: All doors and windows (particularly those on the ground floor) should be protected by glass-break or contact sensors.
- Smart locks and lights: These automated devices can be operated from anywhere. Are you worried you neglected to lock your door? You can confirm and activate the lock directly from your mobile device. You can even have interior lights turn on if a camera detects suspicious activity.
If you are looking for a modern system that warns you and monitoring agents any time a device is tripped, look into a package from the home security experts at ADT. You’ll enjoy the smartphone access, 24-hour monitoring, and convenient automation.
Stop Break-Ins With The Leading Home Security Systems In St. Louis
Stop burglaries before they happen with an ADT home security system in St. Louis from Secure24 Alarm Systems. As your authorized ADT dealer, we install modern equipment from the most respected name in the business. Learn more about your options by reaching out to (314) 274-9817 or submitting our form today.