When I was twelve years old our house was burgled at night. Having a home burglary really changes the way you feel about how safe you are in your house. Having strangers rooting through your personal possessions is really disheartening. So what five step should you take after a burglary?

Call the police

This is a fairly obvious point, even if you disturbed the perpetrator. If anything is missing or damaged you will need a crime number for your insurance company. Not only that if there is a spate of robberies it will help the police build up a profile.

Speak with your insurance company

Once you have called the emergency service, you will need to take stock of what was taken and list any damage done to your premises. Contact your insurance company and pass all information on to them. It can be handy if your insurance company offers a personal claim manager, so you can have a regular contact to report any issues to. It also helps to get your payout promptly.

Change your locks

When we where robbed we had a bunch of keys taken, along with the car! So it is important to make a phone call to a local lock smith such as Locksmith Perth. Having the locks changed helps you start the process of building your trust back in the house. Remember to think about the access the burglar had to your house and get all locks changed. Including window locks, you do not want them coming back for a second attempt!

Clean up

My mum wanted to clean the house as soon as she found we had been burgled. Luckily my step-dad stopped her as when the police arrived they took finger prints from everywhere the burglars had been. It took some time before the house was release back to us to clean up, but once it had been it started to feel like nothing had happened. For me luckily I was on a sleep over at a friends house, I remember mum my calling me to tell me about the burglary. She question me about my room as she thought they had been in there as it was so messy, but they had not, I had been looking for something to take on my sleep over!

Review your security

Once you are back on your feet with repairs and replacements. You should take this opportunity to review your current security measures. Install that intruder alarm or CCTV, not only will it put a potential burglar off, if they do try, you can catch them red handed!

You should always make sure you house is secure both night and day!