Booby traps 'not a good way to keep property safe at Christmas'

Buy to let investors worried about having to claim on their landlords content insurance may have tried putting booby traps in vacant properties, but they have been warned this could make matters worse not better.

A survey by More Than found almost 14 million Britons have thought about setting up amateur obstacles in their abodes before leaving them empty.

This paranoia could be even worse for buy to let investors who have left expensive appliances in properties that are currently void.

Five per cent of people have considered putting trip wires and ropes up around the house, while the same proportion have thought of greasing doorknobs and propping up external doors with household objects.

As many as 21 per cent have mulled over leaving a talk radio station on loudly so people think there is someone in, while 13 per cent have been tempted to ice up their driveway and seven per cent have come close to putting cardboard cutouts or dummies behind netted curtains.

In fact, a third of respondents admitted they had actually gone through with some of their ideas, but it was explained these traps could advertise the fact there is no one in.

"Home security isn't about employing tricks and gimmicks that belong in fiction," Matt Pernet of More Than Said.

"If you want to minimise the likelihood of a break-in while you're away over the festive season then stick to the basics," he added.

Burglars are not the only people that could leave landlords out of pocket. Malcolm Harrison of Tenancy Deposit Scheme recently reminded buy to let investors to ensure they use a regulated letting agent.

Get a cheap landlords insurance quote today from Simple Landlords Insurance.

Posted by Royston Hunter