Was it a scratch, or a pick?

I'm going to shift gears this week, moving away from auto to home. So we have three terms that to most of us seem interchangeable, but to Insurance Companies, not so much (do you recall the scene in one of the Seinfeld sitcoms when Jerry wanted to make certain that the difference in a scratch and a pick were very clear?). Well I'm going to take a few minutes to distinguish between these three terms, then we will talk a little more about one of them.

Credit: Flickr

• Burglary
• Robbery
• Theft

So first up is Burglary, from the insurance companies perspective, burglary is the theft of property from a premises (business or home) when it is closed or unoccupied, and requires visible evidence of forced entry OR exit (some criminals hide inside a business, and break out), actual entry is not required (if the hamburglar breaks your window, reaches in and takes your hamburger, that is classified as a burglary, or maybe it's classified as a hamburglary).

Credit: Flickr

Second is Robbery, which from the insurance companies perspective is stealing of property that is in the possession of an individual, and involves face-to-face confrontation between the robber and the victim. Robbery requires a threat or fear (robbers typically don't ask nicely for your stuff).

And last but not least, Theft. From the insurance companies perspective, theft is the unlawful taking of property from another without the owner's consent. The broad definition of theft includes burglary and robbery, but also includes the taking of property by stealth.

Now let's focus for a minute on Burglary, there are three entry points that are the most commonly used by burglars:

• Exterior Doors
• Windows
• Garage Doors

Knowing what the most common entry points are makes securing your home or business a little easier. On a national level, where the entry was successful (being that most thieves are not the brightest bulbs in the box, not all burglars are successful), 38% of break-ins were by forcing or breaking a lock, but even more surprising is that 32% were through an UNLOCKED door, and a pretty disturbing number is that 12% of the burglars had a key (apparently that hidden key is not that hard to find).

The statistics I was reading while researching this subject did not distinguish between exterior entry doors and garage doors, but they indirectly indicated that the term entry door included garage doors. There are quite a few videos on YouTube that show how a thief can open a garage door equipped with an automatic garage door opener in 6 seconds, and the video I linked to actually shows a pretty simple and very inexpensive solution. 

If we lock our doors and windows (even the upstairs windows), do a better job of hiding that extra key, or not have one hidden at all, and tamper-proof our garage door(s), then we greatly improve our odds of stopping a burglary before it ever happens. If you are interested in some ideas on how to secure these three entry points better, read this article. It provides good solutions for all three entry points, and most of the solutions are not terribly expensive. This entry door solution is tough, yet affordable and a straight forward do-it-yourself installation.

In conclusion, with enough time comes apathy, and when it comes to our homes, autos, and the possessions in those homes and autos, we need to be on guard against apathy. Just because our home or auto has never been the target of a burglary does not mean it never will be. Take a few minutes today to inspect your doors, windows and garage door. Take a little time at dinner tonight to speak with your family about keeping doors and windows secured, and never, never take for granted that your home is safe from burglary. If you have never experienced a burglary, you don't understand how violated you feel, but trust me when I say that there are a lot more emotions involved after a burglary than just loss and anger.

Keep an eye out for part 2 of this article next week.