Home thefts highest during summer, BCAA Insurance finds

Summer months mean well-deserved vacation time, including lengthy absences from home that open the door for thieves, BCAA Insurance warns.
BCAA Insurance says it receives the highest proportion of theft-related claims in the summer, followed closely by the Christmas holiday season.
“According to break-and-enter reports, most intruders enter from a garage door, an unlocked side door or an unlocked side window,” says Brooke Hanson, BCAA home insurance manager.
The most popular household items to steal, according to BCAA Insurance, are:
jewellery;
digital cameras;
home theatre equipment;
iPods/MP3 players;
CDs/DVDs;
Cash;
gift certificates;
video games;
computer equipment; and
tools.
BCAA Insurance is advising consumers to safeguard their houses during the summer, including:
getting to know your neighbours. Ask your neighbours to pick-up mail and flyers, and place garbage in front of your house on regular collection days, Hanson says. Help your neighbours out, as they do to you.
making it time-consuming to break into your home. Research shows that if it takes more than four or five minutes to break into a home, the burglar will go elsewhere, BCAA Insurance notes.
making the house look inhabited. Leave blinds or curtains open in their usual position and/or put indoor lights on a timer so that they go on and off at appropriate times.
making it noisy to break into your home, by investing in a burglar alarm.
keeping valuables under lock and key and well-hidden. Do not leave personal documents in your home office or desk, for example, and expensive jewellery should also be hidden somewhere other than the bedroom.