What To Do After A Break-in At Your Indianapolis Home?
It’s every resident’s nightmare. You return home and find your front door is wide open or a window smashed. You can hardly process what’s happened, worrying about what’s been stolen and the harm done to your property. What should you do? Take a breath, stay calm, and follow our recommendations after a break-in at your Indianapolis home.
When things calm down, explore how to better prevent burglaries with a modern security system.
First Steps After A Break-In
Seeing your house burglarized is traumatizing. You might be furious, frightened, or just in shock. Regardless, it’s essential to stay level-headed by doing the following:
- Don’t go inside. It may be tempting to run inside to look around. Don’t. There’s a chance an intruder is still inside.
- Call law enforcement at once. Keep yourself and family members at a safe spot nearby and wait for emergency services. Work with the authorities to make an official report.
- Don’t touch a thing. Allow officers take control and do their job.
What Do You Do Next?
You’ve spoken with law enforcement, and your home is safe to re-enter. What should you do next?
- Cancel credit cards and alert your bank . If a thief stole personal documents, purses, or wallets, you’ll wish to notify your credit card companies and banks immediately. It’s a good idea to put a hold on accounts and your credit. You may also place a fraud alert with the three main credit bureaus.
- Call your insurance provider. File a claim with your insurer. This needs to be done within a day of the break-in.
- Take photos of the damage. Document broken windows, kicked-in doors, and all other detectable damage.
- Document what was taken. Make a list of what’s been stolen and provide it to the police and your Insurer.
- Secure your home. Make your home safe again by installing new locks, fixing doors and windows, and repairing other damage. If you utilize a digital lock, now is the time to update your access codes.
Tidying up will help ease your mind and get life back to normal. After you’re done, it’s time to start thinking enhancing your home security.
Assess And Improve Your Indianapolis Home’s Security
How can you prevent this from occuring again? Your initial step should be to evaluate your home’s security. A modern system with these tools will go a long way to strengthening your home’s protection:
- Security cameras: Nearly all prowlers will think twice about breaking in when they observe security cameras. Newer outdoor and doorbell cameras give you advanced features like AI-powered smart detection. Any time there’s suspicious activity, you’ll get a notification.
- Entry-point sensors: All doors and windows (especially those on the lower level) should be protected by contact or glass-break sensors.
- Smart locks and lighting: These automated components can be operated from anywhere. Concerned you forgot to lock up? You can verify and operate the lock directly from your mobile device. You can even have inside lights switch on if a camera spots someone lurking.
If you want a modern system that notifies you and monitoring representatives any time a sensor or camera is set off, look into a package from ADT, your home security professionals. You’ll enjoy the smartphone access, round-the-clock monitoring, and custom automation.
Prevent Break-Ins With The Best Home Security In Indianapolis
Stop break-ins before they happen with an ADT home security system in Indianapolis from Secure24 Alarm Systems. As an authorized ADT dealer, we install the latest equipment from the top name in the business. Discover your options by reaching out to (317) 268-5461 or completing our form today.