Preparing for Your Next Getaway

Published July 22nd, 2016 | By

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We are in the heart of summer. For many of us, it’s hard to not daydream of our up and coming trip to the beach, mountains, etc. This is the opportunity to prepare for your trip—not just at your future destination, but back at home. Did you know that recent reports indicate that a burglary happens nearly every 14 seconds somewhere in the U.S.

It doesn’t matter if you are well off or are just scrapping by; a burglary can happen to anyone and in any neighborhood. Life is too risky to leave things up to chance. Preventative measures could save you not only thousands of dollars (most burglaries cost the average victim over $2,000 in losses), but it could also save your life and the lives of your loved ones. ADT home monitoring provides exceptional protection—24/7. Letting you enjoy life without all the worry, stress and anxiety.

So to prepare for your vacation, there are additional things you can do to protect your home. A home monitoring system is the best defense, but you can do a number of things to increase your protection. Here they are:

Stop your mail and newspaper delivery

It’s fairly easy. All you have to do is put a hold on your mail by going online to https://holdmail.usps.com/holdmail/ and filling out the form. Stopping your newspaper delivery requires you to contact your newspaper delivery service provider and doing the same hold process as your mail. The reason for doing all of this is to prevent your mailbox and yard clear of days or weeks worth of mail and newspapers. When you are home, you check and remove these items daily; so it’s obvious if these pile up. You are clearly not home if these are accumulating.

Trim back your bushes and have your lawn maintained

Having overgrown bushes and trees can easily block the views of your entryways. It’s a great thing for burglars, since they want to make their entrances as inconspicuous as possible. Proper trimming will give these entranceways a clear view for anyone to see, which is a great robber deterrent. In having your lawn maintained (even while you are away), you are again giving the appearance that someone is home. How many times have you seen a home with an overgrown yard and wondered whether anyone was even home? Exactly…it made you at least wonder the possibility.

Setup automatic timers

Appearances say so much. Automatic timers do just that. Set specific times for your lights to come on—both indoors and outside. A dark house screams that it’s vacant; precisely what you don’t want people to know while you are away for an extended period of time.

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Have someone keep an eye on your home

If you are leaving for more than a couple of days, it’s a good idea to have someone you trust (like a neighbor, friend or family member) come and periodically make sure everything is okay. They don’t have to do much– just pass by and make sure the automatic lights are turning on, that the mail and newspaper are being held, etc.

You can give them a spare key as well as an alarm guest code for your alarm system (which is easy to setup) to give them access to your home while you are away. This is not only a good safety measure to have in place, but it’ll also give you some comfort and peace of mind.

 

****Another thing to consider is upgrading to ADT Pulse for remote home protection. Pulse lets you monitor and control your home from anywhere—provided that you have a Wi-Fi Internet connection.

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Posted in Crime and Safety, Home Living Tips, Security Tips

General: For all offers, the form of payment must be by credit card or electronic charge to your checking or savings account, satisfactory credit history is required and termination fee applies. Certain packages require approved landline phone. Local permit fees may be required. Certain restrictions may apply. Additional monitoring fees required for some services. For example, Burglary, Fire, Carbon Monoxide and Emergency Alert monitoring requires purchase and/or activation of an ADT security system with monitored Burglary, Fire, Carbon Monoxide and Emergency Alert devices and are an additional charge. Additional equipment may be purchased for an additional charge. Additional charges may apply in areas that require guard response service for municipal alarm verification. Prices subject to change. Prices may vary by market. Some insurance companies offer discounts on Homeowner’s Insurance. Please consult your insurance company. Photos are for illustrative purposes only and may not reflect the exact product/service actually provided.

*$99.00 Customer Installation Charge. 36-Month Monitoring Agreement required at $27.99* per month ($1,007.64). 24-Month Monitoring Agreement required at $27.99* per month ($671.76) for California. Form of payment must be by credit card or electronic charge to your checking or savings account. Offer applies to homeowners only. Local permit fees may be required. Satisfactory credit history required. Certain restrictions may apply. Offer valid for new ADT Authorized Dealer customers only and not on purchases from ADT LLC. Other rate plans available. Cannot be combined with any other offer. The $27.99* Offer does not include Quality Service Plan (QSP). Quality Service Plan (QSP) is ADT’s Extended Limited Warranty

**ADT 6-Month Money Back Guarantee: Money back service guarantee only applies after ADT has made attempts to resolve a system related issue and has not been able to resolve that issue within the first 6 months of your contract. Equipment must be fully removed before a refund will be processed. Conditions preventing normal system operation cannot be caused by the customer.

†All plans include standard, manually-operated fire panic button on system panel, which must be depressed to alert ADT of smoke or fire. For automatic notification to ADT of smoke, fire or carbon monoxide, a smoke communicator and/or carbon monoxide communicator must be purchased separately. Not available in all states.

††Gift card provided by SafeStreets. Visa gift cards issued by MetaBank™, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Neither MetaBank nor Visa is a sponsor, endorser or participant in this promotion. Monthly inactivity fee of $2.95 after 12 consecutive months of inactivity. Lost/stolen replacement card fee of $5.00. See the cardholder agreement for more details. Some restrictions apply.

‡‡ADT Theft Protection Guarantee: The Customer presenting ADT with this ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE will be eligible to receive a reimbursement of up to five hundred dollars ($500) of Customer’s homeowner’s insurance deductible (if any) if, and only if, ALL of the following requirements are met to ADT’s reasonable satisfaction: (i) the property loss was the result of a burglary that took place while the security system installed at Customer’s protected premises was in good working order and was “on,” and while all of Customer’s doors and windows were locked; and (ii) the intruder entered the residence through a door, window or other area equipped with an ADT detection device, and such detection device was not “bypassed”; and (iii) Customer is not in any way in default under the ADT Residential Systems Customer’s Order; and (iv) Customer files a written claim with their homeowner’s insurance company, and such claim is not rejected or otherwise contested by the insurer; and (v) Customer reports the burglary loss to the appropriate police department and obtains a written police report; and (vi) Customer provides ADT with copies of the insurance claim report, the police report within sixty (60) days of the property loss and proof of settlement by insurance carrier; and (vii) Customer certifies in writing to ADT (by signing this ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE and presenting it to ADT within sixty [60] days of the property loss) that all of the foregoing requirements have been satisfied. Customer understands that presentation of this ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE signed by Customer is required and understands that ADT reserves the right to reject any application for reimbursement that does not comply with ALL of the requirements. Photocopies or other reproductions of this Certificate will NOT be accepted. By signing below, Customer certifies to ADT that all of the foregoing requirements have been satisfied. Please mail to: ADT Security Services, Account Management Support Center, Attn: Theft Protection Guarantee Claims, 14200 E. Exposition Avenue, Aurora, CO 80012.

^Same day installation not available in all areas.

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